Life in New France

Clothing

The women made and repaired the family's clothes. Women wore long dresses made out of wool, linen or hemp, or long skirts and blouses. The material was spun and woven at home. In the winter, the women layered overgarments (shawls, scarves or capes) over their dresses. They always wore a bonnet tied with a ribbon at the chin.The men wore deerskin or mooseskin jackets and pants, held up by a leather belt. The men wore a traditional woolen hat called a tuque. These hats often had a tassle at the tip and were brightly coloured.

Root cellars in Quebec

To keep warm, both men and women wore woolen underclothing and knit stockings. Gloves and shoes were made from leather. In winter they wore leather moccasins and lined their outer clothes with fur for extra warmth.The clothes were dyed various colours using plant dyes shown to them by the Native peoples.FOODThe habitants grew most of their own food. They grew wheat for bread, which they baked in outdoor clay ovens. Bread was one of the staples (most important) foods in New France. It was made daily, and it needed to be since the average person in New France ate two loaves per day.They also had barley and oats. They grew vegetables such as peas, beans, onions, carrots and cucumbers. These were kept in the root cellar for the winter. Jams were made from berries in the fall. Fruit was also dried. There was plenty of hunting and fishing. Habitants ate bacon, pork, chicken, venison, moose, wild ducks and geese as well as different varieties of fish, including eels.

Food

tourtieres

French pea soup

making maple syrup

The habitants traded for molasses and spices, which were used to flavour their cooking. Milk, bread and pancakes were served at breakfast. Soup, baked beans, meat or fish with lots of bread was served regularly. Pea soup was a traditional food as well as meat pies called tourtières. For dessert, a favourite was maple sugar pie, made with maple syrup and brown sugar. Natives in the area taught the habitants how to boil the sap from sugar maple trees to make maple syrup. Maple sap was also used to make maple sugar and hard maple candies.The habitants drank milk, apple cider and homemade beer.

Maple syrup

Sugar maple trees, and therefore maple syrup were very abundant in New France. Over time, the people of New France developed a love of very sweet dishes and desserts. The amount of sugar in their diets was dramatically more than virtually every other culture in the world!! Take a look at the this traditional recipe for a New France maple sugar pie:Ingredients1 single 9-inch pie shell1 cup brown sugar1½ cups maple syrup½ cup cream or milk4 eggs beaten separately (separate eggs and beat whites separately)2 tablespoons melted butter¼ teaspoon nutmegMix all ingredients except egg whites. Fold in egg whites. Pour mixture into pie crust. Bake at 350ºF for 35-40 minutes.

Meal timeThe typical person in New France ate four times per day. The first meal was eaten a few hours after getting up in the morning. It was usually pancakes (with maple syrup, of course), bread and milk. The noon meal (12:00) and a meal at around 4:00 pm was typically taken to the men who were working in the fields. This allowed the men to use most of the daylight hours for working, and not wasting time walking back and forth to the house for meals. These meals were usually bread, cheese and cold meats. The noon meals was usually a little bigger than the meal at 4:00.

Meals continuedThe largest meal of the day was eaten around 8:00 pm after all of the daily work had been done.This meal started with a soup, then a meat or fish dish, and vegetables and bread. This was washed down with plenty of milk, cider or homemade beer.For dessert, something sweet was always on the menu. This may include maple sugar pie, fresh berry pie, sugared fruit with cream, or something as simple as maple syrup over a slice or bread…just as long as it was sweet!The meals in New France were seldom elaborate, yet food was plentiful, and the variety was enough to keep the citizens happy and healthy.