MEAL TIME IN THE SETTLEMENT

Think about your kitchen. How many gadgets and gizmos are in your drawers? Your cupboards? On your shelves? It seems like there are many modern kitchen gadgets at your disposal. Believe it or not, the settlers had access to a huge amount of gadgets too!

Pioneers had all sorts of kitchen utensils to make their life easier. There was everything from cabbage slicers to meat skewer racks. At first, fireplaces served as the only place to cook. The fireplace served as a stove, oven, and everything between. One of the most interesting inventions of the time was the back hearthstone. It then became known as the backstone. This was either an integrated part of the fireplace, or a cast iron dish suspended at the back. Its design reflected an even heat in one spot, allowing the previously uneven heat of the fireplace to act as an oven. Settlers used it for baking pastries, loaves of bread, and flams. A flam was an early form of flatbread! 

The invention of the cast iron wood stove gave a whole new set of possibilities to cooking. Settlers no longer had to use a singular location for everything. Integrated ovens eliminated the need for a back stone. Stovetops for boiling water or frying meat became an essential part of cooking.  

So what exactly did they cook? The Canadian wilderness was rife with new foods for settlers to explore. They used tactics learned from First Nations. Settlers often hunted local game and harvested local plants. The wild game included deer, beaver, and bison. Plants included wild blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and chicory. They also brought food from the old world to grow. These included plants such as cabbage and potatoes. Settlers kept animals such as cows, chickens, and pigs as livestock.

It was hard to keep fresh meat, and so the excess game was often smoked, salted, or pickled. An incredible recipe learned from the First Nations people was Pemmican. Pemmican was a combination of dried meat and berries. First Nations preserved the meat and berries in tallow (rendered animal fat). This recipe was shelf-stable, portable, and nutritious.

On the stove, many settlers utilized the method known as “one-pot cooking.” To save time and effort, many recipes involved boiling meat, vegetables, and spices in a pot. This made a delicious stew that was easy to serve! Another popular dish was bread and butter. Often served with every meal, settlers baked or fried bread fresh for every meal. It was rarely baked in batches and stored. They churned their butter hand. 

Fun Fact: The origin of the term “mess hall” comes from the time of the settlers! At the end of every recipe, the term “mess it forth” was the last instruction. It meant “to serve,” and became commonplace in our everyday lexicon!

Liam Parker