The Pilgrims' Real Menu

[The Sushi Bandit]

Story at: http://current.com/items/89565612/the_pilgrims_real_menu.htm

[madeline_con]

1. I'll have to call fowl on the eggs...

spell edit...

There is no reason to believe that chickens the pilgrims brought with them were the only source of eggs they had. that's just pitiful.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. "fowl" on the eggs!

:rofl: Good one!

[Igel]

11. What else would have been laying in the fall?

Not wild turkeys, not songbirds, not waterfowl.

Granted, I grew up in Maryland, not New England, but not a heck of a whole lot of locally produced eggs were available in the fall besides chicken eggs.

I suppose they could have harvested them in the spring and saved them for the fall ... somehow. I suppose. Maybe. But if tradition is any guide, they had a bit of a food problem until the harvest.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. I knew about the eels

and always told my elementary school classes about that. They seemed delightedly grossed out over it. Also told them about the trenchers and voiders used, and the fact that there were no forks at the table; the first table fork came to America in 1629.

[Trajan]

4. ...

The Pilgrims' Menu

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

Surprisingly, the following foods, all considered staples of the modern Thanksgiving meal, didn't appear on the pilgrims's first feast table:

Ham: There is no evidence that the colonists had butchered a pig by this time, though they had brought pigs with them from England.
Sweet Potatoes/Potatoes: These were not common.
Corn on the Cob: Corn was kept dried out at this time of year.
Cranberry Sauce: The colonists had cranberries but no sugar at this time.
Pumpkin Pie: It's not a recipe that exists at this point, though the pilgrims had recipes for stewed pumpkin.
Chicken/Eggs: We know that the colonists brought hens with them from England, but it's unknown how many they had left at this point or whether the hens were still laying.
Milk: No cows had been aboard the Mayflower, though it's possible that the colonists used goat milk to make cheese.

Source: Kathleen Curtin, Food Historian at Plimoth Plantation.

[Ian David]

5. I didn't know that acorns were edible. And as for the lobster...

... I remember hearing somewhere that people refused to eat lobster, and instead would feed it to the pigs.

[Trajan]

6. I have heard that too ...

In my world: That is crazy talk ...

Lobster is the most delicious seafood .. Sweet and delicate ... and luscious with drawn butter ....

Crazy talk ....

[Recursion]

12. Hard to make drawn butter with no cows

In the Chesapeake we eat crab with vinegar; they might have done something like that.

But then again at one point in early Boston workers rioted to make sure they did not have to eat lobster more than 5 times a week.

[Adsos Letter]

9. Acorns are edible, but...

they have to be prepared properly: ground, soaked, and rinsed to remove the heavy tannic acid component that makes them inedible otherwise.

Acorns were a staple of the diet of the Native Americans here in California.

[awoke_in_2003]

10. Well, call me a pig...

love me some lobster.

[The Sushi Bandit]

7. Are you re-posting my Current TV story??

your silly!

[Trajan]

8. Silly is ....

Making DUers link out of DU to read your story ....

You uploaded it on 'current.com', but not here ?

What are we ? ... Chopped liver ? .... That isnt on the menu either ....

I just wanted to share your good work with DUers here ....