Take a tour back in time and try these pilgrim Thanksgiving recipes for some flavors of the past.
RELATED: 25 Classic Pioneer Woman Recipes For Thanksgiving
Ye Olde Pilgrim Thanksgiving Recipes to Enjoy Today
Pilgrim Food: What Did the Pilgrims Eat on Thanksgiving
I’ve always wondered, what did the pilgrims eat every day? As far as I know, things were prepared simpler back then… Leaving aesthetics much to be desired.
But hey, they only had so many ingredients, and definitely no supermarkets, so let’s give them some credit for creativity! I did a little research on “what do pilgrims eat?”
The Thanksgiving feast we know today is nothing like what the pilgrims had 391 years ago. Their pickings were much slimmer, but they were able to make a beautiful feast leaving them satisfied, full, and grateful.
1. Roasted Butternut Squash
Okay, so this may be a modern way to prepare this but I’m sure everyone will enjoy this roasted butternut squash.The leeks, bacon, and a smoky-sweet apple glaze bring the wonderful fall flavors together.
2. Stewed Pumpkin
Just gather all the ingredients and make this stewed pumpkin in just one pot. It's a standing dish perfect for fall and winter.
3. Hardtack
Have a taste of history by making these simple biscuits the civil war soldiers ate. Hardtack is so easy even your kids can make them, plus it's a survival food item you should know of just in case…
Place beans, corn, turkey meat, onion or garlic powder, and water in a large pot. Simmer over medium heat and cook for about 2 1/2 hours. Stir occasionally.
When the beans are tender, break up turkey meat and remove the skin and bones. Throw in green beans and squash, and simmer over low heat until they are tender.
RELATED: Thanksgiving Table Ideas | This Is Everything You Need For A Perfect Thanksgiving Day
5. Boiled Bread Recipe
Yes, boiled bread. Before people had ovens, they had to boil their bread.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup cornflour
1L slightly boiled water
1/2 cup dried cranberries, blueberries, and currants
1/2 cup crushed nuts
Maple syrup to taste (optional)
Instructions:
Thoroughly mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Slowly add slightly boiled water a spoonful at a time.
When it becomes thick and sticky, shape round patties.
Return water to a slight rolling boil and drop in one or two patties, Make sure they do not stick to the bottom.
Remove the bread when they begin to float.
6. Curd Fritters Recipe
They did it a little differently in the past but here’s a modern take on this pilgrim recipe you can follow today.
So named after the cornmeal the natives gave them upon arrival.
9. Easy Thanksgiving Pilgrim’s Hat Cookie Treats
Okay, so maybe the pilgrims didn’t eat these yummy Thanksgiving pilgrim's hat cookie treats but it's actually pretty easy, so it's sure to be a definite winner.
10. Mussel Stew
When the pilgrims arrived, one of the most abundant kinds of seafood they found are mussels. And this stew is easy to prepare.
Ingredients:
2 kls mussels
2 tbsp butter
chopped parsley
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 cloves of garlic, minced
salt andpepper
Instructions:
Scrub the mussels clean. In a large pot, place a cup of water and all ingredients aside from the mussels. Bring it to a boil. Add the mussels and let it a simmer until all of the mussels have opened fully.
Want to see what food the pilgrims probably ate for Thanksgiving? Check out this video from Top Tenz:
Our Thanksgiving menu today is already totally different, yet the festivities and the spirit still remain the same. No matter what is in store for your Thanksgiving menu this year, be sure to prepare it with a more grateful heart.
What do you think of these pilgrim Thanksgiving recipes? Will you give it a try? Let me know in the comment section below.
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14 Homemade Stuffing Recipes For The Perfect Thanksgiving Feast
Beekeeping In Winter: Preparing Beehives For The Cold Season
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The Pilgrims, also known as the Pilgrim Fathers, were the English settlers who traveled to America on the Mayflower and established the Plymouth Colony in Plymouth, Massachusetts (John Smith had named this territory New Plymouth in 1620, sharing the name of the Pilgrims' final departure port of Plymouth, Devon).
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Pilgrims_(Plymouth_Colony)
eat for Thanksgiving,” the answer is both surprising and expected. Turkey (probably), venison, seafood, and all of the vegetables that they had planted and harvested that year—onions, carrots, beans, spinach, lettuce, and other greens.
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.
Cranberries were eaten by Native Americans and used as a potent red dye, but sweetened cranberry relish was almost certainly not on the first Thanksgiving table. The pilgrims had long exhausted their sugar supply by November 1621.
The first Thanksgiving banquet consisted of foods like venison, bean stew and hard biscuits. And while corn and pumpkin had their place on the table, they hardly resembled the cornbread stuffing and pumpkin pie we feast on today.
Massasoit sent some of his own men to hunt deer for the feast and for three days, the English and native men, women, and children ate together. The meal consisted of deer, corn, shellfish, and roasted meat, different from today's traditional Thanksgiving feast. They played ball games, sang, and danced.
In 1621, those Pilgrims did hold a three-day feast, which was attended by members of the Wampanoag tribe. However, typically, when these settlers had what they referred to as "thanksgiving" observances, they actually fasted.
But there is no indication that turkey was served. 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.
It's not likely that the Pilgrims and the Indians consumed any bread dressing, mashed potatoes or pumpkin pie. In fact, it is not likely that they ate any roast turkey either. The only items listed in Winslow's journal were “venison and wild fowl,” and it is likely that dried corn and fruit filled out the bill of fare.
Which president refused to recognize Thanksgiving? Thomas Jefferson was famously the only Founding Father and early president who refused to declare days of thanksgiving and fasting in the United States.
Potatoes—white or sweet—would not have been featured on the 1621 table, and neither would sweet corn. Bread-based stuffing was also not made, though the Pilgrims may have used herbs or nuts to stuff birds.
But back in 1621, they literally had no place at the table. Potatoes had only been introduced to Europe around 1570 when Spanish colonists brought them back after learning about them in South America. In 1621, the vegetable had not yet made its way to the colonies.
The “first Thanksgiving,” as a lot of folks understand it, was in 1621 between the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony and the Wampanoag* tribe in present-day Massachusetts. While records indicate that this celebration did happen, there are a few misconceptions we need to clear up.
According to some accounts, early English settlers in North America improvised by hollowing out pumpkins (which were plentiful), filling the shells with goat's milk, honey, and spices to make a custard, then they roasted the filled pumpkins whole in hot ash from the fire.
Our modern definition of Thanksgiving revolves around eating turkey, but this was more of an occasion for religious observance in past centuries. The Pilgrims would most likely consider their sober 1623 day of prayer the first actual Thanksgiving, according to the History of Massachusetts Blog.
Today, about 4,000-5,000 Wampanoag live in New England. There are multiple Wampanoag communities - Aquinnah, Mashpee, Herring Pond, Assonet, Chappaquiddick, Pocasset, and Seaconke - with smaller groups and communities across the United States and world.
In addition to wildfowl and deer, the colonists and Wampanoag probably ate eels and shellfish, such as lobster, clams and mussels. “They were drying shellfish and smoking other sorts of fish,” says Wall.
During the Mayflower's voyage, the Pilgrims' main diet would have consisted primarily of a cracker-like biscuit ("hard tack"), salt pork, dried meats including cow tongue, various pickled foods, oatmeal and other cereal grains, and fish. The primary beverage for everyone, including children, was beer.
Indian corn was part of almost every meal in Plymouth Colony. Along with Indian corn, the Pilgrims also grew some beans, pumpkins, wheat, barley, oats and peas in their fields. In the gardens near their houses, women grew many different kinds of herbs and vegetables, like parsley, lettuce, spinach, carrots and turnips.
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.
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