Was Pumpkin Pie At The First Thanksgiving?

by | Last updated on January 24, 2024

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1621 – Early American settlers of the

Plymouth

Colony in southern New England (1620-1692), may have made pumpkin pies, of sorts, without crusts. … This led to serving pumpkin pie at the first Thanksgiving in America about 50 years later.

What was actually served at the first Thanksgiving?

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.

When did pumpkin pie become a Thanksgiving tradition?

First Thanksgiving Meal

By

the early 18th century

pumpkin pie had earned a place at the table, as Thanksgiving became an important New England regional holiday. In 1705 the Connecticut town of Colchester famously postponed its Thanksgiving for a week because there wasn’t enough molasses available to make pumpkin pie.

Is pumpkin pie a Thanksgiving pie?

Pumpkin pie is a dessert pie with a spiced, pumpkin-based custard filling. The pumpkin is a symbol of harvest time, and pumpkin pie is generally eaten during the fall and early winter. In the United States and Canada, it is

usually prepared for Thanksgiving

, and other occasions when pumpkin is in season.

What was the first Thanksgiving pie?

Historians have traced its origins to the ancient Greeks, who are thought to have invented the concept of the pastry shell, and the first-known pie recipe was a

honey and goat cheese concoction made by the Romans

.

What country invented pumpkin pie?

Early American settlers of the

Plymouth Colony in southern New England

(1620-1692), may have made pumpkin pies, of sorts, without crusts. They stewed pumpkins or filled a hollowed out pumpkin shell with milk, honey and spices, and then baked it in hot ashes. Northeastern Native American tribes grew squash and pumpkins.

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.

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 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.

Is pumpkin pie made with real pumpkin?

So

the only real pumpkin pies out there are made by die-hard cooks

who buy fresh pumpkins and then steam them so they can remove and puree the flesh. Everyone else is eating squash pie instead. … They’re all made with squash, squash, and more squash.

How much pumpkin pie spice do I use instead of individual spices?

To use pumpkin spice instead of individual spices,

add up the volume (likely, teaspoons) of individual spices and use that amount of pumpkin spice

. How many teaspoons are in an ounce of pumpkin pie spice? There are 6 teaspoons in 1 ounce of pumpkin pie spice.

Did the Pilgrims eat a lot of pie?

The Pilgrims’ autumn harvest of 1621 was plentiful. …

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.

Is pumpkin pie an American thing?

However, it was their pumpkin pie that, over the following centuries, went on to become an edible icon. Pie plates, T.W. Root’s Hardware Catalogue, 1890.

Pumpkin is native to North America

; it was brought to Europe as part of the “Columbian Exchange”.

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.

Maria Kunar
Author
Maria Kunar
Maria is a cultural enthusiast and expert on holiday traditions. With a focus on the cultural significance of celebrations, Maria has written several blogs on the history of holidays and has been featured in various cultural publications. Maria's knowledge of traditions will help you appreciate the meaning behind celebrations.