The ‘1776 diet’: Colonists’ alcohol consumption was ‘staggering,’ and historians want you to know

and crops greatly influenced what the colonists ate. Rice and okra grew well and were plentiful in the South, where French and African influences also shaped eating habits.

Dutch, English and German immigrants largely settled in the north and established the region’s culinary traditions.

Seafood such as rockfish and crab dominated the diets of early continue reading …