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Nov 15, 2016 By Joe Carei for The 5 min read

The first Thanksgiving and many more to follow was much different than this one. Although the menu has changed, food was always the centerpiece to the celebration.

Based on early literature, the Thanksgivings following the first were few and far between until the late 1700s. Early on, churches and colonies declared a day of thanks. George Washington declared a day of thanks. And for the next seven decades, presidents and/or states declared days of thanks or thanksgiving, but it wasn’t consistent. Finally, President Abraham Lincoln convinced by the pesky magazine editor Sarah Hale, made thanksgiving official and made it for the fourth Thursday of November. Lincoln saw it as a way to galvanize the country.

From the first one to today, the menu is continually evolving. Dare I say, Turducken. Turkey was not always the center piece of the thanksgiving meal. The first thanksgiving table was graced with duck, venison and geese.

There are many versions of stuffing for Thanksgiving. The first Thanksgiving probably saw chestnuts, onions, fish, other meat, oysters, herbs and corn used as stuffing in those ducks and geese. Today the most popular is traditional bread stuffing, but cornbread stuffing is a close second and oyster a definitive third.

Oyster stuffing

10-12 cups dried bread cubes or 1 pound loaf bread cubed and dried in 250 degree oven

1 cup (about a half pound) chopped bacon

½ cup butter

1 cup diced onion

1 cup diced celery

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons dry thyme

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

½ cup sherry or port

2 cups chicken stock

2 eggs

1 pound oysters and juice

½ teaspoon tabasco

Salt and pepper

Render bacon ½ crisp, add butter, onions and celery. Sweat until soft, add garlic. Add herbs and wine. Whisk eggs into stock. Add to vegetables/bacon, toss into bread cubes until full coated. Toss in chopped oysters and juice. Bake in buttered casserole dish, at 350, for 30 minutes covered and 15 minutes uncovered.

Green beans and corn were both used at the first Thanksgiving, according to several accounts. The Wampanaog Indians cultivated green beans at that time and showed the colonists how to do the same. A staggering 60 million green bean cassaroles will be served this Thanksgiving. Corn was a staple for the less nomadic Indians of the east coast. It was eaten as a we do, but also used to make porridge, among many other things. “Cornbread”, at that time was made with ground corn, animal fat, water and salt. It was somewhat like corn pudding.

Savory Corn Pudding

1 tablespoon minced onion

2 ½ cups corn (3 large ears)

½ cup butter melted

2 cups cream or milk

1 clove garlic, minced

½ cup corn meal

3 eggs

½ teaspoon tabasco (optional)

1 teaspoon salt

¼ cup sugar

Mix all ingredients together and put in buttered casserole dish. Place in larger dish and fill ½ way up casserole with hot water. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.

According to reports, cranberries and sweet potatoes were not served at the first Thanksgiving. Indians did not eat cranberries as everyday food. They used them to dye clothing and decorate pottery, as well as for medicinal purposes. Originally, it was called “craneberry”. The pilgrims thought it looked like a crane with its pink flowers drooping off of the bushes.It did not take long for it to be added to the menu. Sweet potatoes would not be part of the Thanksgiving table for nearly three centuries. But sweet potatoes were part of the southern Thanksgiving feast by the 1880s. Sweet potato casserole was introduced to the country via a marketing effort by the Angelus Marshmallow Company, which was looking for ways to sell their marshmallows, in 1908. That was slowly followed by the sweet potato pie.

Simple Sweet Potato Pie

2 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes (about two medium-sized)

1 cup sugar

½ cup brown sugar

1 cup milk

3 eggs

2 tablespoon melted butter

1 tablespoon flour

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon orange zest

Mix all ingredients together. Pour into pie crust (email for recipe). Bake in 350 degree oven for about 1 hour. Clean test with knife.

Surprising, early accounts report that pumpkin pie was not included in the first thanksgiving feast. Pumpkin was probably cooked in other ways. It would be stuffed with meat, vegetables and grains and baked, used as an edible cooking implement. It was also seasoned and grilled. An early version of pumpkin pie was to put spices, honey and fat in the pumpkin and cook it over the fire. The result would be a sweet and savory pudding from the pumpkin.

The Thanksgiving feast looks different than it does today. Do your part to keep it evolving. Make a new dish. Start a new tradition. Tofu turkey, anyone?

Chef Joe Carei has been an award-winning chef in Fayette County nearly half of his life. The former PA Restaurateur of the Year now operates Ellie Mae’s Catering and Food Clubs. He can be reached at joe@elliemaescatering.com.