Let's Party Like it's 1621: 10 Recipes [Probably] Served at the First Thanksgiving • Rise and Brine (2024)

Hey everyone! I have a confession: When I was little, I wanted to be a Pilgrim when I grew up.

This is 100% true… right mom? I know you’re reading this. 😉

It only took one trip to Plimoth Plantation to make this decision …maybe it was the popped corn-on-the-cob in the Wampanoag village, or the fresh, whole rabbit roasting over the hearth in one of the pilgrim cottages, but there was something about cooking over a real fireand living simply that just seemed like the right fit.

Fast-forward 20 years …and… I’m not a Pilgrim.

But cooking on a fire, and discovering cultures and history through recipes, are still high on my to-do list.

I’m on a mission to discover the recipes and ingredients that may have actually been served at the first Thanksgiving table. As it turns out, some of the common dishes (I’m looking at you, potatoes!) are historically inaccurate.

I’m all about authentic experiences, so this Thanksgiving, let’s party like it’s 1621!

These 10 recipes originated in New England (primarily MA and RI), include ingredients and cooking methods that were available to the Pilgrims in the early 1600’s, and may have actually been served at the first Thanksgiving.

Each dish would have been cooked over an open fire by the Pilgrims — if you’re feeling particularly authentic, light up a fire and give them a try!

When baking wasn’t as simple as it is now, Native Americans would make boiled quick-breads, similar to dumplings. Corn, cranberries, and sunflower seeds were abundant in the early 1600’s, and maple syrup was a common sweetener. These ingredients are mixed together and boiled for an age-old version of New England cornbread.

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /home/customer/www/riseandbrine.com/public_html/wp-content/plugins/wp-ultimate-recipe/helpers/models/recipe.php on line 254

Cranberries were abundant in the 1600’s growing around the sandy soils and shallow bogs of southern New England. The Wampanoag cultivate cranberries, which were a staple in their diet along with other crops (beans, corn, squash..) that are still popular today. Because these ingredients are available and harvested during the fall, it’s very possible that this recipe was whipped up for the first Thanksgiving.

As it turns out, potatoes and cream were not added to New England clam chowder until the 1920’s, and clam chowder was originally a dish of the indigenous people of New England. This traditional Wampanoag Chowder is thickened with corn, and includes beans, Jerusalem artichokes, and onions in addition to clams and broth.

Large wild turkeys would have been stewed rather than roasted whole as we do today, as the meat was tougher. Smaller, more tender birds would have been spit-roasted over an open fire. This recipes differs from the Native American Turkey Stew in the use of traditional European herbs, and using imported ingredients, such as sugar.

Sobaheg, as it is called by the Wampanoags, is a stew thickened with corn meal. This Sobaheg recipe uses turkey on the bone, and other native ingredients, including the “three sisters”: corn, beans and squash. These vegetables were commonly grown together by Native Americans using companion farming and almost certainly would have been present at the first Thanksgiving in 1621.

This recipe is adapted from the original 1672 recipe. Pumpkins were cultivated by the Native Americans and the Pilgrims in the New World. When other crops failed, the pumpkin kept food on the table for the Pilgrims throughout the winter. Some historical accounts tout the pumpkin as the reason the pilgrims were able to survive the harsh New England winters in the early years of Plymouth colony.

The original 1672 recipe reads as follows:

“The Ancient New England Standing Dish But the Housewives manner is to slice them when ripe, and cut them into dice, and so fill a pot with them of two or three Gallons, and stew them upon a gentle fire a whole day, and as they sink, they fill again with fresh Pompions, not putting any liquor to them; and when it is stew’d enough, it will look like bak’d Apples; this they Dish, putting Butter to it, and a little Vinegar, (with some Spice, as Ginger, &c.) which makes it tart like an Apple, and so serve it up to be eaten with Fish or Flesh: It provokes Urin extremely and is very windy.”

John Josselyn, New-Englands Rarities Discovered(1672)

Succotash was hailed as a year-round staple by Native Americans in New England, who later introduced their recipe to the colonists. There are infinite variations of Succotach – ranging from stew-like to salad-like concoctions, but corn and beans remain consistent elements in all recipes. These ingredients were available year-round; as other foods were harvested throughout the year, the dish evolved and changed as well.

Nausamp is the Wampanoag term for porridge or stew, thickened with corn. This dessert version of Nausamp is made with other native New England crops, including maple, sunflower seeds, and cranberries.

The pilgrims would have found plenty of mussels when they landed on the south shore of Massachusetts, and Cape Cod. They were familiar with Mussels from cooking in England and likely harvested the mussels to eat, as did the native Wampanoags. This recipe was adapted from an original Tudor cookbook from the late 1500’s.

Johnny Cakes are a Rhode Island staple, and likely got their beginnings during the time of the Pilgrims who needed portable food for long journeys between settlements in the New World. These journey-cakes were the perfect snack for a journey since they kept well for a long time and were packed with energy.

If you want to take your authentic thanksgiving one step further, set the table with only knives and spoons – no forks! According the the Food Historian of Plymouth Plantation, Forks weren’t common in America until the 1700’s.

Do you have any other historical thanksgiving fun-facts? Share in the comments below. 🙂

Thanks for reading! If you like recipes, co*cktails and travel, follow us on the social medias: Facebook/Pinterest/Twitter/Instagram, and subscribe to my newsletter to take a trip around the world in 5 recipes.