USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -There are only two surviving documents that reference the original Thanksgiving harvest meal. They describe a feast of freshly killed deer, assorted wildfowl, a bounty of cod and bass, and flint, a native variety of corn harvested by the Native Americans, which was eaten as corn bread and porridge.

Detailed explanation-2: -So, to the question “What did the Pilgrims eat for Thanksgiving, ” the answer is both surprising and expected. Turkey (probably), venison, seafood, and all of the vegetables that they had planted and harvested that year-onions, carrots, beans, spinach, lettuce, and other greens.

Detailed explanation-3: -That first Thanksgiving was cooked by two Saints, Mary Brewster and Susanna Winslow, and two Strangers, Elizabeth Hopkins and Eleanor Billington. But they probably all deserved sainthood for cooking all that food. The men just “feasted and entertained, ” according to one of their husbands.

Detailed explanation-4: -Massasoit sent some of his own men to hunt deer for the feast and for three days, the English and native men, women, and children ate together. The meal consisted of deer, corn, shellfish, and roasted meat, different from today’s traditional Thanksgiving feast. They played ball games, sang, and danced.