“Thanksgiving we eat and drink of ye best.”
Dated Nov. 24, 1748 from
William Haywood’s journal, Charlestown, NH
Without gushing too much, I have a lot to be thankful for this year, but on a daily basis, I’m surprised and delighted by waking up in my new old house. The oldest part of it was built in 1795, when George Washington was still president. The brickmaker who built it is buried in the old, old cemetery up the hill. There’s a brick-floor section of the cellar that never gets wet. Talk about fantastic engineering.
So when I started to think about this year’s Thanksgiving festivities, I decided to do something a little different. I really wanted to make up a spread that would delve into history, and reflect what might have been served at very early colonial-era Thanksgiving celebrations. My mother, on hearing this, wondered aloud if she could cook cod for the occasion on a bed of coals out in the firepit.
At least you know I come by it honestly…
I haven’t gone full Pilgrim with the meal (never go full pilgrim), for a couple of reasons. The main consideration is that the early pilgrims were met with a coastal array of fare, while I live in VT. Rather, I’ve tried to think about what meal might have been served when the house was still new, in the late 1700s.
As always when researching recipes, I begin with actual excerpts from the text, and go from there. Let’s start off with a great historical anecdote. For a citation just past the colonial period, this is too fantastic not to consider. From a 1779 letter from Miss Juliana Smith to her ‘Dear Cousing Betsey’, we learn that some staples of this meal have been around just about since the beginning, like pumpkin pie.
‘This year it was Uncle Simeon’s turn to have the dinner at his house, but of course we all helped them as they help us when it is their turn, & there is always enough for us all to do. All the baking of pies & cakes was done at our house & we had the big oven heated & filled twice each day for three days before it was all done & everything was GOOD, though we did have to do without some things that ought to be used. Neither Love nor Money could buy Raisins, but our good red cherries dried without the pits, did almost as well & happily Uncle Simeon still had some spices in store. The tables were set in the Dining Hall and even that big room had no space to spare when we were all seated… of course we could have no Roast Beef. None of us have tasted Beef this three years back as it must all go to the Army, & too little they get, poor fellows. But, Nayquittymaw’s Hunters were able to get us a fine red Deer, so that we had a good haunch of Venisson on each Table.’ There was an abundance of vegetables on the table…Cider was served instead of wine, wiht the explanation that Uncle Simeon was saving his cask ‘for the sick’… ‘The Pumpkin Pies, Apple Tarts & big Indian Puddings lacked for nothing save Appetite by the time we had got round to them…We did not rise from the Table until it was quite dark, & then when the dishes had been cleared away we all got round the fire as close as we could, & cracked nuts, & sang songs & told stories.”
To sum up, her Thanksgiving dinner was made up of:
- Haunch of Venison, Roast Chine of Pork
- Roast Turkey, Pigeon Pasties, Roast Goose
- Onions in Cream, Cauliflower, Squash
- Potatoes, Raw Celery
- Mincemeat Pie, Pumpkin Pie, Apple Pie
- Indian Pudding, Plum Pudding
- Cider
I certainly wouldn’t turn my nose up at that! What I find especially delightful is that the even seems not to have changed considerably in the last 200 years. Even with our improved technologies in the modern era, the cooking/baking still takes days to complete. When the family assembles, there is still barely enough room at the table for all the guests, nor enough room in bellies by the time dessert is served.
At a certain hour before dinner, we will light the house only with candles and oil lamps. I expect it will be a cozy and intimate evening, during which we reflect on what makes us truly thankful. Everyone who is coming is encouraged to bring something period to read aloud during the digestion part of the evening in the living room.
And now, without further ado, I’m very excited to present to you my Colonial Thanksgiving menu! Anything with an *asterisk* will be posted in time for the holidays, and while this is a starting point, I’m sure it will change over the coming month. I also welcome any suggestions!
*UPDATE*
Thanksgiving has now come and gone, and I can say with great certainty that this is a menu to be many times repeated.
The grape sauce, adapted from my recipe for Goose and Mulberry Sauce, was a tart and surprisingly wonderful addition to the meal. I went back and forth between that and the usual gravy, and never could decide which I liked better. We were unable to obtain an heirloom turkey, so that will have to wait for next year. An organic bird took its place, and a tastier, more tender and juicy turkey I have not yet encountered.
I plundered the cellar for all sorts of delectable homebrew- with dinner we enjoyed wildling cider and a completely unique bottle of birch beer (which got all the neighborhood talking when I tapped the birch out front), with a Concord grape port to finish off the meal.
But what really made the evening for me, apart from the delicious simplicity of the foods, was the ambiance of the continued candlelight.
Colonial Thanksgiving Menu
Starters:
pemmican, cheese, cured sausage, Acorn Cakes
Soup:
Venison Stew? with Wheatsheaf Breadsticks
Main and Sides:
Heirloom Turkey with concord grape sauce
Scalloped Turnips with Cheese
Dessert:
17th century Pumpkin Pie, with ground acorns instead of almonds
Drinks:
Homemade Birch Wine – coming soon to Game of Brews!
What time should we be there? ;-)
Haha, I’ll let you know! :)
Thanks for sharing that- it’s curious how some traditions stay the same….and now I’m wondering what Indian Pudding is.
A word about the venison soup: if you didn’t already know, wild deer (especially old or not freshly butchered) can be pretty tough. I’ve found that keeping it on a simmer for hours, especially with a splash of something slightly tannic (like wine) or acidic (like citrus) can help break down the connective tissue and make it easier on the jaw.
I look forward to seeing what recipes you dive into for this!
Thanks for the tip!
Indian pudding is the colonial answer to the British pudding effect. Hasty Pudding was often served before the main course of a meal, in large part to start filling folks up before the meat came out. When colonists found themselves in the New World, they still wished for that staple dish, but often lacked the usual ingredients. So, they innovated, using new ingredients like corn meal and molasses.
I made an attempt at “fullpilgrim” similar to the menu you posted one year (just on a smaller scale, since there was only three in our family). I used cornish hens instead of turkey for the main course (again because there was only three to feed and I didn’t want to be eating turkey leftovers for a month), roasted root vegetables, some sort of homemade bread, and Indian pudding. It was a fun change of pace from the “traditional” Thanksgiving dinner. I might have to give it a shot again this year.
In my family our special Thanksgiving items were country ham and scalloped oysters. Also on the menu were turkey (or pheasant) corn pudding (a rather sweet version) , candied sweet potatoes, green beans, aspic salad, and light rolls. Dessert was usually pecan pie– nobody liked pumpkin.
Re pigeon pasties, you might be interested in this 18th century recipe from the archives of Lacock Abbey, a great house in Wiltshire that dates from the 16th century:
“Pigion Pye
Truss and season your pigeons with savoury spice; lard them with bacon and stuff them with forc’d meat and lay them in the pye with the ingredients for savoury pyes, with butter and close the pye. – A Lear.”
Obviously the writer forgot to mention the lear in the proper place and had to put it at the end! A ‘lear’ was a thickening for sauces and soups, which has a recipe to itself elsewhere, viz:
“A Lear for savoury pyes. Take claret, gravy, oyster liquor, two or three anchovies, a faggot of sweet herbs and an onion; boil it up and do not stir it; when it turns brown, put it in the liquor you intend to thicken and keep it quick stirring; boil it well or it will taste raw.”
Over the years I have evolved a simplified version of this pie which has been a big hit every time I have served it up. I use pigeon breasts, partly because dealing with a whole sauce-soaked pigeon is more work than most modern dinner guests want, and partly because I can’t face spending hours plucking and gutting pigeons when you can whisk the breast out of the bird in 10 seconds and there’s not much else worth eating on a pigeon anyway. Here’s my 18th-century-lite pigeon pie:
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Put 10 fl. oz red wine in a saucepan with 4 or 5 anchovy fillets, and simmer for 10 minutes or so. The wine will reduce down by about half and the fillets will pretty much dissolve, making a rich, dark, aromatic sauce. (This may sound impossibly weird and nasty but tastes wonderful – it is actually the ultimate ancestor of both Worcester and HP sauce.)
Heat oven to gas Mark 4′ / 180C.
Take a quantity of pigeon breasts, wrap each one in a rasher of streaky bacon and lay them in a pie dish. Pour over the wine-&-anchovy liquid and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
Roll out a pastry lid, shortcrust or puff as you prefer.
Roughly chop about a fistful of soft fresh English herbs (i.e. nothing exotic like coriander or woody like rosemary – e.g. parsley, thyme, marjoram, savory) and add to the filling. Put on the pastry lid and glaze with egg/milk/wine. Bake for another 30 minutes.
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These instructions are for reasonably young tender pigeon breasts. Really tough elderly wild pigeons might need more initial cooking.
If I have any shallots or baby onions lying around I might add some of those too, whole.
The same recipe works well for beef or beef-&-mushrooms too, minus the bacon. Pigeon is so lean and dry a meat it absolutely needs some fat to go with it, but beef doesn’t.
And then there’s what my family has named the Worst Thanksgiving. Rev-War re-enactors will know about this one, feelingly described by Joseph Plumb Martin in his memoirs. It was issued to the rank and file of the Continental Army, I think in 1778. It consisted of one gill of rice and two tablespoons of vinegar per man. To add insult to injury, they had to listen to a sermon before they got this bountiful feast which urged them to “be content with their wages.”
Everybody knows you never go Full-Pilgrim. Check it out. John Smith, ‘New World’: looked like a Pilgrim, acted like a Pilgrim -NOT a Pilgrim. Encountered Native Americans. Colonist? Sure. NOT a Pilgrim. You know John Rolfe, ‘Virginia Colony’? Colonist, yes. Settler, maybe. Grew tobacco for England. But he charmed the pants off Pocahontas and had a baby with her. That ain’t Pilgrim-ish! You went Full-Pilgrim, man. Never go Full-Pilgrim.
Imagine my delight to see a photograph of the museum where I work as an interpreter! I spend a lot of time in that kitchen at the National Colonial Farm. :-) Do you live nearby?
Ha! That’s great! I actually live up in VT, but that image was just perfect. I’m jealous that you get to work there!
It is pretty awesome!
Can’t wait to see your take on the syllabubs. I make them for every holiday now! They’re so good.