There are only two surviving documents that reference the original Thanksgiving harvest meal. They describe a feast of freshly killed deer,
assorted wildfowl, a bounty of cod and bass
, and flint, a native variety of corn harvested by the Native Americans, which was eaten as corn bread and porridge.
What did the first pilgrims eat on Thanksgiving eat?
- Turkey. There’s a good chance the Pilgrims and Wampanoag did in fact eat turkey as part of that very first Thanksgiving. …
- Mashed Potatoes. Keep dreaming. …
- Cranberry Sauce. …
- Corn. …
- Pumpkin Pie. …
- Lobster.
Did they eat lobster 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 eat turkey and pumpkin pie to celebrate the first Thanksgiving?
There was no pumpkin pie
—they didn’t have a baking oven in Plimoth Plantation—but there might have been pumpkin served other ways, since both the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag ate pumpkin and other indigenous squashes.
Did they eat turkey at the first Thanksgiving?
So venison was a major ingredient, as well as fowl, but that likely included geese and ducks. Turkeys are a possibility, but were not a common food in that time. Pilgrims grew onions and herbs. …
It’s possible, but unlikely, that there was turkey at the first Thanksgiving
.
Did the Pilgrims eat with the natives?
You can see throughout their journals that they were always nervous and, unfortunately, when they were nervous they were very aggressive. So the Pilgrims didn’t invite the Wampanoags to sit down and eat turkey and drink some beer? …
People did eat together
[but not in what is portrayed as “the first Thanksgiving].
Why do we eat turkey on Thanksgiving?
For meat,
the Wampanoag brought deer, and the Pilgrims provided wild “fowl
.” Strictly speaking, that “fowl” could have been turkeys, which were native to the area, but historians think it was probably ducks or geese. …
What’s the real history of Thanksgiving?
In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Native Americans shared an
autumn harvest feast
that is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. For more than two centuries, days of thanksgiving were celebrated by individual colonies and states.
What did the Pilgrims have for breakfast?
During the Mayflower’s voyage, the Pilgrims’ main diet would have consisted primarily of a
cracker-like biscuit (“hard tack”)
, salt pork, dried meats including cow tongue, various pickled foods, oatmeal and other cereal grains, and fish. The primary beverage for everyone, including children, was beer.
What did the Pilgrims eat and drink on Thanksgiving?
“What the pilgrims drank was
fermented apple juice, or what we call hard cider
. And that’s because it was something they were used to drinking back in England. Cider was very, very popular in Europe and they were lucky – several varieties of apples are native to America,” said Pearce.
What did the Pilgrims do to the natives?
What they found when they arrived was a village that had been decimated by disease. While the Wampanoags considered the site a cursed place of death and tragedy, the Pilgrims saw the
deaths of the natives as a sign from God that this was where they should settle
. And so began Plimoth Plantation.
Did the Pilgrims have lobster?
While the New England Lobster feast is a year round tradition older than America itself, New England seafood was a part of the first Thanksgiving. According to historical lore, the pilgrims first learned about the lobster from Native Americans.
What difficulties did the Pilgrims face?
The weather was much colder than what the Pilgrims had prepared for and the first winter was devastating. The Pilgrims
struggled to build homes
, and many families crowded into the few homes that were built. Food was scarce, and many Pilgrims starved to death that first winter.
Why did the Pilgrims eat pumpkin pie?
Both the Pilgrims and members of the Wampanoag tribe ate pumpkins and other squashes indigenous to New England—possibly even during the harvest festival—but the fledgling colony lacked the butter and wheat flour necessary for making pie crust. Moreover, settlers hadn’t yet constructed an oven for baking.
What did the Pilgrims eat everyday?
Just like us today, the Pilgrims usually ate three meals a day. There was probably a
thick porridge or bread made from Indian corn
and some kind of meat, fowl or fish. Supper was a smaller meal, often just leftovers from dinner.
Why do we eat pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving?
The colonists and indigenous people ate pumpkins and squash frequently in the 1600s, so gourds were probably served at the first Thanksgiving. … Since pumpkin was already associated with Thanksgiving dinner, it makes sense that the colonists began serving the
pie at the big meal once the recipe was popularized
.
