1621

Convection ovens, induction stove tops, microwaves … cuisinart food processors, potato peelers, meat thermometers. Ladies and gentlemen, there’s a turkey hotline if things with the bird go amiss. We can buy ready-made gravy from Carl’s Meat Market in Kittery and order succulent ripe pears from Harry & David.  

Think of the 102 passengers who arrived on a brisk November day in 1620, having crossed the fickle Atlantic on a three-masted 100’x25’ carrack known as the Mayflower. Those hardy souls spent two-plus months living on the Mayflower’s “tween deck,” which featured 5’-high ceilings, no windows, no latrines, no private space. Their onboard diet consisted of hard tack (cracker-like biscuits), salt pork, dried meats including cow tongue, various pickled foods, oatmeal, cereal grains and fish, plus lots of beer. Not exactly the QE2.

Winter was nigh when these hardy souls stepped down the gangplank and onto The Rock in Plymouth harbor. Alas, only 50 of the original 102 passengers survived that first bitter winter. As one historian noted, “They weren’t thinking about colonizing. They were simply figuring out how to eat and stay warm in this new place.”

By fall of 1621, the few surviving Pilgrims had established a primitive settlement. They were thankful that beans, squash and onions were flourishing in their gardens, and that turkeys roamed freely around their huts. To celebrate that harvest, they shot muskets in the air which immediately activated the nearby Wampanoag Indians who then mustered their warriors to prepare for battle. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed, probably a peace pipe was shared, and the Pilgrims cemented a military alliance with the Wampanoag. 

But they still wanted to celebrate! So to thank God for their incredible survival, and undoubtedly to beseech the Almighty they’d make it through the snowy days ahead, they decided to have a feast.

VIPs at that first Thanksgiving featured Massoasoit, the Wampanoag king, and the English governor, William Bradford. (Of note, the dinner was mostly a “guys-only” event and the English women did the bulk of the cooking. Why am I not surprised!)

And those hardworking ladies couldn’t just pop over to Hannaford to pick up potatoes (none had been yet shipped from South America), or to Five Acre Farm to purchase apple and pumpkin pies (there was no molasses or flour, and sugar was scant), or to Publix to get sweet potatoes for a Bourbon-laced casserole (Central America was not exporting yams at that time). The ladies did have eggs, butter and a few spices but, otherwise, their pantries were Mother Hubbard bare. Oh, they had no ovens either.

So the menu was a tad different from what we will enjoy this Thursday when we sit around a candlelit table with family and friends. Five of the Wampanoag guests arrived with venison to share. The Pilgrims had rounded up turkeys and fowl for roasting, threw lines in the ocean to land cod and other seafood, and picked ripe corn, onions, carrots, and spinach from their gardens. The children undoubtedly had fun gathering nuts and fruits which added to the supper.

In retrospect, that was one helluva meal. So if your turkey is dry, or the cranberry sauce is missing minced orange peel, or the champagne in your Waterford flute is flat, please get over it. We got it easy.