Customer Reviews

Slumps, Grunts, and Snickerdoodles: What Colonial America Ate and Why

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I borrowed this book from my local library and loved it so much I had to buy one for my son's 6th grade class (who are studying colonial America) and one for home. It is a wonderful history centered around food in colonial America together with authentic but updated recipes of food by region. I often cook with the students in my children's school and we will be using this book as our "textbook" this year.

What I've always enjoyed about Lila Perl is that her work, while geared toward a young audience, I find is actually written for all age groups. This is one of three books I own written by Ms. Perl. My public library, which is an extensive library system, does not have most of her writings, so I plan to buy Ms. Perl's historical books where I can.

This, in particular, is my most favorite of the books I've purchased thus far. "Slumps, Grunts, and Snickerdoodles ..." is a fascinating account of the history behind the traditional foods of the colonies. It provides information on how Pilgrims and other settlers adapted the crops, which the Indians (or "tribes") taught them to cultivate - especially corn and beans, and recipes to provide the basis of many genuine "American" dishes as we know them today; e.g., Boston brown bread, hush puppies, fish fried in cornmeal, cornbread, succotash, etc. It also provides a brief history on some of the settlements, e.g., why the settlement of Jamestown initially failed, the development of tobacco as a huge cash crop for the South, etc.

I cannot recommend historical books written by Lila Perl highly enough. FYI, if you enjoyed this book, you should also read "Hunter's Stew and Hangertown Fry: What Pioneer Americans Ate and Why." Did you know eggs cost 50 cents each (that's $6.00 a carton) in the days of the Gold Rush?