A time of thanks - Spotlight Online

A delicious side dish:
stewed pumpkin
FOOD | United States
A time of thanks
Stewed pumpkin
Am 25. November ist es wieder soweit: Amerikaner werden im
engsten Familienkreis Thanksgiving feiern. Aus diesem Anlass tischt
INEZ SHARP im Gespräch mit einer Expertin Schmackhaftes
und Wissenswertes rund um diesen Feiertag auf.
O
n November 25, dinner
tables across the US will
be groaning under the
weight of roast turkey, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie, as AmeriWhat was on the
table at the first
cans sit down together to celebrate
Thanksgiving?
anksgiving.
e origins of this holiday go
back to the arrival of English and Dutch settlers in the New
World. In 1620, they landed on the coast of modern-day
Massachusetts and established the town of Plymouth.
Over the centuries, this event has become overlaid with
legend. It would be easy to believe that the colonists sat
down to turkey and pie much in the same way Americans
do today. In fact, that early feast was very different, as
American food historian and writer Kathleen Curtin explained in an interview with Spotlight.
Curtin: Yes, but they recognized that the harvest wasn’t
just a one-time, yearly event. For native people, each of
the seasons had occasions for celebrating. ere was a
thanksgiving when the corn was ripe, and a celebration
when there was a surplus of lobster. Native people gave
thanks for their food thousands of years before Europeans
even knew of the existence of their land across the sea.
Spotlight: What food would have been served in 1621?
Curtin: Most of the food would have been local, but there
may have been some flavors that were new to the natives
— such as sugar and some spices. Certain dishes we associate with the American anksgiving event would not
have been there. I don’t think the settlers had built any
ovens, so there wouldn’t have been pies of any sort. If you
think about a feast featuring lots of meat, then you would
understand the character of the meal. ere were not
many side dishes, but there was lots of meat.
Spotlight: Was there a big sit-down meal?
Curtin: It seems probable that the governor and his top
men dined with Massasoit and his men at a diplomatictype dinner. ere may also have been some English and
native people sitting together on some occasions. But
when you think about the number of chairs that were
available, this idea of sitting down — all together, at once
— was an impossibility.
Spotlight: When exactly did anksgiving become an
official holiday?
Curtin: at is really hard to say. We know that to the
English who settled in Plymouth, anksgiving had a very
particular meaning. It was a day you set aside for prayer.
If that is the meaning we are going with, then the first
English recorded thanksgiving took place in 1623 at the
end of a drought — but there was no feasting.
Place the pumpkin, butter, vinegar, and spices in a pot over low heat.
Stir and heat until all of the ingredients are well combined and hot. Adjust the spices to your liking and serve.
Kathleen Curtin is the co-author of Giving anks: anksgiving Recipes
and History, from Pilgrims to Pumpkin Pie, ISBN 978-1-40-008057-1.
After that, over time, there was a mixing of the religious, prayerful
thanksgiving with an autumn harvest feast. In the early history of
the American nation, you have colonial governors, ministers, and
presidents declaring thanksgivings. e holiday, however, was not
legislated until the 20th century. at happened under President Franklin D.
Roosevelt in the 1940s.
Spotlight: What will be on your anksgiving dinner table this year?
Curtin: I know for sure we are going to have duck. Duck is one of my favorite
meats; and turkey is always on the table, too. I should also say that one of the
things we are not sure of is that there was turkey back in 1621. I think it was
probably there, but there is no primary-source document that says the settlers
definitely had turkey. For our anksgiving, I like to make what they call “the
holy trinity” of New England pies: apple pie, pumpkin pie, and mince pie. I
also have a wonderful recipe for stewed pumpkin.
•
cider vinegar [(saId&r )vInIg&r]
cinnamon [(sInEmEn]
clove [kloUv]
drought [draUt]
goose [gu:s] (pl. geese)
groan [groUn]
ground ginger [)graUnd (dZIndZ&r]
holy trinity [)hoUli (trInEti]
legislate [(ledZIsleIt]
lobster [(lA:bst&r]
mince pie [)mIns (paI]
The essential roast turkey:
part of today’s tradition
Fotos: iStockphoto (3); Thinkstock (5)
Spotlight: What can you tell us about the first anksgiving, which the colonists celebrated so long ago?
Kathleen Curtin: In 1621, the English colonists celebrated their first harvest. e governor of the colony sent
men out to shoot geese and ducks, and they brought back
enough to feed the community for a week. Early into this
celebration, Massasoit, chief of the local Wampanoag native people, arrived, bringing almost a hundred men with
him. at changed things. e event went from a simple
celebration to one with diplomatic overtones. e
colonists were not secure in their new land. ey were, in
fact, in the middle of the Wampanoag homeland, surrounded by thousands of native people. We know that at
this celebration, talks were held. We know that there was
some sporting and eating. But it would be a mistake to consider this only a dining event.
Spotlight: Did the Wampanoag celebrate
the harvest?
• 4 cups of cooked pumpkin, mashed
• 4 tablespoons of butter
• 1–2 tablespoons of cider vinegar
• 1–2 teaspoons of ground ginger
(or any combination of nutmeg, cloves,
cinnamon, and/or pepper, to taste)
• 1 teaspoon of salt
20
Spotlight 11|10
nutmeg [(nVtmeg]
overtone [(oUv&rtoUn]
people [(pi:p&l]
Plymouth [(plImET]
primary-source document
[)praImeri )sO:rs (dA:kjEment]
pumpkin [(pVmpkIn]
recipe [(resEpi]
spice [spaIs]
surplus [(s§:plVs]
Apfelessig
Zimt
Gewürznelke
Dürre
Gans
stöhnen, ächzen
gemahlener Ingwer
die heilige Dreieinigkeit
hier: zum gesetzlichen Feiertag erklären
Hummer
mit kleingehackter Fruchtmischung
gefülltes Gebäck
Muskatnuss
Unterton, Beiklang
Volk(sstamm)
die zweite dauerhafte britische
Siedlung in Nordamerika
Augenzeugenbericht
Kürbis
Rezept
Gewürz
Überangebot