Middle Atlantic States: European Food Customs and Influences: The Pennsylvania Dutch

Small colonies of Dutch and Swedes settled in the Hudson and Delaware river valleys during the seventeenth century. Swedish settlers along the lower Delaware never numbered more than a few hundred and had little influence on Mid-Atlantic foodways. The early Dutch settlements were larger in number and had an influence on the cuisine of the region. In addition to bringing wheat, the Dutch also grew barley, buckwheat, and rye. Those were the preferred grains of the Dutch, but the indigenous corn of the Native Americans was incorporated into Dutch cuisine when the settlers arrived in the region. The Dutch used the “turkey wheat” (corn) to prepare sappaen (also spelled “supawn”) for supper. In the Netherlands, the evening meal was typically gruel made from leftover bread soaked in milk. The Mid-Atlantic adaptation of this gruel was to prepare cornmeal with milk rather than water, as the Native Americans did. With the addition of meat and vegetables, the sappaen base became the dinner hutspot. In the Netherlands, hutspot was a stew containing finely minced beef or mutton. Many Dutch specialties of the Mid-Atlantic region have become part of the regional cuisine: kool sla (Dutch for “cabbage” and better known as cole slaw), headcheese, oliekoecken (doughnuts), pancakes, and waffles.