East Coast Slang Sayings and Heritage
Discarding back, cut chicken into 6 pieces (2 breasts, 2 legs and 2 wings); set aside.
In large Dutch oven, sauté salt pork over medium-high heat until golden, about 4 minutes. With slotted spoon, remove pork; set aside.
Add chicken pieces to pan; brown all over, about 8 minutes. Transfer to plate; set aside. Drain all but 2 tbsp fat from pan.
Reduce heat to medium; cook carrots, celery and onion, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened but not coloured, about 3 minutes.
Stir in potatoes, savory, salt and pepper; cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Return chicken and salt pork to pan; stir in water. Bring just to boil, skimming foam from surface as needed. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes.
Place ice cubes in glass measure. Pour in enough of the cooking liquid to make 2/3 cup; let cool.
Meanwhile, with slotted spoon, transfer chicken to plate; let cool enough to handle. Pull meat from bones; discard bones and skin.
Shred or coarsely chop chicken. Skim any fat from cooking liquid; return chicken to pan and bring to simmer.
Dumplings: Meanwhile, in bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, parsley and salt. Stir egg yolks into reserved cooled cooking liquid; drizzle over flour mixture. With fork, toss to make sticky, stretchy dough.
Increase heat to medium. Drop batter, evenly spaced in 8 mounds, onto stew; cover and simmer until puffed and knife inserted into centre of dumpling comes out clean, 8 to 10 minutes.
During the pioneer years, every kitchen had a primitive, open fired hearth that was the sole means of cooking. Cast iron ware was hung on an iron rod and suspended across the open fire for boiling food in a large cauldron. The heat required for accurate cooking temperatures was regulated by the size of the fire. The suspended cauldron could also be raised or lowered over the fire; to maintain the required heat. For baking breads and biscuits; the dutchoven was placed on the floor of the hearth, on a bed of hot embers. The lid of the dutchoven was first heated and then more embers were placed atop the lid to maintain the heat for cooking. It took approximately 20 minutes to bake biscuits this way. You also had to avoid any drafts that might blow the embers around or cool the temperature of the pot. Herbs and food were also hung near the hearth for drying purposes. Recipes; or receipts as they were called then, were passed along on how to cook in these open hearths. Now just imagine the preparation and skill required to cook this way and put food on the table! Imagine even cooking in Mama’s kitchen!
By the mid 1800’s cast iron stoves became the more efficient and safer way for cooking. The fire was now contained inside the stove with a cooking surface on the top for boiling. They were still fired by wood which still required skill to maintain a good heat for baking and boiling. However; it must have made things much easier for women to have a stove top to cook on. I sometimes think of the heat generated by these stoves in the summer time when this is was the primary means for cooking meals. Would be some hot!
Families passed down their techniques for wood fired cooking over generations. Recipe books were not in existence then and women used handwritten notes such as above for records of favorite dishes. Cooking instructions were very basic with basic ingredients. Their notes indicated the type of wood fire required to cook at proper temperatures. Like cook over a small or large fire.
Out of convenience and necessity; in the early years, most prepared meals were boiled. The meals were farm to table and consisted of basic ingredients like potatoes, carrots, onion, beets and turnip. Therefore; a hearty stew was the backbone of every meal in each home.
These were hard times and pioneers worked very hard in their gardens; to grow enough food to sustain their families for the year. So during these times there was absolute zero waste. Food preparation was pre-planned with the next days meal in mind. So; for example, the bones from a roast beef or chicken dinner; on one day, was saved and boiled for a broth for a stew os soup; for the next days meal.
Now depending on the families origin; these stews were all similar in the basic root vegetables; but with minor variations. The Irish stew was traditionally made from lamb or mutton but depending on the availability of the meat; a beef stew was popular as well. To this broth you added cut up potatoes, onion, carrot, salt, pepper and parsley; if you had it. Chicken stew; made from the bone broth and thickened with a bit of flour, had the same root vegetables but with turnip and cabbage also. Chicken fricot was the French Acadian version of a chicken stew but the consistency of the broth was thinner. Dumplings made from flour and milk were often added to the top of the fricot instead. To this stew you added cut up potatoes, onion, carrot, salt, pepper and savory was also the herb of choice. Yum!
Soups were also a main meal then with all the same ingredients required but just cut up finer.
Today; we are all still enjoying a hearty boiled dinner like our ancestors! We are using the recipes handed down to us from our mothers and their mothers and so on. All cooking from Gramma’s kitchen! Of course; we can add whatever veggies we prefer, can or cannot grow it ourselves, can add any herb we prefer and don’t have to fire up a stove to do it But it is oh so good! Love a hearty soup or stew especially in our cold weather! Do you have a favorite! Think of cooking in Gramma’s kitchen when you do. She would be oh so proud!
We recently paid a visit to Kings Landing Heritage settlement near Fredericton NB. This attraction is a great recreation of pioneer living in the early 19th century. Its set up exactly like a settlement would be back then. Each building and the content within were specific to an era and the dwellers were in role for that period in time.
There were various sized homesteads, barns, primitive one room cabins, churches with a service on Sundays, a blacksmith firing horse shoes, a fully stocked general store, functioning lumber mill powered by the waterwheel, griss mill, farm animals, gardens, and a one room school house. Each stop along the way was a huge step back in time to the early 1800’s that allows you to truely experience pioneer living.
The Acadian Village is located along the northern coast of NB in a place called Bertrand(near Caraquet). It is located on the Acadian Peninsula along the coastal waters of the Bay of Chaleur. Life here takes you back in time to pioneer living in a quaint little Acadian village. Experience the Acadian heritage first hand by living the culture, music, dance, authentic cuisine of our earliest settlers. Immerse yourself in the warmth and hospitality of the acadian people. You will love it!
Every homestead had a large vegetable garden that yielded basic foods like potatoes, turnips, onions, herbs and carrots. Fields were first prepared by the farmer by means of guiding the plough which was hauled by a horse. Foods were harvested and dried for canning, pickling and everyday meals. The bounty was then stored in cool root cellars to preserve the years supply of food. It required hard work to maintain their gardens and food supply but families worked together to lighten the load. At harvesting time it was efficient to use a horse and cart… if you had the means. One person would drive the cart along the rows, while the other picked the veggies. They would swap out the duty to lighten the work.
In every kitchen was an open fired hearth that was the primary heat source and means of cooking. Cast iron ware was hung on an iron rod and suspended across the open fire for boiling. The heat required for accurate cooking temperatures was regulated by the size of the fire. For baking breads and biscuits; the dutchoven was placed on the floor of the hearth on a bed of hot embers. The lid was heated and more embers were placed atop the lid to maintain the heat for cooking. Herbs and food were hung near the hearth for drying. Interestingly; in the larger homes,these hearths were located on the ground levels where it is the coolest and the heat would radiate upwards to heat the home. In the traditional one room cabin the hearth was the centre of the home. Recipes; or receipts as they were called then, were passed along on how to cook in these open hearths. Its a skill that has become lost to us. Now just imagine the preparation required to put food on the table! Imagine baking this way!
Every farmer had a team of work horses to work the land. From plowing to hauling, clearing the land of trees and rock, harvesting and transportation. They had various carts, buggies and wagons depending on the need. A cow was a necessity for the milk to drink, cream was extracted for butter making and for cooking. If they had a few extras; cows were slaughtered for the meat. Sheep supplied the wool from which they washed, carded and spun into fibre for sewing and knitting their clothes. Hens and chickens supplied the eggs and meat. You might even see a goat or two that supplied milk and meat as well.
All these animals needed tending to. Pasture space had to be cleared and grasses grown for feed and buildings erected to house the animals. They were contructed by lumber milled from their own land. So they often had oxen to help with the heavier work when clearing the land of rock and hauling heavy timbers. Hard days of work was an every day thing for homesteaders then.
Clothing was all hand made. Flax was grown in the gardens for food but the fibre from the flax plant could be dried and extracted, spun into a fine fibre and woven to make cloth and then sewed into a linen garment. Hats, sweaters socks, mittens were all made from the wool sheared from the sheep, spun into yarn or thread and woven into cloth for the heavier wool clothing required for more temperate weather. Spinning, weaving, knitting and sewing were works of fine art and these skills were passed on from generation to generation.
Pioneer living was not easy but they provided the basic necessities of life. Families were large then and they all worked closely together to provide a better life for themselves and their neighbours. It wasn”t all work tho. As per traditional East Coast living famillies gathered at Church, teas and dances.
Emerse yourself in a village such as this and experience the pioneer living in NB, in the 1800’s. Appreciate the hardships and work required to put food on the table and to construct their homes. Would you long to be a part of this lifestyle. I sure do! Sure it was a lot of hard work and hardships but you sure can’t beat the pure and organic living.
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