It is also worth noting what was not present at the first Thanksgiving feast. There were no cloudlike heaps of mashed potatoes, since white potatoes had not yet crossed over from South America. There was no gravy either, since the colonists didn’t yet have mills to produce flour.
Whether mashed or roasted, white or sweet, potatoes had no place at the first Thanksgiving. After encountering it in its native South America, the Spanish began introducing the potato to Europeans around 1570.
By fall 1621, the Pilgrims were essentially out of sugar. Translation—no cranberry sauce. Even with sugar, the Pilgrims still wouldn’t have used it to sauce cranberries. That’s because the tart little berry was new to them.
But if one were to create a historically accurate feast, consisting of only those foods that historians are certain were served at the so-called “first Thanksgiving,” there would be slimmer pickings. “Wildfowl was there. Corn, in grain form for bread or for porridge, was there. Venison was there,” says Kathleen Wall.
What was served at the first Thanksgiving in Plymouth?
Shellfish were common, so they probably played a part, as did beans, pumpkins, squashes, and corn (served in the form of bread or porridge), thanks to the Wampanoags. It’s possible, but unlikely, that there was turkey at the first Thanksgiving.
What food did the Pilgrims not eat on Thanksgiving?
It is also worth noting what was not present at the first Thanksgiving feast. There were no cloudlike heaps of mashed potatoes, since white potatoes had not yet crossed over from South America. There was no gravy either, since the colonists didn’t yet have mills to produce flour.
What utensils were not present at the first Thanksgiving feast?
The pilgrims did not use forks.
At the time, forks had not been invented. Instead the pilgrims ate with spoons, knives, and their fingers.
Was there mac and cheese at the first Thanksgiving?
Mac and cheese was a common dish made for Thanksgiving during the Victorian times, according to Forgotten New England, a blog created by writer and photographer Ryan W. Owen. In 1883, Victorians made macaroni and cheese by boiling the noodles and then sometimes adding a can of tomatoes with a layer of grated cheese.
What should you not serve on Thanksgiving?
Here are 10 dishes you should never serve on Thanksgiving.
Trust us, leave the raw vegetable tray behind.
- Canned cranberry sauce.
- Green bean casserole.
- Pecan pie.
- Ambrosia salad.
- Jell-O salad.
- Vegetable tray.
- Corn pudding.
- Giblet gravy.
Was lobster served at the first Thanksgiving?
While turkey is the staple for Thanksgiving today, it may not have been on the menu during what is considered the First Thanksgiving. The First Thanksgiving meal eaten by pilgrims in November 1621 included lobster. They also ate fruits and vegetables brought by Native Americans, mussels, bass, clams, and oysters.
Did they have dessert on the first Thanksgiving?
When was it time for dessert? Anytime! You could eat your dessert before your meat and vegetables if you liked. The Pilgrims put all the food on the table at once – soups, stews, bread, meat, vegetables, desserts.
Did the first Thanksgiving have dessert?
The Desserts
Some records say that the pilgrims filled hollowed out pumpkins with milk, honey and spices and baked it in hot ashes to form a custard.
What 3 foods were probably eaten at the first Thanksgiving?
Fowl. Items such as waterfowl, wildfowl (yes, there were turkeys, but they were wild, not domestic), venison, chestnuts, shellfish, possibly porridge made from corn (sometimes sweetened with molasses, if available), and wild fruits graced that first table, where pilgrims and Wampanoag broke proverbial bread.
Which food was almost certainly served at the first Thanksgiving?
Carrots and Turnips
While Winslow doesn’t mention root vegetables in his letter about the harvest celebration, they may have been some of the foods eaten at the first Thanksgiving. Plimoth Patuxet Museum notes that the Pilgrims grew carrots and turnips in their gardens.
Did they eat berries at the first Thanksgiving?
Blueberries, raspberries, gooseberries, and plums were commonly eaten at the time, sometimes dried and sometimes fresh, but they don’t appear specifically in either of the accounts of the first Thanksgiving.
What did the Pilgrims eat at the first Thanksgiving instead of turkey?
The Wampanoag guests brought five deer with them, so venison was on the menu. The English brought fowl, “probably migrating waterfowl like ducks and geese, which were plentiful in autumn,” says Beahrs. “Governor William Bradford does mention taking turkeys that year, but not in connection to the harvest celebration.”
Did the Pilgrims eat corn at the first Thanksgiving?
There is little written documentation about what food they ate at the First Thanksgiving dinner, but we know there are two main dishes from modern-day Thanksgiving. The Pilgrims served turkey and corn.
Did the Pilgrims have pie at the first Thanksgiving?
And finally – without flour or a stove – there were no breads or pumpkin pies. During their meals, the Pilgrims didn’t use forks, and only ate with spoons, knives and their fingers.
Was the spoon at the first Thanksgiving feast?
The Pilgrims at the first Thanksgiving in 1621 used spoons and knives, but did not have forks.
Was there chicken at the first Thanksgiving?
From other records that survive from Plymouth, we know that other possible foods that may have been part of the Thanksgiving bounty include lobster (really?), rabbit, chicken, squash, beans, chestnuts, hickory nuts, onions, leeks, dried fruits, maple syrup and honey, radishes, cabbage, carrots, eggs, and possibly goat
Was alcohol served at the first Thanksgiving?
“They drank it at the first Thanksgiving, they drank it every day.” The Pilgrims had reasons other than the lack of beer, she notes, for cutting their voyage short. And she points to mentions of the Pilgrims drinking fresh water when it was available as evidence that pure H2O was their drink of choice.