Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Pilgrim Thansgiving

In less than twenty-four hours, the world will approach the fourth Thursday of November (clarified by Franklin D. Roosevelt) and the Thanksgiving in the United States! Thanksgiving will of course feature the traditional turkey, stuffing, family, football etc. However, here are some interesting things about Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving & Pilgrims
According to The History Channel, the pilgrims like today's families would prepare for the feast starting to cook in the early dawns and some turning the spit over a open fire hours at a time. When the food is done, the pilgrims would have a largely buffet style feast with their hands, spoons, knives, but no forks. What's most interesting though is that pilgrims did not eat some of what we thought are traditional Thanksgiving food. Of course not everything is accurate as the first the pilgrim feast did occur hundreds of years ago. Something for sure though, pumpkin pie and maybe cranberry sauce, one Thanksgiving favorite is not on the menu.

Probably to some's liking, there were more meat and far less vegetables on the tables of the pilgrims than there is today. And not just turkey either, there were far more types of meat including lobster and seal!

Foods That May Have Been on the Menu
Seafood: Cod, Eel, Clams, Lobster
Wild Fowl: Wild Turkey, Goose, Duck, Crane, Swan, Partridge, Eagles
Meat: Venison, Seal
Grain: Wheat Flour, Indian Corn
Vegetables: Pumpkin, Peas, Beans, Onions, Lettuce, Radishes, Carrots
Fruit: Plums, Grapes
Nuts: Walnuts, Chestnuts, Acorns
Herbs and Seasonings: Olive Oil, Liverwort, Leeks, Dried Currants, Parsnips

What Was Not on the Menu
Ham, Sweet Potatoe, Corn on the Cob, Cranberry Sauce, Pumpkin Pie, Chicken/Egg
Source


Of Course, I don't have to go into the Thankgiving today in the United States, thinking of it makes me hungry. And for those who do not celebrate Thanksgiving or live in the United States, there is of course the official beginning of the holiday shopping season with price cuts and big holiday spending!

Labels: rambling

posted by Stavanger at 6:58 PM

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