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Before 1776

Native nations built regional cuisines from local land and water, with farming systems and seasonal knowledge that still shape American ingredients.

Native people harvesting wild rice in a canoe among tall rice plants

Before 1776

The First American Table

American culinary history begins with Native nations that knew the land intimately. Corn, beans, squash, wild rice, maple, cranberries, pecans, peppers, tomatoes, and hundreds of regional foods were cultivated, gathered, preserved, traded, and honored long before the republic.

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