What Was Eaten At The First Thanksgiving?

by | Last updated on January 24, 2024

, , , ,

Both the Pilgrims and members of the Wampanoag

What food did they eat 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.

What did the Pilgrims actually eat on Thanksgiving?

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.

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

.

What dessert did they eat at the first Thanksgiving?

It turns out that the desserts on the big day were more likely sweetened by something else entirely:

Dried grapes and raisins

! According to If You Were at the First Thanksgiving, Anne Kamma’s history book for kids: Perhaps you would have eaten cornmeal pudding sweetened with dried strawberries or grapes.

How many babies were born on the Mayflower?


One baby

was born during the journey. Elizabeth Hopkins gave birth to her first son, appropriately named Oceanus, on Mayflower. Another baby boy, Peregrine White, was born to Susanna White after Mayflower arrived in New England.

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 drink?

“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’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.

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].

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 eat lobster?


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. … Today, lobster might not be a food associated with a traditional Thanksgiving menu, but it should be!

Why do we eat cranberries for Thanksgiving?

According to University of Maine Cooperative Extension, American Indians used cranberries as a food source, to dye fabric and as medicine. … Due to the importance of cranberries in the 1500s and their abundance, it is believed that

the pilgrims and the American Indians would have eaten them at the first Thanksgiving

.

What did pilgrims eat on the Mayflower?

The passengers brought

dried meat and fish, grains and flour, dried fruit, cheese, hard biscuits, and other foods with them

. They had to eat the food they brought until they could plant and harvest a garden. But, they caught and ate fish and wild game once they landed in North America.

What did the Pilgrims eat for 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 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.

Sophia Kim
Author
Sophia Kim
Sophia Kim is a food writer with a passion for cooking and entertaining. She has worked in various restaurants and catering companies, and has written for several food publications. Sophia's expertise in cooking and entertaining will help you create memorable meals and events.