First facts: How the meal was really served

Mark Twain referred to Thanksgiving Day as "a function which originated in New England two or three centuries ago when those people recognized that they really had something to be thankful for -- annually, not oftener -- if they had succeeded in exterminating their neighbors, the Indians, during the previous twelve months instead of getting exterminated by their neighbors, the Indians."

That's not quite the version most of us learned in grade school, the version that took place in 1621 at Plymouth, Mass., and has the Pilgrims sitting with the Indians at a large table with a white tablecloth celebrating the harvest together over a meal of turkey, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie.

But you don't have to be quite as cynical as Twain to realize that the traditional depiction of the first Thanksgiving may not be altogether accurate. In fact, whatever happened at Plymouth 388 years ago, it may not have been the first Thanksgiving at all. There are no less than 12 competing claims about the first Thanksgiving, some maintaining it took place not in New England but in Texas or Florida.

One thing is certain, however. What was on the table at the first Thanksgiving scarcely resembles what we think of today as a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. As historian Timothy Walch puts it, "Never has the history of a meal been so obscured by myth."

Take, for example, the centerpiece of the modern Thanksgiving meal, turkey. If it was served at the first Thanksgiving (historians say ducks and geese were more likely), it was probably boiled or stewed, especially if it was a large bird. The only surviving eyewitness account of the feast at Plymouth Colony in 1621 does not mention turkey specifically but does refer to venison, the only food that we know for sure was on the table there.

Similarly, cranberry sauce was not likely on the menu at the first Thanksgiving. Though the berries are native to the New World, the American colonists had no access to sugar, an exotic ingredient at the time, and without it cranberries would have been too bitter to eat. In fact, the first accounts of cranberry sauce and cranberry tarts did not appear until a good 50 years after the arrival of the Mayflower.

Likewise, sweet potatoes, a staple of today's Thanksgiving menu, are native to this hemisphere, specifically South America, but they had not yet made their way north by the time of the first Thanksgiving, so they weren't part of the first Thanksgiving feast either.

Finally, the colonists had plenty of pumpkins, but they had no wheat with which to make pie crusts and no ovens for baking. So there was no pumpkin pie at the first Thanksgiving. That alone should make us realize how much better we'll have it Thursday.

Cocido

If, as some argue, the real first Thanksgiving took place in St. Augustine, Fla., in 1565 when the territory was claimed for Spain, then this typical Spanish stew was possibly the first Thanksgiving dinner. It's no substitute for turkey but it does make a satisfying meal on a winter night. The recipe is adapted from grouprecipes.com.

2 pounds beef brisket, trimmed and cut into chunks

3 links chorizo sausage, sliced

2 chopped onions

2 chopped garlic cloves

salt and pepper

3 cups beef stock

3 cups water

1 large potato, cubed

2 carrots sliced into rounds

1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed

1 (15-ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained

2 small jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

Place meat, onions, garlic, salt and pepper, stock and water in a large pot and bring to a boil. Cook five minutes, skimming off scum that rises to the top. Cover and simmer over low heat for 1 1/2 hours. Add remaining ingredients, cover and simmer until squash is tender, about one hour longer, adding more stock if stew gets too thick. Serve with rice and tortillas. Garnish with avocados if desired.

Tom Harte's book, "Stirring Words," is available at local bookstores. A Harte Appetite airs Fridays 8:49 a.m. on KRCU, 90.9 FM. Contact Tom at semissourian.com or at the Southeast Missourian, P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, MO 63702-0699.