Photo: Bochkarev Photography (Shutterstock)
Turkey may have been on the menu at the 1621 feast; all we know for sure is that there were “fowl” being served alongside venison. But the fowls could also have been ducks, geese, pigeons, or other miscellaneous birds.
Pumpkins and cranberries may have been available, but sugar wasn’t a common enough ingredient to make pumpkin pies and cranberry sauce as we know them today. Meanwhile, there were probably eels, fish, and other seafood.
Sarah Josepha Hale, who advocated in the 1800's for New England-style Thanksgiving celebrations to be made nationwide, wrote that a traditional Thanksgiving meal might include turkey and pumpkin pie—but also goose, duck, beef, pork, mutton, chicken pot pie, and pickles.
