For many Americans, the Thanksgiving meal includes seasonal dishes such as roast turkey with stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. But what was really on the menu at the famous harvest feast banquet in November 1621, and which of today’s time-honored favorites did not earn a place at the table until later in the holiday’s 400-year history?
On a cold and snowy December 21st,1620, the famous and historic ship the Mayflower with the 102 Pilgrims and approximately 25 crew members arrived after 2 months of hardship journey, to what is now known as Plymouth Harbor in Massachusetts. The historic journey started too late during a year to avoid the stormy Atlantic weather. The storms pounded the tiny Mayflower with passengers having to endure the fetid overcrowded conditions below decks, their bedding and clothes soaked with seawater for long weeks.