WEST MILFORD — That delicious, calorie-laden feast you enjoyed on Thanksgiving Day is now another holiday memory. After consuming the tasty leftovers for a few days a direct correlation may be found between the stuffing, pumpkin pie and mashed potatoes and the escalating numbers on your scale. And so the holiday eating binges begin and the ensuing January promises of shedding those extra pounds.
The origins
The first “Thanksgiving” dinner in 1621 was known as an autumn harvest feast, and it can be safely assumed there were no sweet potatoes with mini marshmallows served. The diners, the Plymouth colonists and the local Native Americans, feasted on foods lighter in calories and carbs than today’s usual fare. Because the Mayflower’s sugar supply was all but gone and the settlers lacked flour and butter, there were no pies to round out the meal - or the figure.
Leaving England in Sept. 1620, the 102 travelers endured a 66-day hazardous crossing in search of a home in the New World. Arriving further north than planned, the Mayflower dropped anchor in Massachusetts Bay and the Pilgrims began to establish a colony, although most of them stayed on board during that first severe winter.
It was a harsh existence and the emaciated Pilgrims suffered from exposure, scurvy and communicable diseases. Only half the crew and passengers lived until spring.
When the surviving colonists went ashore, they were greeted by an English speaking Abenaki Indian who soon introduced them to Squanto, a Pawtuxet Native American. It was a fortuitous meeting since Squanto taught the Pilgrims how to grow corn, tap maple trees and fish in the rivers. Importantly, he helped forge an alliance between the local tribe of Wampanoags and the settlers.
After a successful first corn harvest, the colonists’s governor arranged for a celebratory feast with the local Indians. Although the precise menu is unknown, a colonist’s journal indicates that the governor sent four men on a “fowling mission” and the Wampanoags brought along five deer to the feast. Most likely the food was prepared using native spices and cooking methods.
What’s for dinner - 1621
“Pass the eels, please.” You probably don’t hear that at your holiday table but food historians believe that eels, lobsters, clams and mussels were most likely served up in 1621. By studying historic cook books, written descriptions of colonial gardens and archeological remains, including pollen samples, educated guesses help set the first Thanksgiving table.
The turkey was not the star attraction and the noted waterfowl most likely included goose and duck and maybe even a swan or two. Passenger pigeons, now extinct in the wild, were plentiful at the time. Small birds were spit-roasted while the larger fowl was boiled first, then roasted. It’s possible there was an onion and herb stuffing. But no gravy.
While there was corn it was not the niblets in butter sauce variety but rather in grain form, used for bread and porridge. The forests provided chestnuts, walnuts and beechnuts, and there were beans, squash and pumpkin. Cranberries were known to the Indians but were often mixed with dried deer meat and melted fat. Not exactly what you’d serve in your grandmother’s cut glass dish. The white potato had not yet migrated from South America and the sweet potato, a Caribbean crop, was unknown in the colonies.
Thankful for their survival and the life saving assistance of the Native Americans, 53 colonists sat down beside 90 Wampanoags and feasted for three days.
Chowing down - 2012
It’s estimated that 46 million turkeys give up their lives each Thanksgiving so that Americans can sit around a table and enjoy a sumptuous meal and the company of family and friends. Beside the juicy bird will be many traditional side dishes: creamed onions, turnips, green bean casserole and don’t forget those fresh-baked dinner rolls. Next up is dessert and by this time a good number of guests have loosened their belts and some are eyeing the couch for a post-dinner nap.
All in all a far different celebration 391 years after the first feast but hopefully one still celebrated with a thankful heart.
And don’t worry about those pounds you pack on - you’ll probably lose them shoveling snow for the next few months.
Sources: www.quotegarden.com
www.history.com, www.smithsonianmag.com