Fresh foods were hard to come by in the harsh New England climate, and because many of the early settlers were struggling, they did not eat expensive things like meat very often. Lobsters were plentiful by the coast, but oddly, the Puritans did not like to eat them. Breads baked in small ovens located near the main fireplace were usually part of every meal. There's a theory that ergot, a fungus found in rye flour, caused hallucinations and erratic behavior and was at the root of the witch hysteria, but this theory is widely questioned and falls apart when one considers that entire households would have been affected, and there is no evidence this happened.
Men hunted for game such as rabbits, grouse, pheasants, squirrels, and deer. These would usually be cooked in a stew with root vegetables such as carrots, turnips, or onions, and would hang over a pot all day to cook to a point of tenderness. Winter squashes were grown and baked or boiled and served with butter. Most colonists brewed cider or beer and this was drunk with almost every meal; tea was imported at great expense from England and so it wasn't common among the lower classes.
