Historical Food Ideas for Thanksgiving
Last modified on 2009-09-13 02:42:16 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
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1. There are precious few recipes from this time and place in history, and only a handful of food descriptions. Your best bet for period English recipes are the few primary source cookbooks available on the antiques market, which you can adapt by substituting 1621 New England foods. Historical cooking for Thanksgiving is something highly creative, so don’t plan to go historical for the full menu. Get your complete indigenous and English food lists and resources in The American Patriot’s Treasury of Historical Thanksgiving Dinner Ideas, Second Edition.
2. The people gathered at the 1621 feast in Plymouth dished up in potluck style. It was a three day community affair, not a sit down dinner. So give yourself permission to loosen up!
Roasting rabbit, fall 2008. Also attempted pawcohiccora in the clay pot, but it boiled dry while we played Hoodman's Blind... ooops.
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Native Strawberry Cornbread Experiment
Last modified on 2009-09-13 02:58:49 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
One colonial source document mentions that the Native women cooked a type of strawberry “bread” that was deemed “delicious.” No recipes were given for it, but I have some ideas what it may have been like.
We know that there were no leaveners used by Native cooks. We also know they sun dried many foods for later use, so dried strawberries are a plausible ingredient since there is period documentation that strawberries grew wild in New England.
I am taking an educated guess here and assuming we are looking at some kind of corn pancake that was called “bread” by the English.
One clue was found in a 1795 document where a Mr. Timothy Alden described an “ash baked” maize food called Appoon. Supposedly this ash-baked bread was made using dried oak bark because the bread would not stick to it. (You could cook it on the oak bark and easily remove it when it was done.)
I also hear that thin soapstone “griddles” were possibly used in this time period for pancake-style cooking, as well as thin pottery griddles.
Shown following is my interpretation of a stove or fire top pottery dish and cover for “baking” experimental Appoon. I meant to try it last year, but just didn’t find the time.
Instructions for food-safe pottery making are found in The American Patriot’s Treasury of Historical Thanksgiving Dinner Ideas, Second Edition.
You certainly don’t have to go to the lengths I have gone to re-create a strawberry Appoon, but if you decide to experiment and are successful, please share with us here at IdeasThanksgiving.com. I can be reached by email at Victorian [@] LetsPlayHistory.org.
Thank you, and have fun!
Tags: experiments in kitchen, historical food, thanksgiving side ideas, thanksgiving dishes ideas, activities with food
Hand-made stove-top clay dish with cover. Can also be used over hot coals. Instructions for making and using food safe pottery are in the Historical Thanksgiving guide.
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Groundnuts: Perfect for Thanksgiving
Last modified on 2009-09-13 03:16:04 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
It is reported that the earliest English settlers survived on the humble groundnut tuber. Groundnuts, which are like small potatoes, can be harvested during the winter. They are reported to taste very good, and may serve nicely as a mashed potato alternative.
Groundnuts cannot be commercially grown due to their tendency to overtake the landscape, so if you want to try this historical food you will need to grow your own groundnuts in containers.
You can buy starter groundnut tubers (easier than groundnut seed) online through Warrens Wild Things at: http://www.maryrowlandson.com/warrensgroundnutstore.html#P2
Warning About Groundnut Cultivation: Please be responsible and do NOT let your groundnuts gain a foothold outside of your containers. For safety, please keep your containers on cement, not dirt, where roots can grow out the drainage holes of your pots.
This information is take from The American Patriot’s Treasury of Historical Thanksgiving Dinner Ideas, Second Edition.
Tags: groundnut plant, the groundnut, groundnut seed, groundnut seeds, groundnut cultivation, thanksgiving side ideas, dinner ideas for thanksgiving
My young groundnut plant, spring 2008
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Pumpkin Pie in 1621?
Last modified on 2009-09-13 03:40:53 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
I am a voice way out in left field on this one, but I believe it was indeed possible for the pumpkin pie to have made an appearance in 1621. I may become the butt of jokes for this one, but here is what I see…
Main dish and dessert pies made with white flour crusts were very popular among the English in this time period, and had been for centuries. Primary source cookbooks prove this out.
In 1621 New England we know the English could have had some wheat in store, which they refined themselves. We know there were all kinds of squash including some varieties of pumpkins. The Pilgrims also brought salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves across on the Mayflower.
They had chickens for sure, so there were some eggs to work with.
Additionally there is reason to believe they had goat’s milk (see the facts in The American Patriot’s Treasury of Historical Thanksgiving Dinner Ideas, Second Edition )
The English started out with refined white sugar in 1620, but whether or not they had any left for the feast is debatable. Even if not, natural maple syrup was available.
In short, all the basics for pumpkin pies were there. The English had even had enough time to build ovens, and to harvest oils and cooking fats, so I figure pies would have been high on the English preference list for the feast of 1621.
I think it sounds fun to experiment making pumpkin pies with goat’s milk and maple syrup!
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Take the Historical Thanksgiving Cooking Challenge!
Last modified on 2009-09-15 15:52:16 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Calling all talented cooks! Help! We need you to go where no man has gone before, and help us create plausible – and palatable – 1621 side dishes for Thanksgiving.
Using the food lists provided in our historical Thanksgiving guide, cook it up this year, take notes and pictures, and send them in to us here at IdeasThanksgiving.com (use my email: victorian [@] LetsPlayHistory.org). We’ll post them right here for the next season.
Plus, we’ll set things up for feedback so your most popular culinary creations can make you famous on TV! (OK, we’ll have to keep our fingers crossed for that one 
)
What a fun way to serve fellow Americans!
P.S. – Web searches are heavy for “thanksgiving recipes stuffing,” “vegetable thanksgiving recipes,” and “thanksgiving recipes side dishes.”
P.S.S. – We’ll announce all submissions when we send out our seasonal newsletters.
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Tags: thanksgiving and menu, groundnut plant, groundnut seed, dinner ideas for thanksgiving, thanksgiving dishes ideas, thanksgiving side dishes ideas, thanksgiving side ideas, thanksgiving menu new, the thanksgiving menu, dinner on thanksgiving
Posted August 31, 2009 by Admin
