Food History and Regional Cooking in the United States of America

This web quest is designed to help you learn more about food history and regional cooking in the United States of America.

When you think about food in the USA, what foods do you think of? Many people immediately think of hamburgers. It's true that this is an important food, but there are other foods such as corn on the cob that are also eaten in the United States.

I. Go to the Key Ingredients website to learn about specific historical periods in US food history. Your teacher will assign one of the following periods for you to research.

1500 - Traditions
1600 - Colonization
1700 - A New Country
1800 - Expansion
1900 - Modernization
1950 - Recent Trends
2000 - The Future of Food

As you research your period in US food history, note the following:

1. What were some of the important US foods at that time?
2. How were these foods obtained? For example, did people buy them? Did they grow them...?
3. Were there any important food traditions? (Holidays, etc)
4. What role did cultural traditions play?

II. Now you are going to learn about the regional food cultures of the United States from the Key Ingredients website. Your teacher will assign one of the following regions for you to research:

Northeast
Southeast
Midwest
Northwest
Southwest

As you research this region, keep in mind the following:

1. What foods are important to this region?
2. What are the cultural and ethnic influences?
3. Are there any important holidays and festivals associated with this region?

III. Finally, you are going to research specific regional foods on the What's Cooking America Website. Your teacher will again assign you one specific region to research. You can find links to each specific region below:

Deep South: Alabama - Florida - Georgia – Mississippi

Far West: California - Hawaii - Nevada

Great Lakes: Illinois - Indiana - Michigan - Minnesota - Ohio – Wisconsin

New England: Connecticut - Maine - Massachusetts - New Hampshire - Rhode Island – Vermont

Mid-Atlantic: Delaware - Maryland - New Jersey - New York - Pennsylvania - District of Columbia (Washington D.C.)

Midwest/Plains: Arkansas - Iowa - Kansas - Missouri - Nebraska - North Dakota - Oklahoma - South Dakota

Pacific Northwest: Alaska - Oregon - Washington - Idaho – Montana

Southeast: Kentucky - North Carolina - South Carolina - Tennessee - Virginia -West Virginia

Southwest: Arizona - New Mexico - Texas - Utah

South Central: Louisiana

1. Choose two recipes from your assigned region and take notes on them.
2. Be sure to note the history of the food, its relationship to cultural and ethnic history, and any holidays it is associated with.
3. Be sure to note when it is typically eaten (i.e. for breakfast, lunch, dinner, etc).
4. Does this food appeal to you? Why or why not?
5. Is this food similar to a food you eat in your home country? If so, tell us about it.