Anne Yentsch. Lessons from Archaeology and Anthropology October 2, 2012 Page 1 Lessons from Archaeology and Anthropology for New England Cookbooks: Pies and Puddings Anne E. Yentsch 1 Abstract This study is based on the belief that recipes in New England cookbooks could be seen as a series of artifact assemblages and analyzed using the archaeological concepts of seriation, TPQ, presence/ absence, horizon, and chaine op é ratoire. The initial focus, drawn from research by Deetz and Dethlefsen (Deetz 1968, 1977; Dethlefsen and Deetz 1966), was on seriation in the primary, identifying ingredients among puddings and pies. My goal was to see whether change through time in food preparation could be traced within a similar small area; whether it was an archetypal shift in food practice, modifications made by a few families, revolved around elite consumption patterns, or related to other social forces unrelated to market price. The data base consisted of single-authored, first edition New England cookbooks published between 1800 and 1900 by women with Anglo-American roots and added a few local books from the early 20 th century. Although some went through many editions, these books were neither mass-produced not aimed at a national audience. Introduction The gradual demise of puddings made from macaroni, carrots, sweet and white potatoes, pumpkins and squashes represents refinements of the organizational schemas guiding service à la française and service à la russe, the restriction of vegetables and other savory dishes to the main course, and the necessity for distinction and contrast between puddings and pies. As women discontinued use of vegetables in puddings, they also shifted their emphasis to pies. Recipes for the latter expanded during the late nineteenth century and, according to English travelers, America became a nation of pies, pies which cooks mounded with meringues after the invention of the rotary egg beater. The study began with the premise that recipes in New England cookbooks shared traits with gravestones and could be analyzed using the archaeological concepts of seriation, terminus post quem or ante quem, and presence/ absence. The initial focus was on seriation which pinpoints times and places where social beliefs altered and took shape materially as new forms, clusters, and configurations of goods. One assumption was that the shift from hearthside cooking to use of a kitchen stove should be visible in recipes and more specifically in cooking directions: baking, boiling, broiling, etc. The terms used by women to identify dishes grew muddled as the pace of change sped up (Yentsch in press); one couldn’t depend on writers to use the same terms to identify essentially similar recipes. But, the basic research also disclosed the presence/ absence of distinct, unmistakable ingredients. Apples remained apples; carrots were still carrots. When this line of inquiry was followed, clear changes in the choice of fruits and vegetables for different desserts became evident—changes that could not be explained by socio- economic status. A complicated set of conjoined concepts about food were critical. These included beliefs about health, sexuality, morals, labor, use of space, social groups, contemporaneous logic, etc. Seriation, however, was the first step. Seriation brings absence into view. Its existence has consequences. Absence is a forceful category based on beliefs, decisions, and behavior. Absence is akin to negative space in 1 Paper presented at the Council on Northeast Historical Archaeology Annual Meeting, St. John’s, Newfoundland, October 2, 2012.