page_title: Cuisine of the Thirteen Colonies
section_title: Animal protein
hierarchical_section_title: Cuisine of the Thirteen Colonies / Diet before the American Revolution / Animal protein
caption_attribution_description: English: A sheep from Hambledon Hill, Dorset
context_page_description: The cuisine of the Thirteen Colonies includes the foods, bread, eating habits, and cooking methods of the Colonial United States.
  In the period leading up to 1776, a number of events led to a drastic change in the diet of the American colonists. As they could no longer rely on British and West Indian imports, agricultural practices of the colonists began to focus on becoming completely self-sufficient.
context_section_description: Game hunting was a familiar beneficial skill to the colonists when they immigrated to the New World. Most northern colonists depended upon hunting, whether they hunted themselves or purchased game from others. As a method of obtaining protein for consumption, hunting was preferred over animal husbandry as domestic animals were expensive and more work was required to defend domestic animals against natural predators, Native Americans, or the French. Commonly hunted game included deer, bear, buffalo, and turkey. The larger parts of the animals were roasted and served with currant and other sauces, while smaller portions went into soups, stews, sausages, pies, and pasties.
  Venison was the most popular game. The plentiful meat was often potted or jerked, and its tripe was popular as well. Venison was especially popular during the Thanksgiving season. Buffalo was an important protein source until roughly 1770, when the animals were over-hunted in British America. Bear were numerous in the northern colonies, especially in New York, and many considered the leg meat to be a delicacy. Bear meat was frequently jerked as a preservation method.
  In addition to game, mutton was consumed from time to time. Keeping sheep provided wool to the household, and when a sheep reached an age when it was unsuitable for wool production, it could be harvested as mutton. Sheep were originally introduced to the Americas through the Spanish in Florida. In the north, the Dutch and English also introduced several varieties of sheep. The casual English practice of animal husbandry allowed sheep to roam free, consuming a variety of forage. Forage-based diets produce meat with a characteristically strong, gamey flavor and a tough consistency, which requires aging and slow cooking to tenderize.
  Fats and oils derived from animals were used to cook many colonial foods. Rendered pork fat, especially from bacon, was the most popular cooking medium. Pork fat was used more often in the southern colonies than the northern colonies as the Spanish introduced pigs earlier to the south. Many homes kept a deerskin sack filled with bear oil for use in cooking.  Solidified bear fat resembled shortening. The colonists used butter in cooking as well, but it was rare prior to the American Revolution, as cattle were not yet plentiful.
  Colonists near the shores in New England often dined on fish, crustaceans and other sea animals. Colonists ate large quantities of turtle, a delicacy also exportable to Europe. Cod was enjoyed in both fresh and salted form, salted cod being suitable for long-term storage. Lobsters proliferated in the waters as well, and were commonplace in the New England diet. Some complained about dining on lobster and codfish too often and they were even used as pig fodder. The highest quality cod was usually dried and salted, however, and exported to the Mediterranean in exchange for fruits not grown in American colonies.
caption: Sheep were valuable livestock in the Colonies.
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