Cuisine of New England

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
Merge-arrow.svg
 It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Cuisine of the Northeastern United States. (Discuss)
This article may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (December 2008)
The American lobster, a favorite ingredient in New England cuisine.

New England cuisine is a type of American cuisine found in New England, in the northeastern region of the United States. New England cooking is characterized by extensive use of seafood and dairy products, which results from its historical reliance on its seaports and fishing industry, as well as extensive dairy farming in inland regions. Many of New England's earliest Puritan settlers were from eastern England, where baking foods such as pies, beans, and turkey were more common than frying as was the tradition elsewhere.[1]

Two prominent characteristic foodstuffs native to New England are maple syrup and cranberries. The standard starch is potato. Parsley and sage are common, with a few Caribbean additions like nutmeg. Due to the reliance on dairy, creams are standard. The favored cooking techniques are stewing and baking.

Contents

[edit] History

Union Oyster House (1826) in Boston is the oldest continuously operating restaurant in America
Main article: Cuisine of the Thirteen Colonies

Native American foods and cooking methods such as corn meal johnny cakes, oysters, clam chowder, and clam bakes were adopted by early immigrants to New England. Many of New England's earliest Puritan settlers were from eastern England and also brought with them traditions of dairy products and baking pies and other foods. Baked beans, apple pies, baked turkey, and pease porridge became common Yankee dishes, and some are now common nationally during Thanksgiving dinners.[1]

Due to New England's involvement in the Triangle Trade in the 1700s, molasses and rum were common in New England cuisine. Well into the 19th century, molasses from the Caribbean and honey were staple sweeteners for all but the upper class. Prior to Prohibition, some of the finest rum distilleries were located in New England.

Many herbs were uncommon, particularly Mediterranean herbs, which are not hardy in much of New England away from the coast. As a result, most New England dishes do not have much strong seasoning, nor are there many particularly spicy staple items.

Even today, traditional cuisine remains a strong part of New England's identity. Some of its plates are now enjoyed by the entire United States, including clam chowder, baked beans, and homemade ice cream. In the past two centuries, New England cooking was strongly influenced and transformed by Irish Americans, the Portuguese fishermen of coastal New England, and Italian Americans.

The oldest operating restaurant in the United States, the Union Oyster House (1826), is located in Boston, Massachusetts.

[edit] State dishes and staples

Connecticut is known for its apizza (particularly the white clam pie), shad and shadbakes, grinders (including the state-based Subway chain), and New Haven's claim as the birthplace of the hamburger sandwich at Louis' Lunch in 1900. Italian-inspired cuisine is dominant in the New Haven area, while southeastern Connecticut relies heavily on the fishing industry. Irish American influences are common in the interior portions of the state, including the Hartford area. Hasty pudding is sometimes found in rural communities, particularly around Thanksgiving.

Maine is known for its lobster. Once a poor man's supper, lobster has now become a dish of the middle and upper classes, though inexpensive lobster rolls (lobster meat mixed with mayonnaise and other ingredients, grilled and served in a hot dog roll) are usually available in the summer, particularly on the coast.. Northern Maine is known for its potato crops, second only to Idaho in US production. Moxie, America's first mass-produced soft drink and the official state soft drink, is known for its strong aftertaste and is found throughout New England. Although originally from New Jersey, wax-wrapped salt water taffy is a popular item sold in tourist areas. Wild blueberries are also a common ingredient or garnish. Red snappers — natural casing frankfurters colored bright red — are considered the most popular type of hot dog in Maine. Finally, the Italian sandwich is popular in Portland and southern Maine—Portland restaurant Amato's claims to have invented the Italian sandwich (specifically, a submarine sandwich made with ham, cheese, tomato, raw peppers, pickles and cheese, served with or without oil, salt and pepper) in 1902.

Coastal Massachusetts is known for its clams, haddock, and cranberries, and previously cod. Apples are grown in the Commonwealth's interior. Boston is known for, among other things, baked beans, bulkie rolls, and various pastries. Hot roast beef sandwiches served with a sweet barbecue sauce and usually on an onion roll is popular in Boston's surrounding area. The North Shore area is locally known for its roast beef establishments.

Southern New Hampshire cuisine is similar to that of the Boston area, featuring fish, shellfish and local apples. As with Maine and Vermont, French-Canadian dishes are popular, including tourtière, which is traditionally served on Christmas Eve. Corn chowder, which is similar to clam chowder but with corn and bacon replacing the clams, is also common. Portsmouth is known for its orange cake, often containing cranberries.

Rhode Island and bordering Bristol County, Massachusetts are known for Rhode Island clam chowder (clear chowder), quahog (hard clams), johnnycakes, coffee milk, celery salt, grinders, pizza strips, dynamites (a sloppy joe-like sandwich), and Del's Frozen Lemonade. Another food item popular in Rhode Island and southern Massachusetts is called a "hot wiener" or "New York System wiener," although, ironically, they are unknown in New York (including Coney Island). This food consists of a wiener (similar to a hot dog but skinnier and more orange in color) on a steamed roll with meat sauce and, often, mustard and raw onions ("all the way"). This hot dog is quite popular at the popular restaurant George's Coney Island in Worcester, MA. Portuguese influences are becoming increasingly popular in the region, with Italian cooking already long established. The coastal communities and islands, including Block Island, offer more colonial New England fare than the more recent immigrant-influenced varieties found around the Providence area.

Vermont is known for its Cheddar cheese and other dairy products. It is best known outside of New England for its maple syrup, which is generally considered to be of the highest quality available in America. Maple syrup is used as an ingredient in many Vermont dishes, including baked beans. Rhubarb pie is a common dessert and is often combined with strawberries in late spring.

[edit] Typical foods

New England also has its own food lingo. In New England, hot and cold sandwiches in elongated rolls are called Subs or Grinders, as opposed to Hoagies, Gyros or Heroes. Sub is short for submarine sandwich, which was invented in Norwich, Connecticut. In Maine, the Italian sandwich—a variation specifically made up of ham or salami, cheese, peppers, pickles, tomatoes and optional oil—is popular, though usually kept distinct from other subs.

New England is also known for many of its fine local lagers and ales, the most famous of which is Samuel Adams of the Boston Beer Company in Boston, Massachusetts (even though the recipe for the beer does not come from New England); as well as for alcoholic ciders such as Vermont-based Woodchuck Draft Cider.

[edit] Notable food and drink companies

[edit] Connecticut

[edit] Maine

[edit] Massachusetts

[edit] New Hampshire

[edit] Rhode Island

[edit] Vermont

[edit] See also

Search Wikibooks Wikibooks Cookbook has a recipe/module on

[edit] Further reading

Dojny, Brooke (1999). The New England Cookbook: 350 Recipies from Town and Country, Land and Sea, Hearth and Home. Harvard Common Press. ISBN 155832139X. 

Rogers, Juliette; Rogers, Barbara (2002). Eating New England: A Food Lover's Guide to Eating Locally. Countryman Press; 1st edition. ISBN 0881505218. 

Jones, Judith; Jones, Evan; Jarrett, Lauren (2001). The Book of New New England Cookery. UPNE. ISBN 1584651318. 

Stavely, Keith; Fitzgerald, Kathleen (2003). America's Founding Food: The Story of New England Cooking. The University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0807828947. 

Bauer, Linda (2009). Recipes from Historic New England. Taylor Trade Publishing. ISBN 1589794397. 

Mosser, Marjorie; Kenneth Roberts (1978). Good Maine Food. Down East Books. ISBN 0892720387. 

Stetson, Barbara Sherman (1993). The Island Cookbook. Favorite Recipes Press. ISBN 0871973707.  Cuisine of Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts, with extensive notes on local history and personal anecdotes from the author.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b David Hackett Fischer, Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America (Oxford University Press US, 1991) 30-50 [1]
v • d • e
Region of New England New England pine flag.svg
Topics
States
Major cities
State capitals
v • d • e
Cuisine of the United States
History
Regional
Nationwide ethnic
Other topics
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuisine_of_New_England"
Languages