By Cynthia D. Bertelsen
Building on my last post on picturing New World foods in Thomas Hariot’s A briefe and true report of the new found land of Virginia, I now turn to the textual descriptions of those foods.
After listing a number of food items and comparing them to similar
English ingredients, Hariot commented briefly on various aspects of
Virginia Algonquian life. As any modern travel writer might do, he
covered primarily positive aspects of what he saw and explained several
agricultural practices of the Algonquians. John
White, White Indian man and woman eating; on rush mat, eating maize
from a large round flat dish. Image Credit: British Museum.
The following passage concerning maize or Indian corn–“corn” was an
English word for grains in general–describes the grain and ends with the
particulars of making a pap or mush (p. 13, online edition and this transcription):
PAGATOWR, a kinde of graine so called by the inhabitants;
the same in the West Indies is called MAYZE: English men call it
Guinney wheate or Turkie wheate, according to the names of the countreys
from whence the like hath beene brought. The graine is about the
bignesse of our ordinary English peaze and not much different in forme
and shape: but of diuers colours: some white, some red, some yellow, and
some blew. All of them yeelde a very white and sweete flowre: beeing
vsed according to his kinde it maketh a very good bread.
Wee made of the same in the countrey some mault, whereof was brued as
good ale as was to bee desired. So likewise by the help of hops therof
may bee made as good Beere. It is a graine of marueilous great increase;
of a thousand, fifteene hundred and some two thousand fold.
There are three sortes, of which two are ripe in an eleuen and twelue
weekes at the most: sometimes in ten, after the time they are set, and
are then of height in stalke about sixe or seuen foote. The other sort
is ripe in fourteene, and is about ten foote high, of the stalkes some
beare foure heads, some three, some one, and two: euery head containing
fiue, sixe, or seuen hundred graines within a fewe more or lesse.
Of these graines besides bread, the inhabitants make victual eyther
by parching them; or seething them whole vntill they be broken; or
boyling the floure with water into a pappe.
Not only did Hariot describe the flora and fauna of this new world,
he took pains to learn how the Virginia Algonquians prepared some of
their food. The next passage forms the headnote to De Bry’s elaboration
of John White’s original watercolor, “The Seething of Their Meate in
Potts of Earth” (p. 54, online edition and this transcription).
Their woemen know how to make earthen vessells with
special Cunninge and that so large and fine, that our potters with lhoye
wheles can make noe better: ant then Remoue them from place to place as
easelye as we candoe our brassen kettles. After they haue set them
vppon an heape of erthe to stay them from fallinge, they putt wood vnder
which being kyndled one of them taketh great care that the fyre burne
equallye Rounde abowt. They or their woemen fill the vessel with water,
and then putt they in fruite, flesh, and fish, and lett all boyle
together like a galliemaufrye, which the Spaniarde call, olla podrida.
Then they putte yt out into disches, and sett before the companye, and
then they make good cheere together. Yet are they moderate in their
eatinge wher by they auoide sicknes. I would to god wee would followe
their exemple. For wee should bee free from many kynes of diseasyes
which wee fall into by sumptwous and vnseasonable banketts, continuallye
deuisinge new sawces, and prouocation of gluttonnye to sarisfie our
vnsatiable appetite.
The differences between John White’s original drawing in the 1588 text and De Bry’s 1590 rendition in a later edition, which I discussed in my previous post, leap out at the viewer. But Hariot’s words serve to paint a more realistic picture.
While such early material must indeed be taken with a grain of salt,
Hariot and White’s contributions offer a glimpse into a world seen by
few Europeans of the time. Modern translations of the excerpts follow below.
1. Pagatowr is a kind of grain. It is called maize in the West
Indies; Englishmen name it Guinea wheat or Turkey wheat, after the
countries from which a similar grain has been brought. This grain is
about the size of our ordinary English peas and, while similar to them
in form and shape, differs in color, some grains being white, some red,
some yellow, and some blue. All of them yield a very white and sweet
flour which makes excellent bread. We made malt from the grain while we
were in Virginia and brewed as good an ale of it as could be desired. It
also could be used, with the addition of hops, to produce a good beer.
The grain increases on a marvelous scale-a thousand times, fifteen
hundred, and in some cases two thousand fold. There are three sorts, of
which two are ripe in ten, eleven, and, at the most, twelve weeks, when
their stalks are about six or seven feet in height. The third one ripens
in fourteen weeks and is ten feet high. Its stalks bear one, two,
three, or four heads, and every head contains five, six, or seven
hundred grains, as near as I can say. The inhabitants not only use it
for bread but also make food of these grains. They either parch them,
boiling them whole until they break, or boil the flour with water into a
pap.
2. Their women know how to make earthen vessels with special cunning
and that so large and fine, that our potters with their wheels can make
no better: and then remove them from place to place as easily as we can
do our brass kettles. After they have set them upon a heap of earth to
stay them from falling, they put wood under which being kindled one of
them takes great care that the fire burn equally round about. They or
their women fill the vessel with water, and then put therein fruit,
flesh, and fish, and let all boil together like a gallimaufry
[hodgepodge], which the Spaniards call olla podrida [burgoo]. Then they
put it out into dishes, and set before the company, and then they make
good cheer together. Yet are they moderate in their eating whereby they
avoid sickness. I would to god we would follow their example. For we
should be free from many kinds of diseases which we fall into by
sumptous and unseasonable banquets, continually devising new sauces, and
provocation of gluttony to satisfy our insatiable appetite.
By Cynthia D. Bertelsen
Early English settlers in the New World possessed very specific ideas
about food, its effect on their bodies, and the social factors
influencing who ate what and when and how and why. Once they arrived in
the New World, they faced very real challenges, not just because of the
lack of food–although that obviously played a major role at times. But
these beliefs followed them. As Trudy Eden puts it in The Early American Table,
they saw the new foods as “savage” and “feared a regular diet of
native foods could very possibly transform them into a lower class of
human beings” (4).
The debate over the origins of American food has taken some strange
swerves over the centuries. The influence of Native Americans and
African slaves on early American cooking remains somewhat nebulous. And
yet the foods of the New World “first peoples” did make inroads on the
English kitchen.
Some of the reasons for this confusion over the impact of Native American foodways lie in the
lack of written information by Native Americans;
inability of archaeological information to convey how food was
cooked, particularly the exact ingredients and how they were put
together;
records left by early European explorers, who interpreted Native
American foodways through their sixteenth- and seventeenth-century
worldviews.
Early chroniclers possessed an ulterior motive: commerce. Through
their writings, they hoped to entice investors and colonists to the New
World. For that reason, it is important to take all the verbiage with
the proverbial grain of salt. And the artwork as well.
One of those early explorers and chroniclers was Englishman Thomas
Hariot (1560-1621), who spent the year 1585-1586 in Virginia. He arrived
in the New World via one of Sir Walter Raleigh’s ships, the Tiger,
under the leadership of Sir Richard Grenville. The colonization attempts
failed, but Hariot–and artist John White (1549-1593)–returned to
England with timeless and invaluable material from their explorations of
Roanoake Island in North Carolina. Image Credit: British Library.
Hariot could well be dubbed the first Anglo-American ethnographer.
Prior to his trip, Hariot learned some rudimentary Algonquian language
from two Virginia Algonquian men (Manteo and Wanchese) who had been
brought to England by Raleigh in 1584. Hariot recorded his observations
of the New World, while White created detailed watercolors of their
surroundings and Alongonquian activities such as cooking. Together, they
left a valuable record of the culture and eating habits of the
Ossomocomuck (Algonquians): A briefe and true report of the new found land of Virginia,
which first appeared in Latin in 1588. This was the first account of
the New World written by an English author. Only eight of the original
copies now exist, but the material is available in digitized form as
well.
In 1590, at the urging of Richard Hakluyt the younger, Theodore de
Bry (a Liège engraver) printed a third edition of Hariot’s 48-page work.
Hariot added headnotes to De Bry’s engravings of 1590, with engravings
based on White’s original drawings. John White, “The Seething of Their Meate in Poots of earth”. Courtesy of the British Museum.
Hariot added headnotes to De Bry’s engravings in the 1590 edition.
John White’s original drawing of cooking in a pot became quite something
else under the engraving pen of one of De Bry’s workshop artists,
Gijsbert van Veen. G. Veen, “Their seetheynge of their meate in earthen pottes”. Image Credit: British Museum.
That De Bry himself elaborated on most of White’s other illustrations
as well, suggests the care needed in interpreting these drawings and
engravings…
My next post on Thursday will consider the book’s descriptions of Algonquian cooking.
