African, Indigenous, and Dutch Foodways in 17th-century New Amsterdam

Drew Shuptar-Rayvis will discuss Native American traditions

Lavada Nahon will focus on African American foodways

Deborah L. Krohn will highlight aspects of the Dutch material culture of the kitchen in 17th-century New Amsterdam/New York

THE TALKS WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY A BUFFET OF HISTORICAL FOOD

Taste 17th-century dishes such as Indian Corn Cakes, “Hen” braised with sweet wine with orange peel, beef pasties with ginger, nutmeg, clove vinegar, little quince cakes, and more.

Info: Drew Shuptar-Rayvis introduces the diverse and delicious world of Algonkian food, explaining the basic diet of Algonkian peoples. Where did their food come from, how was it prepared, and how did they store their food? Listeners are invited to become immersed in the science behind the dishes that allowed the Algonkian peoples to live and thrive for thousands of years. New discoveries demonstrate in what way the larger consequences of trade and colonization changed the way the Algonkian people grew their food and the complex effects of the new foods and drinks they added to their diet.

Info: Seeing Africa in the kitchens of New Netherland/New York is less about ingredients and more about skill, passion, and fortitude. What did it take for enslaved women and their descendants from West Central and West Africa to master European and North American ingredients and foodways, to produce food acceptable to their enslavers for two-hundred years? Why do we always look for ingredients rather than genius? Because no matter the ingredients it is the skill of the cook that makes the difference.

Info: In 1695, Margrieta Van Varick died in Brooklyn, the widow of a Dutch reformed minister, with whom she had come from the Dutch Republic almost ten years before. She left a detailed inventory that was the subject of an exhibition at the Bard Graduate Center in 2009. The inventory lists an impressive variety of dishes, plates, pots and pans, and other utensils, suggesting that her kitchen was well-stocked and suitably outfitted to feed her husband, their four children and several servants. Exploring this unique inventory, Krohn discovers much about the foods consumed and the larger material world of New Amsterdam/New York in the late 17th century.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

3 W 51st St, 3 West 51st Street, New York, United States