The First Thanksgiving
Historians
have also recorded other ceremonies of thanks among European settlers
in North America, including British colonists in Berkeley Plantation,
Virginia. At this site near the Charles River in December of 1619, a
group of British settlers led by Captain John Woodlief knelt in prayer
and pledged "Thanksgiving" to God for their healthy arrival after a long
voyage across the Atlantic. This event has been acknowledged by some
scholars and writers as the official first Thanksgiving among European
settlers on record. Whether at Plymouth, Berkeley Plantation, or
throughout the Americas, celebrations of thanks have held great meaning
and importance over time. The legacy of thanks, and particularly of the
feast, have survived the centuries as people throughout the United
States gather family, friends, and enormous amounts of food for their
yearly Thanksgiving meal.
What Was Actually on the Menu?
What
foods topped the table at the first harvest feast? Historians aren't
completely certain about the full bounty, but it's safe to say the
pilgrims weren't gobbling up pumpkin pie or playing with their mashed
potatoes. Following is a list of the foods that were available to the
colonists at the time of the 1621 feast. However, the only two items
that historians know for sure were on the menu are venison and wild
fowl, which are mentioned in primary sources. The most detailed
description of the "First Thanksgiving" comes from Edward Winslow from A
Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, in 1621:
"Our
harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so
we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered
the fruit of our labors. They four in one day killed as much fowl as,
with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which
time, among other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the
Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king
Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and
feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to
the plantation and bestowed upon our governor, and upon the captain, and
others. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this
time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that
we often wish you partakers of our plenty."
The
pilgrims didn't use forks; they ate with spoons, knives, and their
fingers. They wiped their hands on large cloth napkins which they also
used to pick up hot morsels of food. Salt would have been on the table
at the harvest feast, and people would have sprinkled it on their food.
Pepper, however, was something that they used for cooking but wasn't
available on the table.
In the seventeenth century, a
person's social standing determined what he or she ate. The best food
was placed next to the most important people. People didn't tend to
sample everything that was on the table (as we do today), they just ate
what was closest to them.
Serving in the seventeenth
century was very different from serving today. People weren't served
their meals individually. Foods were served onto the table and then
people took the food from the table and ate it. All the servers had to
do was move the food from the place where it was cooked onto the table.
Pilgrims
didn't eat in courses as we do today. All of the different types of
foods were placed on the table at the same time and people ate in any
order they chose. Sometimes there were two courses, but each of them
would contain both meat dishes, puddings, and sweets.
Our
modern Thanksgiving repast is centered around the turkey, but that
certainly wasn't the case at the pilgrims's feasts. Their meals included
many different meats. Vegetable dishes, one of the main components of
our modern celebration, didn't really play a large part in the feast
mentality of the seventeenth century. Depending on the time of year,
many vegetables weren't available to the colonists.
The
pilgrims probably didn't have pies or anything sweet at the harvest
feast. They had brought some sugar with them on the Mayflower but by the
time of the feast, the supply had dwindled. Also, they didn't have an
oven so pies and cakes and breads were not possible at all. The food
that was eaten at the harvest feast would have seemed fatty by 1990's
standards, but it was probably more healthy for the pilgrims than it
would be for people today. The colonists were more active and needed
more protein. Heart attack was the least of their worries. They were
more concerned about the plague and pox.
People tend to
think of English food at bland, but, in fact, the pilgrims used many
spices, including cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, pepper, and dried fruit, in
sauces for meats. In the seventeenth century, cooks did not use
proportions or talk about teaspoons and tablespoons. Instead, they just
improvised. The best way to cook things in the seventeenth century was
to roast them. Among the pilgrims, someone was assigned to sit for hours
at a time and turn the spit to make sure the meat was evenly done.
Since
the pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians had no refrigeration in the
seventeenth century, they tended to dry a lot of their foods to preserve
them. They dried Indian corn, hams, fish, and herbs.
The
biggest meal of the day for the colonists was eaten at noon and it was
called noonmeat or dinner. The housewives would spend part of their
morning cooking that meal. Supper was a smaller meal that they had at
the end of the day. Breakfast tended to be leftovers from the previous
day's noonmeat.
In a pilgrim household, the adults sat
down to eat and the children and servants waited on them. The foods that
the colonists and Wampanoag Indians ate were very similar, but their
eating patterns were different. While the colonists had set eating
patterns—breakfast, dinner, and supper—the Wampanoags tended to eat when
they were hungry and to have pots cooking throughout the day.
Source: Kathleen Curtin, Food Historian at Plimoth
Happy Thanksgiving Shekinah Fellowship!
No comments:
Post a Comment