Michael Dragoo’s Colonial Comfort Foods
There was something that it was like to be our ancestors. Actually! That seems obvious, but really take some time to think about this simple yet profound truth. Let it bake into your soul for a moment. Your great-great-great grandmother and grandfather actually heard the winter cold trying to beat down their door. They actually felt the warmth of the morning fire and smelled the aroma of their daily bread rising in the oven. They actually experienced moments of loss, moments of love, and everything in between. Not abstractly, but actually. And that’s what matters.
There are many ways to connect to this “what-it-was-like-ness” of our ancestors—to their hardships, and yes, even to their joys and comforts. Perhaps one of the most visceral ways we can connect to their lives is through their food—which not only sustained them but was embedded in so many aspects of their daily life. This connection is exactly the main course served by Michael Dragoo in his book Colonial Comfort Foods: Recipes that bring your history to life!—a beautifully prepared demonstration of how we can partake in our ancestors’ experiences through food and culinary history.
Dragoo specializes in American Colonial food preparation techniques between the 1750s and 1780s. His style, in print and in person, is a charming blend of humor, education, elegance, and a superb attention to detail and authenticity in culinary practices. Colonial Comfort Foods is the next best thing to a live presentation by Dragoo and his wife, both seasoned historical foodways demonstrators. The author’s energy, informative style, and attention to the human side of food preparation are clearly felt.
Colonial Comfort Foods begins at the beginning—with the “how” of colonial cooking. Again, for Dragoo, food puts us in touch with our family history, with our ancestors’ experiences, and hence he emphasizes historical accuracy, not just in terms of taste, but in terms of tools and technique. The first few chapters, then, set the culinary context, including a chapter on colonial food preparation vessels (with full-color illustrations) and a chapter on overall helpful hints, clarifying key terms and resolving culinary mysteries (with full-color humor in classic Michael-Dragoo-style).
But what about the food! The food is there! We promise! Professional, full-color, well-researched, engaging, accessible, and historically accurate recipes from a wide range of culinary classes: Hors d’Oeuvres, Soups and Broths, Made Dishes, Entrées, Sauces and Gravies, Baking, and Delicacies. Every recipe begins with the original historical source and source text and then moves to Dragoo’s curation, including helpful hints, ingredients list, and preparation instructions. Exactly what were our ancestors doing with dishes like “Snippets or Sops” (1749), “Toad in a Hole” (1788), “To Fricasy a Pig” (1730), “Curry of Cod” (1806), “A Lemon Cream” (1796), and “Dough Nuts” (1747)? In the author’s words, “… over and over again, they produced the most gorgeous platters of food imaginable. They were sometimes elegant in their simplicity, but dazzling, just the same.”
What is a “Recipe?” Dragoo explains the etymology behind the word and its connection to the idea of “receiving.” What we receive in Colonial Comfort Foods is not simply a history or a cookbook, but a clear example of multigenerational connection. Connecting is not just about ideas—knowing about what our ancestors did and how they did it. Connecting is about how it actually felt to be them, and food and cooking bring us into direct contact with their everyday lived experience. Bon appétit and please give great-great-great grandma our very, very, very best!