The First Thanksgiving: No Peas or Potatoes

When you think about Thanksgiving and the feast you have enjoyed on the holiday all of your life, there are probably common foods that come to mind. Turkey, mashed potatoes, squash, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie all vie for people's favorite Thanksgiving food. Of those, however, only turkey and squash would likely have been served at the very first Thanksgiving in 1621.

1621 was a hard year for the pilgrims. They arrived in Plymouth Harbor in late December 1620 and had to survive the cold winter on only the foods they brought with them. 45 of the 102 travelers died that first winter from scurvy, exposure and other confinement-related illnesses as many remained on the ship during the colony-building process. By November 1621, there were only four adult women left in the colony.

November 1621 also brought joy as the pilgrims, with the help of the native Americans, celebrated their first successful harvest. This meant that they would not starve over the coming winter. The first Thanksgiving feast was a multi-day event filled with food, games and the first relaxation the colonists had known since setting foot in America. The pilgrims invited the native American tribe to the feast to celebrate their shared success.

That first Thanksgiving feast would not have looked much like today's. There were no green bean salads, no mashed potatoes, and no peas.

There would have been a number of different seafood choices harvested from the bay. Fish, clams, and oysters were all available in great numbers and were an important source of protein for the colonists.

Although wild turkeys were likely to be at the table, duck was the fowl of choice, easily hunted by the colonists and abundant. The ducks would have been plucked, gutted, and roasted over open fires for hours. According to accounts of the event, the native Americans hunted deer to present venison as a gift to the English.

Another staple of that first Thanksgiving table would have been corn. The native Americans had been harvesting corn, or maize, for hundreds of years and it was the main reason that colonists survived those first hard winters. Dried corn kernels would have been ground by hand and mixed with salt and water to form a dough. This dough was cooked on hot rocks by the fire and became what is known as Johnny Cakes.

Squash and beans joined corn at the Thanksgiving table. The three vegetables were grown together by the native population and collectively called "The Three Sisters". The corn provided vertical support for the beans, the beans fixed nitrogen into the soil to fertilize the squash and corn, and the squash plants protected the corn from thieves such as raccoons.

What links that first Thanksgiving to the current day celebration is the gratefulness for good food, happy family and good friends. Although the foods themselves change over time, the contentment over the abundance of nourishing dishes has not.