Native American Feasts

Feasting is an American ritual that can be traced back to several Native American
cultures' social ceremonies. Early written records by naturalists and explorers like John
Bartram and George Catlin provide a unique peek into Native American tribes' usage of
food in ceremonies. Tribes in the American Northwest held a potlatch, a ceremonial
feast, to commemorate important events. The rules of potlatch required the host to
provide, as a sign of conspicuous wealth, the best-quality foods available in quantities
too great to be eaten by the number of invited guests.

The Colonial Period

Prior to the Revolutionary War, pre-revolutionary American cuisine and meal patterns
were mostly based on English custom. Figure 1.10 shows the formal dinner menu
layout, which consisted of two courses, each of which represented a whole meal. Figure
1.10 depicts a banquet supper similar to those offered in affluent merchants' homes in
Providence, Rhode Island, in the early 1700s. General Nathaniel Greene wrote to
General James Varnum of his visit to Philadelphia in 1779:
In the South during the same period, a dinner at Shirley Hall plantation in Virginia was
described:

His service is all of silver and you drink your porter out of silver goblets. The finest
Virginia hams, and the saddle of mutton, Turkey, then canvas back duck, beef, oysters.
Then comes the sparkling champagne, after that dessert, plum pudding, tarts, ice
cream, peaches preserved in Brandy . . . then the table is cleared and on comes the
figs, almonds and raisins, and the richest Madeira, the best Port, and the softest
Malmsey wine I ever tasted.

FIRST COURSE
Asparagus Soup, remove*
Leg of Grass Lamb boiled with capers,
carrots, and turnips
Boiled Potato Pudding
Venison Pasties
Rice Pellaw
Forced Cock’s Combs
.,
SECOND COURSE
White Fricassee of Rabbit
Salamagundi
Ragoo of French Beans with Carrot Force
Water-Soakey
Pear Pie
.,
Followed by
Cheese and Grapes
*“Remove” indicates that the soup tureen was removed after the soup course
and replaced by the meat platters.
Figure 1.10 ,
A DINNER FOR JUNE, 1700s
(Source: The Rhode Island Historical Society, Providence, Rhode Island)

Nineteenth-Century Banqueting

The rich table traditions of the American colonies were continued in menus such as that
shown in Figure 1.11, served in December 1884 at the Fifth Annual Ball and Game
Supper in East Wallingford, Connecticut. The variety of Native American foods and
traditional New England cooking is apparent in this menu, even as it follows the
classical menu format. Although heavy in the dessert section, the influence of the
three-course menu is still evident in the presence of the relish course and the fruits and
nuts in the dessert course.

OYSTERS
Escalloped Stewed Raw
.,
GAME
Mallard Duck with Currant Jelly Saddle of Venison Roast Bear with Cranberry Sauce
Red Head Duck with Confiture Wild Turkey Oyster Dressing
Broiled Partridge Roast Wild Goose with Raspberry Jelly Quail on Toast
.,
ENTRÉES
Chicken Ham Corned Beef Lobster Chicken Salad Lobster Salad
.,
RELISHES
Chow Chow Pickled Cucumbers Mixed Pickles Worcestershire Sauce
Spiced Onions Tomato Catsup French Mustard Olives Celery Lettuce
.,
BREAD
Wheat Bread Brown Bread Graham Bread
.,
PASTRY
Apple Pie Meat Pie Cranberry Pie Lemon Pie
Blueberry Pie Raspberry Pie
.,
CAKES AND PRESERVES
Fruit Cake Sponge Cake Gold Cake Currant Cake Coconut Cake
Jelly Cake Delicate Cake Chocolate Cake Ribbon Cake
Cup Cake Peach Preserves Quince Preserves Raspberry Preserves
.,
DESSERTS
Vanilla Ice Cream Lemon Ice Cream
Grapes Apples Oranges Layer Raisins Filberts
English Walnuts Pecan Nuts Soft Shell Almonds
Figure 1.11 ,
BALL AND GAME SUPPER, 1884

American Presidential Banqueting

George Washington's presidency provided America with the opportunity to amuse the
rest of the globe. Meals were served in a three-course arrangement, which was typical
in Europe at the time. Decanters of port, cheeses, nuts, and fruit were placed on the
table. Menus from the period indicate the diversity and availability of food products in
the mid-Atlantic region as well as Washington’s eagerness to present them to his
guests.

The food served at the President’s table from 1789 to the end of Washington’s second
term in 1797 indicates the new nation’s dependence on the land. Game fowl, meats,
plantation-grown fruits and vegetables, fish from local rivers or the Atlantic reveal the
abundance of the land. Spliced through the menus are the remnants of Washington’s
English heritage—puddings, cream trifles, a taste for port and wine.

The development of banqueting styles in America was strongly influenced by Thomas

Jefferson. Following his years as minister plenipotentiary to Louis XVI's court, Jefferson
brought many of the European table's traditions, delicacies, and wines to his Virginia
estate, Monticello. As president of the United States, Jefferson developed a tradition of
exquisite feasts incorporating French food.

Never before had such dinners been given in the President’s house, nor such a variety
of the finest and most costly wines. In his entertainments, republican simplicity was
united with epicurean delicacy; while the absence of splendor, ornament, and profusion
was more than compensated by the neatness, order, and elegant simplicity that
pervaded the whole establishment.

A total of 40 dinners were served to 564 visitors between November 5, 1804, and
February 22, 1805, according to a report. Cuisine bourgeois was the name given to the
banqueting style introduced by Jefferson to America, which was a simplification of the
heavy, three-course banquets popular in Europe throughout the eighteenth century.

Gazpacho
Tio Pepe Sherry
Hot Devil’s Crab
Roast Leg of Lamb, conserve of currants
Chateau Latour
Saffron Rice Green Peas with Mint Corn Pudding
Asparagus Vinaigrette
Montrachet
Cheese Mold Beaten Biscuits
Strawberry Meringues Chantilly
Pedro Ximenz
Nuts and Candied Fruits
Coffee Brandy
Figure 1.14 ,
JEFFERSON MENU
(Source: Rysavy and Leighton, A Treasury of White House Cooking, 1972, p. 184)

These adjustments, like the novelle cuisine adaptations to French cuisine in the
twentieth century, were a reaction to the rich stocks, sauces, and theatrical pieces
montées of the eighteenth century. This cuisine suited Jefferson's taste for understated
elegance.

Ice cream, vanilla, pasta, and tomatoes were among Jefferson's culinary contributions
to the United States. Vanilla flavour was a novel component in American cooking, first
appearing in Jefferson's recipe for vanilla ice cream. In Jefferson's notes, pasta is
referred to as macaroni, which is today known as tubular pasta. However, further inquiry
reveals that he was referring to the spaghetti pasta cut. Meanwhile, the tomato was
brought from Central America and popularized in Southern Europe. Jefferson returned
to Monticello with the fruit and seeds for cultivation.

Jefferson's interest in French cuisine extended to the cookware and bakeware needed
to prepare and serve it, and he bought a huge quantity of cookware and bakeware in
Paris. The following inventory was recorded to the plantation books upon his return to
Monticello from France:

silver service
pewterware
dishes for hors d’oeuvre
porcelain cups
saucers
plates
soup tureens and bowls
serving platters and casseroles
crystal goblets
wine tumblers
decanters
a tea urn and coffee pot

For the kitchen, he included:

28 round saucepans
19 saucepan covers
frying pans
food warmers
chocolate molds
ice molds
pie pans
spoons, ladles
cleavers, knives
pair of kitchen scales