No pumpkin pie? The first Thanksgiving - Preservation Parks of Delaware County (2024)

FAQs

Why wouldn t you find pumpkin pie on the first Thanksgiving table? ›

Both the Pilgrims and members of the Wampanoag tribe ate pumpkins and other squashes indigenous to New England—possibly even during the harvest festival—but the fledgling colony lacked the butter and wheat flour necessary for making pie crust.

Answer: Colchester, Connecticut

Thus, the townspeople decided to postpone the holiday for a week in 1705.

It is also worth noting what was not present at the first Thanksgiving feast. There were no cloudlike heaps of mashed potatoes, since white potatoes had not yet crossed over from South America. There was no gravy either, since the colonists didn't yet have mills to produce flour.

And potatoes have become a staple of New England seafood meals as well. 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.

"Thanksgiving day is a reminder of the genocide of millions of Native people, the theft of Native lands, and the relentless assault on Native culture," says the United American Indians of New England. They've marked the occasion as a day of mourning for 48 years, according to Native Hope.

By the early 18th century, pumpkin pie earned its spot at the Thanksgiving table as the New England holiday grew in popularity. Thanksgiving as a holiday gave thanks for a bountiful autumn harvest with an annual feast. It became an important holiday in colonial New England – and pumpkin pie was a staple.

Pumpkin pie, an international symbol of harvest time, is a favorite dessert, especially in the United States and Canada, but also in Northern Italy, between Halloween and Christmas.

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.

In 1705, the town of Colchester, Connecticut canceled Thanksgiving because they couldn't make pumpkin pies. The river had frozen over, leaving their import of liquid sugar inaccessible.

Well certainly not what we eat at Thanksgiving. They ate fish, corn, venison, and no pumpkin pie. Pumpkin pie would have required sugar, that was in a very limited amount. There would have been bread, but not the way we see it today.

What really happened at the first Thanksgiving feast in 1621? ›

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.

So, to the question “What did the Pilgrims 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.

Just like us today, the Pilgrims usually ate three meals a day. But how they ate these meals is a little different. Many people would “break fast” in the morning with a little bread and butter, or cheese, or something left from the day before.

First Thanksgiving Meal

The dinner was most likely duck, venison, or seafood for the meat, and cabbage, onions, corn and squash for the sides. The only thing that might be the same now is eating pumpkins, however not pumpkin pie.

Apple pie, for example, wouldn't have been there because apples' botanical origin is in central Asia. They had barely been brought to the Americas by the time of the 1621 feast.

Pilgrims liked pumpkins. According to accounts, they used to hollow them out, fill them with milk and honey to make a custard, and then roast the orange orbs in hot ashes. But when it came to making pies, the Pilgrims were essentially out of luck.

In fact, the first recorded instance of a pumpkin pie recipe, called “Tourte of Pumpkin,” came in a 1653 English cookbook. And contrary to popular belief, pumpkin pie was not a part of the first Thanksgiving. They weren't even a popular staple at American Thanksgivings until the later 19^th century.

But according to the two only remaining historical records of the first Thanksgiving menu, that meal consisted of freshly killed deer, assorted wildfowl, cod, bass, and flint, and a native variety of corn harvested by the Native Americans, which was eaten as corn bread and porridge.

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.