USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Whether mashed or roasted, white or sweet, potatoes had no place at the first Thanksgiving. After encountering it in its native South America, the Spanish began introducing the potato to Europeans around 1570.

Detailed explanation-2: -It is also worth noting what was not present at the first Thanksgiving feast. There were no cloudlike heaps of mashed potatoes, since white potatoes had not yet crossed over from South America. There was no gravy either, since the colonists didn’t yet have mills to produce flour.

Detailed explanation-3: -No flour, no sugar-that’s right, there was nary a pie. No apple, no pecan, no pumpkin at the first Thanksgiving table.

Detailed explanation-4: -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-5: -Potatoes-white or sweet-would not have been featured on the 1621 table, and neither would sweet corn. Bread-based stuffing was also not made, though the Pilgrims may have used herbs or nuts to stuff birds.