The First Thanksgiving Meal: Anything but Traditional

What do you imagine the Pilgrims and the Indians ate that first year? Actually, the meal was nothing like what we eat for a "traditional" Thanksgiving dinner. What they had on their table would raise your cholesterol - literally.

The Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock in 1620. It was already the end of fall and winter was closing in. Several people including men were ill from the Atlantic crossing. This meant fewer people to help get the settlement started.

That first winter was tough. They had a few buildings, but mostly stayed on the ship. They had enough supplies to make it through but they were dwindling. This was not what they signed on for or did they know what they were getting themselves into?

Fleeing in search of religious freedom did have its downside, but so does everything that is worth fighting for. Unfortunately as well, the Pilgrims didn't know how to farm the land to make it self-sufficient. During their early days, they met the Wampanoag Indians led by Massasoit.

The Indians were native to the New World and used the land not only for food but for clothing. They must have been a welcomed and fearful sight to the Pilgrims. Neither knew if the other were friend or foe.

The Indians could see the Pilgrim's plight right off. Somewhere between the language barrier and the fear, the two learned to work together. The Indians shared their knowledge of hunting and planting and the Pilgrims shared their faith.

After the fall harvest, the two groups sat down and shared a meal. The first Thanksgiving meal did not take place on the fourth Thursday of November. It occurred sometime earlier than that.

In our Thanksgiving Day plays at school, the students dress as pilgrims and Indians and catch turkeys for the feast table. In fact, turkey probably wasn't on the table that first Thanksgiving meal. But, there were plenty of other meats. Meat provides protein and in a place where you work from sun up to sundown, protein is what you need.

They would have had plenty of game. Duck, maybe pheasant, and definitely deer would have been the main courses for that Thanksgiving. Meat was roasted over open spits because there were no ovens yet. Without the oven, there were no piping hot buttered rolls either. Bread requires yeast and an oven so no bread on the table either.

What vegetables they had would be dictated by the harvest season. And, they ate with their hands. If there was silverware it was rudimentary and resembled spoons. We've all seen the movies where the king sits at the table and twists the huge leg off of some type of fowl to eat. That was it. They did wipe their mouths, though.

Is this what you imagined? Probably not at all. Over the years, we have come to believe a lot of tall tales about the first Thanksgiving meal. Suffice it to say, the purpose of the meal still rings true-cooperation and thankfulness.

SOURCE:

http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=Minisite_Generic&content_type_id=872&display_order=1&mini_id=1083