First Thanksgiving Meal Pilgrim Thanksgiving Pilgrims Thanksgiving
No stuffing? No Pumpkin pie? No cranberry sauce? No mashed potatoes? What are you crazy? What kind of Thanksgiving dinner is this? The first kind. For those weak of heart a word of caution: the Pilgrims did not have a "traditional" Thanksgiving meal. Though this may take your breath away, given some perspective, it can help us get to the true meaning of this very special holiday.
In 1621, the year widely accepted as the first Thanksgiving, there weren't many different ways to cook something. What it boiled down to was roasting on a spit over an open flame. Imagine sitting for hours turning the spit slowly round and round and round. Contrast this with throwing the bird in the oven and walking away. This spit was put to good use roasting the different meats of the time. While wild fowl would have made an appearance it was not just in the form of turkey. There was also duck, goose, partridge and even swan. Venison also would have been on the menu as we know from A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth.
Some vegetables were available such as pumpkin, peas, onions and carrots but potatoes were uncommon. Also vegetables, while integral to today's Thanksgiving, would have taken a backseat to the proteins for the pilgrims. Such a meal would be considered unbalanced by our standards but the pilgrims led a much more active lifestyle and therefore could take the higher fat and protein levels of their diet.
One common misconception of "English" food is that it was very plain but many spices would have been available for use. Nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger were at the ready while pepper would have been present on the table. These spices would have added some extra flavor to both the cooking and the drying of food which was done for preservation. Also the next day's breakfast was usually the meal from the previous day in order to make the most use of the food leaving nothing to waste.
With these inconveniences in mind contrast with it our meals of today. Adds some perspective doesn't it? We can take what's on our table for granted. After all just walk into any grocery store and anything you want is at your fingertips. You didn't have to hunt it down, harvest it, or sit turning a pit for hours to cook it. So, next time you bite into the pumpkin pie or creamy mashed potatoes remember that it was not always so. Remember, in the words from Edward Winslow, "by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty."
