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Wednesday, November 22, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
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Th anksgiving menu – 1621
By Jim Cornelius, Editor
Venison, waterfowl, seafood and beer. The
actual menu for the “First Thanksgiving” in
Plymouth Plantation in 1621 was a little differ-
ent from — and richer than — our “traditional”
menu. It makes feasting like a Pilgrim sound
like a pretty good deal.
The great feast made by the Pilgrims and
their Wampanoag friends in 1621 was really
more of a harvest celebration than a formal
“thanksgiving,” which would have been a
wholly religious and more solemn observance.
However, that does not mean that giving
thanks was not central to the affair. Both cul-
tures — equally observant in their own manner
— would have certainly given thanks to their
Creator for his bounty.
And the feast was bountiful.
The Pilgrims who had landed in Plymouth
a year earlier had had a very rough go — a ter-
rible winter, beset by disease that killed half of
the Mayflower’s roster. The Wampanoag tribes
had been ravaged by an earlier epidemic, prob-
ably of plague (see related column, page 16).
The survivors had reason to celebrate a fine
harvest — of crops the English had learned to
plant from the natives and of nature’s bounty
from the surrounding forests and the coastal
waters of New England.
That first Thanksgiving, which probably
took place in September or October, was a
three-day affair, held outdoors at the Plymouth
settlement. In addition to feasting, there were
shooting contests and physical games where
the Pilgrims mingled happily with the visiting
Wampanoag.
What was on the menu? Sorry, no pumpkin
pie or cranberry sauce. Some informed specu-
lation based on scanty reports by leaders of the
Plymouth Plantation gives us a pretty good idea
as to what was laid on the log puncheon tables
in the fall of 1621.
Edward Winslow reported back to England:
“And God be praised we had a good
increase… Our harvest being gotten in, our
governor sent four men on fowling, that so we
might after a special manner rejoice together
after we had gathered the fruit of our labors.
They four in one day killed as much fowl as,
with a little help beside, served the company
almost a week. At which time, amongst other
recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the
Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest
their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety
men, whom for three days we entertained
and feasted, and they went out and killed five
deer, which they brought to the plantation and
bestowed on our governor, and upon the cap-
tain and others. And although it be not always
so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by
the goodness of God, we are so far from want
that we often wish you partakers of our plenty.”
National Geographic, which this year pro-
duced a two-part drama based upon the story of
the Plymouth colony, notes that the four men
sent fowling probably returned with goose and
duck, both of which would have been plentiful
in the region in the fall.
Based on Winslow’s report, we know for
sure that venison was a centerpiece of the feast.
Roasting was the likely preparation.
Plymouth was a coastal settlement, so the
bounty of the sea was also at hand to add a little
surf-and-turf flavor to the festivities. Nathaniel
Philbrick, author of “Mayflower: A Story of
Courage, Community and War,” believes that
striped bass, bluefish and cod would have been
on the table. Other seafood like lobster and
mussels were common, so it’s a fair bet that
they’d have been part of the feast.
National Geographic cites the likely pres-
ence of cornbread: “The colonists had just har-
vested their initial corn crop, so it would have
been appropriate to include it on the menu. But
it wasn’t the sweet yellow corn that we serve
today as a side dish. Instead, they raised Indian
corn, which was dried and pounded into meal
for baking.”
Squash was also harvested in the 1621 crop
and might have been boiled or roasted and
served in the feast. Stews were common fare
of the day, so a variety of meats and vegetables
probably ended up together in the pot.
What about turkey?
The noble bird may have given up pride of
place to venison, but it’s pretty certain that our
modern tradition has a legitimate founding in
the early history. Plymouth governor William
Bradford wrote that “… besides waterfowl
there was great store of wild turkeys, of which
they took many…”
Oh, and beer!
The Pilgrims were not abstemious — they
loved their beer. They’d brought some on the
Mayflower, and Philbrick notes that they raised
barley in the 1621 crop, so they could lay down
some home brew.
So, the first Thanksgiving meal was a little
more varied than the feast we consider tradi-
tional, but it’s really pretty close. All you have
to do to celebrate like a Pilgrim is add some
venison and seafood, substitute shooting for
football — and pour a nice, tall tankard of beer.
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PHOTO POBLIC DOMAIN
“Waiting” by J.L.G. Ferris. The first Thanksgiving menu wasn’t exantly like the modern one.
