A Living History Village Just South Of Plymouth In Massachusetts Where Thanksgiving Lasts All Year Long
While families across America celebrate Thanksgiving in late November, the Pilgrims, who started it all, actually had Thanksgiving every day of the year. Kathleen Wall, Colonial foodways culinarian at Plimoth Plantation, a living history village just south of Plymouth, MA, explains.
“For the main meal of the day, they would wait for everyone to gather together,” she tells The Buzz. “A prayer was said before the meal, which they called ‘grace,’ just as we do today. But they also ended every meal with a prayer, and they called that one, ‘thanksgiving.’ So they actually celebrated thanksgiving, which is a very ancient concept, every day.”
Sharing Colonial foods and feasts are an important part of the historical interpretation at Plimoth Plantation, where dining demonstrations, bread baking and food tastings occur daily. Thanksgiving is a particularly busy time with some families making dinner at the Plantation an annual tradition. “Many people are discovering a Pilgrim in their genealogy,” Liz Derosier, director of dining services for the Plantation, says. “There are literally millions of descendants out there, and a lot of them are making their own pilgrimage.”
Derosier says that between the big buffet and the sit-down family style dinner, her staff serves about 2,700 people on Thanksgiving Day and more the day after. “The menu is very traditional, roast turkey with stuffing, and New England sides such as steamed turnips, Harvard beets and cranberry relish, what many people consider the classic Thanksgiving meal,” she says. “One of the dishes that’s a little unique is stewed butternut squash. We add a some vinegar which gives it a sweet/tart balance.” Cider is served with the meals, with pumpkin or apple pie, or cornmeal-based Indian pudding flavored with molasses and spices, for dessert.
Derosier says her staff prepares some 150 20-lb. turkeys every Thanksgiving, plus some extra breasts for more white meat. In addition to the reservation-only meals, which sell out early, a kiosk on the grounds of the recreated Pilgrim Village offers tastings of Colonial foods and the cafe in the visitor center serves a la carte.
For those who’d like a more authentic taste of Colonial recipes, Derosier recommends the annual Harvest Dinner, served on select dates during October and November. It offers an interesting menu based on dishes that would have been found on Pilgrim tables in the 1620s, within ten years of their arrival. “The Harvest Dinner includes a lot of things that surprise people,” she says. “We serve turkey but also roast pork, a fricassee of fish, and mussels steamed in beer.” Sides include dark Cheate bread baked in a wood-fired clay oven, a saute of cabbage, onions and leeks, sweet corn pudding and stewed pompion (squash or pumpkin). Dessert is rice pudding or a 17th century style cheesecake, “sort of like an Italian ricotta style cake, made with spices and dried fruit,” Liz says.
The Harvest Dinners are hosted by costumed reenactors from the 1627 era of Pilgrim history. During dinner, they regale guests with period stories, explain Pilgrim traditions, and entertain with psalms and songs from the 17th century.
“We try to make it feel very old-fashioned,” Derosier says. “Everyone sits at long tables and passes the food around family style. Each person gets a pewter plate, a spoon and a knife - no forks. One thing that surprises people is that there is always linen on the dining table. It was very important to the time period. People would say it was what distinguished humans from the beasts.”
According to foodways culinarian Kathleen Wall, another requirement at every meal was impeccably clean fingers. “Since they didn’t use forks, most things were eaten with the hands,” she says. “They would wash their hands and face before and after meals. A big linen napkin was used to wipe your fingers between bites. The men would toss their napkins over their left shoulder where it would be handy for wiping the fingers of their right hand.”
In addition to the 17th century English Village, Plimoth Plantation also includes a Wampanoag homesite staffed by members of local tribes. The traditional foods of the native inhabitants are not forgotten, and Derosier’s staff prepares a wide variety of authentic dishes, including Sobaheg, a native stew of beans and meat, Venison Stew, and Naussamp, a cornmeal dish laced with local berries and nuts.
Visitors who can’t get to Plimoth Plantation during the Thanksgiving season can still sample both the Colonial and Native American specialties. The Patuxet Cafe, located in the Plantation’s visitor center, serves from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. seven days a week. Many of the specialties from the Harvest Dinner menu are available daily, as well as unique Colonial dishes such as the Peas Cod, a hand pie filled with ground chicken seasoned with cloves, cinnamon, apricot marmalade and currents, which Derosier says has “nothing to do with either peas or cod.” The cafe’s Wampanoag Sampler includes native dishes such as Naussamp, Succotash made of corn, beans, potatoes and corned beef, and Three Sisters Rice with beans and squash. Apple cider, mint tea and the locally brewed Mayflower beer are available to wash it all down.
“Also,” Derosier says,”the cafe serves a traditional Thanksgiving turkey dinner every day. So come celebrate with us anytime.”
Renee Wright
A graduate of Franconia College in Social Psychology, Renee has worked as Travel Editor for Charlotte Magazine and has written three travel guidebooks for Countryman Press among other writing assignments. She enjoys food and camping.
Make Sure To Stay At:
Maple Park Campground and RV Park, located at 290 Glen Charlie Road in East Wareham, Massachusetts featuring 600 campsites on 600 acres of beautiful woodlands, many overlooking our swimming and fishing ponds or cranberry bogs.