Thanksgiving Menu Today And Then

Another Thanksgiving has come. This is a most unusual holiday, artificial than real. It is supposed to celebrate the survival of the original European settlers to America hundreds of years ago by re-enacting a dinner that they had with some Native Americans (or Indians) who foolishly saved them from the elements and hardships long enough for the settlers to eventually take their land and systematically exterminated them. Hmmmmmmmm I guess the American Indians don't eat Thanksgiving dinner today.
On Thanksgiving Day people gather at the unlucky relative's house (the one who is responsible for preparing most of the food and hosting) to over-eat and banter with relatives they either don't ever see during the year or just don't like at all. So the crazy uncle who chats about his abduction on a UFO, or senile Grandam Bertha who flashes the men and thinks she is still 18, will entertain the crowd. If the over-eating doesn't give the guest indigestion, the company will. At Thanksgiving most of the guests probably give thanks that they only have to see each other once a year.
But, forget that. I come today to mention the food served. You know the traditional American Thanksgiving foods. The media always fixates on them, particularly the movies where every Thanksgiving dinner has a huge turkey as a centerpiece. Well, that's accurate to the extent that more people serve turkey for Thanksgiving than other meat or seafood courses. Besides the turkey, ham or seafood (in my area of the country we often have a seafood based soup or side with the meal) there are standards as to what is served among the variations as to region. There is cranberry sauce or turkey gravy for the turkey, yams, mashed potatoes, dressing of different sorts (cornbread dressing is a favorite), squash, green beans or some other veggie, pumpkin or apple pie for dessert etc...There is more, but that is a basis of the meal. It's high caloric and NOT what those settlers ate with the Indians on that first Thanksgiving meal 300 years ago.
While historians aren't sure what the Pilgrims ate at the very first Thanksgiving back in 1621, they do know that they weren't sitting down to a meal of cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes or pumpkin pie. Many of the foods that we eat are reminiscent of those indigenous at the time, but not the actual dishes served. Case in point: Cranberries were available, but since sugar had not yet traveled to the New World, no doubt cranberry sauce didn't make an appearance until years later.
Still, the Thanksgiving meal is symbolic, providing a wonderful occasion for sharing the American story of determination, survival, freedom and celebration. So, what could have been on that 17th-century menu? While wild turkey may have been the main course, it was probably accompanied by venison and fish such as herring, shad, cod, sea bass and eel. And those turkeys were tough tasting and not appealing then. I doubt many of the guests at that dinner ate turkey. A ham wouldn't have made an appearance, however, because the settlers (Pilgrims) most likely had no pigs back then. And there were no potatoes, yams and sweet potatoes because they were unknown in America at that time.
So what are some of the things they would have eaten? Native to America, corn — or maize — came in wide variety, including red, yellow, white, blue and yellow. It was a new addition to the Pilgrim diet, and these early settlers might not have survived the long winter without it. Another side dish may have included peas, squashes and beans. So squash and beans are authentic Thanksgiving dishes today. Pumpkins, easy to grow and able to last in the cellar during the long winter, was a favorite of the early settlers. Forget about baking it in a pie with whipped cream! The all-American apple pie wouldn't have been served up for dessert, either. Apples aren't indigenous to the United States, first coming to this country years later. But nuts — such as walnuts, chestnuts, acorns and hickory nuts — may have been the dessert, along with fruits such as raspberries, strawberries, grapes, plums cherries and blueberries (although these would have been dried, as none would have been in season).
Regardless of early dishes, today's turkey day is creating a tradition all its own. The turkey is still the culinary symbol of the November feast. Stats I found say that 91 percent of Americans eat the turkey on Thanksgiving. (But Israel is the country with the highest per capita consumption of turkey) Of the 300 million turkeys raised annually, 45 million are consumed at Thanksgiving. That's probably because whole turkeys are bothersome to cook and are dry if not cooked properly.
Another thing that is different about Thanksgiving food then and now is that the Pilgrims dined with spoons, knives and their fingers (The crazy Uncle and senile Granny will probably eat with their fingers too) — but no forks. Also interestingly, at that time, social status helped determine what would be on an individual's menu. Since diners tended to eat what was placed in front of them, the choicest foods were placed in front of the most important people. It's kind of like fighting over the turkey drumstick today. Whoever gets that is the King or Queen of the day. Anyway, meal or not, I am thankful to be with you another year, Happy Thanksgiving.