Sustenance and Sociability: Eating Habits in 18th Century America

By the end of the eighteenth century an American cuisine existed, with certain elements common to all areas and people. Despite some regional differences, geographic and ethnic factors were less important than one might suppose in determining the composition of American diet. Variation in food habits depended more on such factors as income and social appartenance. Considerable divergences appear between the foodstuffs of the ordinary citizen and of the gentleman, between the ingredients of the frontiersman's johnny cake and that of the planter. Rising standards of living across the century were reflected, among the middle and upper classes, in increasing attention to amenities at table and to culinary diversity. Regardless of social standing, Americans seem to have shared a fondness for sociability and to have recognized the importance of associating this value with eating habits.By the end of the eighteenth century an American cuisine existed, with certain elements common to all areas and people. Despite someKarsky Barbara. Sustenance and Sociability: Eating Habits in 18th Century America. In: Revue Française d'Etudes Américaines, N°27-28, février 1986. La cuisine américaine. pp. 51-66