Explore history through food and drink.
Memory is often attached to family gatherings centered around food and merriment, this section will help you explore the foodways of the 18th century. Many of our ancestors would have known these recipes and what better way to connect with their experience, than to learn about how they ate, and even make some recipes of the time. You will also find 18th century medicinal recipes as part of the Early Modern Maritime Recipes collection.
18th Century Chocolate Making
Join Paul Supley, Proprietor of the Van Wykes 18th Century Chocolate Haus, as he shares the history of this popular 18th century drink and shows us how to make it.
Paul Supley is a Historian and Living Historian with 44 years of experience. He attended Norwich University and served as an officer in the US Army Reserve. In the past, he was site manager of Old Fort Johnson and Herkimer Home State Historic Site. Over the years, Paul has consulted and appeared in many movies, documentaries, and historic venues. His Reenacting career has seen him head the Valley History Alliance VHA/ Burning of the Valleys Military Association BVMA, VHA Guild of Artisans and Sutlers, organized countless historic reenactments and programs. After portraying a British officer for many years, Paul shifted his focus to Historic Medicine, Historic 18th Century Agriculture, Van Wyckes Chocolate Haus, consulting for historic sites, and all things 18th century Palatine and Dutch.
King George III’s Favourite Morning Chocolate Drink (pdf)
Paul Supley was filmed as part of the Expert Next Door Series for Saratoga County History Centre
Learn more:
The Chocolate Kitchens (Hampton Court Palace)
Chocolate Fit for a King (Hampton Court Palace)
Hampton Court Chocolate Kitchen to Reopen after 300 Years (The History Blog)
A Brief History of the Chocolate Pot (Smithsonian)
Susan Peters VIDEO
Loyalists At Table: 18th Century Loyalist Recipes for the 21st Century Kitchen
Book Project by St. Lawrence Branch UELAC published June 2020.
The spiral bound book is 214 pages with approximately 134 recipes. The recipes include beverages, breads, salads, vegetables, main dishes and desserts. It is a collection of Colonial, 18th Century, and Loyalist recipes reflecting a decidedly 21st century spin on traditional recipes.
Give the gift of history with the St. Lawrence Branch’s cookbook. Immerse yourself in Loyalist cuisine and learn some of the history that goes along with it. Some recipes are accompanied by photos.
Books can be purchased by sending a note through our Facebook page
or by contacting Darlene Montgomery-Fawcett directly ([email protected]). The hard copy of the book is $20.00 (CAD) plus shipping if applicable & the PDF file is $15.00 (CAD).
The Pioneer Kitchen (Library and Archives Canada LAC)
“The establishment of pioneer settlements in Canada took place over hundreds of years. This might explain why the early cookbooks of a given region not only date back to different decades, but also to different centuries. At first, the settlers favoured the customary foods and recipes from their native countries. But cooking over a wood fire in the hearth of a log cabin fireplace, with limited ingredients, challenged them to develop new approaches to old recipes. Their survival often depended on the advice of indigenous peoples, who knew how to use the bounty of the land.”
Early Modern Maritime Recipes (University of New Brunswick UNB)
Early Modern Maritime Recipes examines recipes circulating before 1800 in print and manuscript in the area now defined as Canada’s Maritime provinces. Early modern recipe writing focused on food and medicine, but recorded a range of other practices associated with alchemy, cosmetics, veterinary, medicine, and laundry, amongst other things. These recipes are texts about knowledge exchange and social networks. They reflect the commercial, social, and familial relationships involved in the acquisition of knowledge, record the use of goods in making products, and connect domestic practices and institutionalized learning. Early Modern Maritime Recipes compiles a record of extant recipes by digitizing and transcribing recipes from archival collections throughout the Maritime provinces.
Articles about the above Database:
Cooking Soup and Catching Rats, 18th Century Style by Erica Gagnon (2019)
Researching Recipes – A Firsthand Look (Loyalist Collection, UNB, 2017)
5 Colonial-Era Drinks You Should Know About by Corin Hirsch (Updated 2018)
22 Chocolate and Other Colonial Beverages (pdf; National Museum of American History)
A Survival Guide to Colonial Cocktails (So You Don’t Die Drinking Them) (National Public Radio NPR; 2017)
