How We Ate, the culmination of 40 years of meticulous research, spans over 600 pages and includes 3,000 citations, an unparalleled resource for historians and enthusiasts alike. With food as his lens, Keyser distills complex cultural narratives into accessible, concise insights that leave you both informed and craving more. His distinctive voice, well known to anyone who’s heard him speak, resonates throughout the text.

Below, an excerpt from the preface, by Mark Louden

With this monumental work, Alan Keyser has done something no other scholar has done, namely provide a comprehensive overview of early Pennsylvania Dutch culture, and this through the prism of food. Every topic related to food among the Pennsylvania Dutch is addressed, starting with the dwellings in which it was traditionally prepared and consumed, with a special focus, of course, on the kitchen. Keyser describes for his readers all the important ingredients that figure in traditional Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine and how they were cultivated and processed for the preparation of specific dishes. Though not a cookbook, How We Ate reproduces countless recipes, many of which are only now seeing the light of day again after more than two centuries.

Keyser situates food in its social, cultural, and religious contexts by shedding light on key rituals and traditions connected in some way with food, some of which are still preserved among Pennsylvania Dutch people and their neighbors and others of which have been lost to time. Readers will learn about battalion days, celebrations that were a mainstay of public life in Pennsylvania until the Civil War and which, like all other seasonal gatherings, involved the sale and consumption of food. Through his discussion of the food traditions related to still familiar holidays like Christmas and Easter, Keyser may inspire readers to (re)introduce dishes and practices that will enhance the atmosphere at seasonal gatherings of family and friends.

In short, How We Ate is a book about food … and so much more.

Enjoy!

Mark L. Louden

Alfred L. Shoemaker, J. William Frey, and Don Yoder Professor of German Linguistics

University of Wisconsin-Madison