The American Independence Day is usually celebrated with a barbecue, but if you want to try something different, visit the Colonial Williamsburg website for American recipes from the 18th century. They have a whole department dedicated to researching and recreating colonial American foods, called the Department of Historic Foodways.
They’re currently researching culinary topics like coffee, dairying, food preservation, beer brewing and military foods, but there’s a generous list of recipes already posted with instruction videos and background information about the dishes. I’ve included some of my favorites below. So whether you are celebrating in New York or Wyoming, you can enjoy some authentic and traditional Fourth of July food.
Yummy Historical American Recipes for the 4th of July
1. Tomatoes and Eggs (recipe)
2. Doughnuts – A Yankee Cake (recipe)
3. Macaroons with Cream (recipe)
4. Asparagus Forced in French Rolls (recipe)
5. Eggs in Croquettes (recipe)
Historial American Cookbooks
If you’d like a real book to accompany the recipes, you can find great vintage American cookbooks on Etsy. They’ll give more variety and recipes than Colonial Williamsburg, but you’ll need to decipher the cooking instructions and experiment with ingredient substitutes.
You can also choose cookbooks from the early 19th century, which are still ‘historical’ but probably more straightforward.
1. Housekeeping in Old Virginia by Marion Cabell Tyree (1965 reprint of 1879 original)
via Vintage Eye
2. Cooking in the Old Creole Days: La Cuisine Creole A L’Usage Des Petits Menages by Celestine Eustice (1904)
via Lynn Desch
3. Praktisches Koch-Buch für die Deutschen in Amerika – ‘Practical Cookbook for the German in America’ (1897)
via Home On The Hill
4. The Enterprising Housekeeper by Helen Louise Johnson (1898)
via Rescued In Time
5. The Virginia Housewife by Mary Randolph (1838)
via Vintage Cook Etc
6. The National Binding of the American Woman’s Cook Book: Wartime Edition (1942)
via Winsome Whatsits
7. American Practical Cookery Book (1859)
via JodyBeCo
8. Arm & Hammer Soda Book of Valuable Recipes (1910), Rumford Everyday Cook Book for the Housekeeper and Student (1927), and Procter & Gamble’s Housecleaning Hints (1934)
via Quite right, Slick.
What do you think? Are you adventurous to try one of these historical recipes for the Fourth of July this year? Or, are you going to be sticking to red, blue, and white themed food. Let me know in the comments below!
