The Way We Ate: Pacific Northwest Cooking, 1843-1900 [Hardcover]

Jacqueline Williams (Author), Ruth Kirk (Foreword)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Washington State University (January 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874221374
• ISBN-13: 978-0874221374
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,677,346 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pleasing Prose, May 27, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Way We Ate: Pacific Northwest Cooking, 1843-1900 (Paperback)

Jackie Williams is a friend of ours, a fellow collector of spud-abilia and appreciator of the potato, who has written several cookbooks as well as a fine food history work, Wagon Wheel Kitchens, Food on the Oregon Trail. Happily we can say that her newest book is a superb sequel, looking in on the pioneers once they reached their new home bases. Jackie has researched this subject down to the last eggless cake and translates all her findings into pleasing prose.

Starting with all-essential water, then moving from early kitchens--every woman wanted a proper cookstove, but many made do with Dutch ovens over hot coals--to the perils of pickling , Jackie Williams paints an engaging picture of the improvisational skills of early settlers and their appreciation for the bounty of the land when it came their way.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More of a history book than a cookbook - still very good., August 7, 2008

By 

Donna Lordi (Joliet, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Way We Ate: Pacific Northwest Cooking, 1843-1900 (Paperback)

The history of food fascinates me, and early american history is no exception. This is a very good recounting of early cooking and preservation methods in the pacific northwest. Note some people who glimpsed it on my desk were disappointed, thinking it a cookbook. It isn't intended to be one. It is, however, a very good review of how people ate given the times in which they lived. Some basic information about early preservation, pickling, flour processing and sugar. Let's just say that we should all be really glad our modern staples are regulated by the government somewhat!

I quite enjoyed it. Even if you don't typically like history books, if food fascinates you, give this a whirl. It's full of tasty trivia.