Foods at Fort Ross

Foods available to the colonists were varied and abundant. Because so many different cultural groups lived and ate together, meals must have reflected a mix of foods and tastes.   All the items listed are known to have been here. Foods available came from a variety of sources: from the many trade ships coming from foreign lands; from the Spanish/Mexican missions;   food from agricultural efforts on the company’s local ranches: or ‘wild’ food harvested from local resources. Use this list to create an authentic Fort Ross meal, or merely to add to your understanding of daily life at Colony Ross.. 

Food grown in the local gardens, fields, and orchards.

            peaches, apples, pears, plum,

            sour cherries, quince, apricot

            orange grove

            melons -cassaba, watermelons, cantelopes

            winter squashes, pumpkin

            cabbages, made into sauerkraut

            beets, for pickling,

            turnips, radishes (Chinese influence)

            carrots, potatoes, peas, beans

            onions, garlic,

            grapes - 2000 vines were planted,

            lettuce, parsley, mints,

            millet, barley, wheat, buckwheat (kasha)

            horseradish,

peppers -red, green, introduced by the Spanish from South America.

            Tomatoes

            Honey - bee hives were tended to in and around the orchard areas

Domestic livestock and wild hunted animals.

            chicken- meat, eggs, feathers

            cow - meat, milk, cheeses, butter, hides,

            sheep- meat, wool      

            pig - meat, hides

            goat - meat, hides

            deer - meat, hides, horns

            elk - meat, hides,

            geese, eggs, meat, feathers

            seagulls - eggs

Some ‘wild’ foods known to the Kashaya and Coast Miwok

            purslane, miners lettuce, mustard greens

            mushrooms,  wild rice,

            bay laurel -spice, wood

            fish - various kinds including salmon

            acorns, cattail root,

            berries - black, raspberries, thimble,

            honey from bees, domestic or wild,

            shell fish - abalone, muscles, clams

            dill, fennel

Food from trade ships and Spanish or Mexican  missions and ranchos.

            rye, corn meal,

            sugar - loaf, granulated, brown, refined, white, rock, and candy

            teas - Chinese and French - dry, brick, pekoe, black, hyssop, green

            wines- French

            coffees,

            herbs and seasonings - sage, rosemary, pepper, ginger, dill, clove

            nutmeg, olive oil, cinnamon, mace, molasses, poppy seed,

            rum, vodkas,

            tobacco - Ukranian, Virginian, cigars - Phillipines or Hawaiin

            garbanzo beans, pinto like beans (frijoles)

            oats, rice, wheat, millet, groat, barley - both grain and flour, English and Boston flours

            seeds for fruit trees, vines

            cranberries, large quantities

            salt

            coffee

            lard

            butter

            mustard

            pepper

            cedar nuts

            hops

            Boston crackers

            sea biscuits

            molasses

Vinegar - general, cider, and wine

            coconut oil

            olive oil

            radishes - came from China

mandioca - a root grown in South America which makes into a thick pudding. Also known as Tapioca.

Woods that were used:

            walnut - for carpentry and nuts

            tan oak - for the tanin used in dying, carpentry, and ship building

            redwood - construction of all the buildings and other carpentry needs

            pine - pitch, turpentine, construction, nuts

            wood ash -making soap