Editing American cuisine (section)

====Common ingredients====
[[File:New England clam bake.jpg|thumb|A New England [[clam bake]] consists of various steamed [[shellfish]].]]
The American colonial diet varied depending on the settled region in which someone lived. Local cuisine patterns had been established by the mid-18th century. The [[New England]] colonies were extremely similar in their dietary habits to those that many of them had brought [[English cuisine|from England]]. As many of the New Englanders were originally from England, game hunting was useful when they immigrated to the [[New World]]. Many of the northern colonists depended upon their ability to hunt, or upon others from whom they could purchase game. Hunting was the preferred method of protein acquisition, as opposed to animal husbandry, which required much more work to defend the kept animals against raids.<ref>{{Cite book |date=January 1, 2012 |title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acref/9780199734962.001.0001 |volume=2 |pages=26 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780199734962.001.0001 |isbn=978-0-19-973496-2 |access-date=May 24, 2023 |archive-date=January 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116171827/http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199734962.001.0001/acref-9780199734962 |url-status=live }}</ref>

A striking difference for the colonists in New England compared to other regions was seasonality.<ref>{{Harvcolnb|Oliver|2005|pp=16–19}}.</ref> While in the southern colonies, they could farm almost year-round, in the northern colonies, the growing seasons were very restricted. In addition, northern colonists' close proximity to the ocean gave them a bounty of fresh fish to add to their diet.

[[Wheat]], the grain used to bake bread back in England, was almost impossible to grow, and imports of wheat were far from cost productive.<ref>{{Harvcolnb|Pillsbury|1998|p=25}}.</ref>{{dubious|Clarify timeperiod and location(New England?)|date=July 2015}} Substitutes in cases such as this included cornmeal. The [[Johnnycake]] was a poor substitute to some for wheaten bread, but acceptance by both the northern and southern colonies seems evident.<ref>{{Harvcolnb|Oliver|2005|p=22}}.</ref>