A new documentary exploring Revolutionary-era food has given host Capri Cafaro a firsthand look at the ingenuity that helped colonial Americans adapt, survive and ultimately break from Great Britain.As Americans celebrate the nation's 250th anniversary, Cafaro said the biggest lesson from making the "America the Bountiful: America's 250th Anniversary Special" was seeing how colonists transformed local crops, livestock and wild game into a self-sustaining food system when European imports were no longer reliable."Food is a really interesting anchor, culturally," Cafaro told Fox News Digital."It has an opportunity to tell infinite stories from economics to agriculture to the environment to science."GEORGE WASHINGTON'S 1757 BEER RECIPE BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE AHEAD OF AMERICA'S 250TH BIRTHDAYIn planning the show's 250th anniversary special, Cafaro said she was "really looking to identify the ways in which colonial settlers were able to adapt in North America without being able to rely on European imports."She traveled to landmarks of colonial America to trace the roots of foods that are integral to the nation's palate today, including cheese and whiskey.American colonists had to be creative and resourceful to become food-independent from Great Britain, a new documentary hosted by Capri Cafaro, right, shows.
(America the Bountiful)Colonists turned milk into cheese because fresh milk spoiled quickly.They used the byproducts of the grain they milled for many different things, including making alcohol, Cafaro said.In the documentary, Cafaro is shown sampling whiskey produced as it would have been at George Washington's Virginia estate, Mount Vernon.
She described it with a laugh as "alcohol-grain-forward" and contrasted it with a whiskey suited to "more of a modern-day palate."CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE NEWSThe most challenging experience Cafaro said she had while making the show involved hunting and eating small game.Squirrel pie and stew were popular in 18th- and 19th-...