Thanksgiving....."and serve it forth"

“…and serve it forth”

In 1621, the surviving Plymouth colonists who had arrived on the Mayflower and the Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast.  The menu for the first Thanksgiving feast was quite different than ours is today.

A recipe from “The English Housewife” from 1615 recommends boiling chickens, young turkeys or any house fowl daintily…with the bellies as full of parsley as they can hold, then lay the chickens, and trim the dish with sippets (toasted bread )…and so serve it forth.”  Other foods and recipes that were mentioned in “Giving Thanks:  Thanksgiving Recipes and History, from Pilgrims to Pumpkin Pie” by Kathleen Curtin, Sandra L. Oliver, and Plimoth Plantation were:   Seethed Mussels with Parsley and Vinegar, Stewed Pumpkin, Stewed Turkey with Herbs and Onions, dried Indian corn, dried ham , cod, eel, clams, mussels, bass, peas, corn, beans, radishes, carrots, onions, walnuts, chestnuts, acorns, cranberries (but they didn’t have sugar so there was no cranberry sauce).  The same problem precluded them from making pumpkin pie—plus they didn’t have ovens to bake the pies in!

There were 53 Pilgrims at the First Thanksgiving; four married women, 5 adolescent girls, 9 adolescent boys, 13 young children and 22 men.  In the seventeenth century, people ate with spoons, knives and their fingers  (no forks).  There would be salt on the table to use, but pepper was only used in cooking and not added at the table. 

For all the menu differences from 1621 to 2011, Thanksgiving is a reminder of the bounty of the Earth and the importance of hard work and cooperation.  Now, “seethed mussels” or boiled turkeys are not standard menu items.  Whatever your meal is, “serve it forth” with friends, family and a thankful heart