"This is a unique, interesting and often humorous book on how various foods were developed in America, or accquired, often by devious means, in order to fill the bellies and please the pallets of our ancestors. The toil, drudgery and improvising of the Pilgrim and Puritan female cooks is included. New England was America's first ""Bread Basket"" and the ""Sacred Cod"" and ""Blessed Bean"" were the first staples. Chapters in the book include: ""The Great Tomato War,"" ""America's First Fruits,"" and ""Candy, Coffee and the Creature."""