BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The 12th season of the PBS program “A Taste of History” began filming this week in the Lehigh Valley after taking a break during the pandemic.
Show creator and host Chef Walter Staib says the first episode will focus on Bethlehem’s Moravian cuisine.
“Moravian food is nothing more than really classical southern German cuisine,” Staib says. “Healthy for the most part as well, too.”
A cooking assistant dressed in traditional colonial attire was on-hand to help Staib whip up a Moravian-style meal, including fried beans, beets and salad. The veggies were all picked fresh from the garden at Burnside Plantation where the episode was filmed.
Staib says traditional Moravian dishes mainly consist of vegetables. Meats like pork and chicken were served when they were available. Desserts, Staib says, included sugar cookies and cake.
“Not too much meat. A lot of soups, a lot of salad. Some sausages,” Staib says. “Depending on how they lived, it would be cooked in large quantities so that everybody could partake.”
He says the German-speaking Protestant group settled in Pennsylvania in the 1700s where they found religious freedom.
The episode of “A Taste of History” featuring Bethlehem streams on the PBS Passport platform next spring.
