Did the Pilgrims & Indians have mac and cheese?

[Free4Life11]

We were arguing at work today whether mashed potatoes are a "traditional" Thanksgiving food! I said of course they are, but a few people demanded it was NOT traditional and they'd never had it on Thanksgiving. I asked what they have and they said macaroni and cheese.

I have never heard of having macaroni and cheese for Thanksgiving. Now I don't know if they had potatoes at the first Thanksgiving, but I can say with confidence they did NOT have macaroni and cheese!

Ok so my question is, which is more traditional mashed potatoes or macaroni and cheese?

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

I thought Christopher Columbus was Italian, He didn't give the native americans the gift of pasta?


Hmmmm,

thus begins the great tuber debate....

 

[Sparx]

i love mac and cheese, so we always have it. i also love mashed potatoes too, so we have those too.

i never worried if the food was "traditional," other than the turkey and stuffing, we always had favorites for side dishes.

 

[Cindy B]

We're having a Thanksgiving feast at work tomorrow and mac n cheese is high on the menu as well as well as collard greens and sweet potato pie.

I work with a mix of urban and Southern women so mac n cheese is a KEY ingredient to the thanksgiving day.

But if you think about if we literally ate what was available in the first Thanksgiving it would not be all that appetizing.. venison, seal, and lobster..

http://www.history.com/content/thanksgiving/the-first-thanksgiving

 

[Diznygrl]

We have mashed potatoes, but I have no problem with people having mac n cheese. I'm pretty sure pilgrims did NOT have pasta. However, what's really considered 'traditional' has no bearing on what the pilgrims and indians ate on the first Thanksgiving. As a matter of fact, the first Thanksgiving meal wasn't anything at all like we know it today. They had lobster and oysters and other sorts of weird things that we would never associate with Thanksgiving. No turkey.

 

[Free4Life11]

Well I wouldn't care if someone had that at their own meal, but I thought it was the weirdest thing ever. Turkey and mac and cheese just don't go together for me!

The real issue is we're having a Thanksgiving lunch at work next week and were debating which sides to have.

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

i think you should have toast and popcorn

 

[crazelion]

I going ready say you most work in the South because all those foods is traditional southern foods is be serve almost at any gathering that you will have.

We're having a Thanksgiving feast at work tomorrow and mac n cheese is high on the menu as well as well as collard greens and sweet potato pie.

I work with a mix of urban and Southern women so mac n cheese is a KEY ingredient to the thanksgiving day.

But if you think about if we literally ate what was available in the first Thanksgiving it would not be all that appetizing.. venison, seal, and lobster..

http://www.history.com/content/thanksgiving/the-first-thanksgiving

 

[Cindy B]

Well I wouldn't care if someone had that at their own meal, but I thought it was the weirdest thing ever. Turkey and mac and cheese just don't go together for me!

The real issue is we're having a Thanksgiving lunch at work next week and were debating which sides to have.

We had this debate a few weeks ago at work.

These were the MUSTS:

Collard greens
Mac N cheese
Sweet potato pie (not regular sweet potatoes)
Cornbread
Potato salad


THE NOT MUST HAVES:
Stuffing
Green bean casserole
Salads (green salad type )

AND NO PORK OF ANY KIND!

So according to people at work, we are going to have a carb overload tomorrow with minimal vegetables to balance out the turkey

 

[laurie31]

I don't think either of them are "traditional" in the sense that they were served by Pilgrims. The only thing our family does that comes close besides the turkey is corn pudding.

DH's family:

turkey
dressing
sweet potatoes
green beans
tomato casserole
corn pudding
mac and cheese (yep!)
some random congealed salad
rolls


My family:

turkey
dressing
mashed potatoes
sweet potatoes
tomato casserole
green beans


I didn't list desserts.

I never thought about DH's family not having mashed potatoes. I actually make the mac and cheese for them (from scratch - for real, I start with a roux and everything) because my kids and their cousins like it. My kids like my Mom's mashed potatoes so much I don't think they notice the absense of the mac and cheese at her house. Plus they're too loaded down with dressing, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes to care much either way - lol.

 

[MsLeFever]

What is a tomato casserole? It sounds yummy....

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

The Pilgrims' MenuFoods That May Have Been on the Menu
Seafood: Cod, Eel, Clams, Lobster
Wild Fowl: Wild Turkey, Goose, Duck, Crane, Swan, Partridge, Eagles
Meat: Venison, Seal
Grain: Wheat Flour, Indian Corn
Vegetables: Pumpkin, Peas, Beans, Onions, Lettuce, Radishes, Carrots
Fruit: Plums, Grapes
Nuts: Walnuts, Chestnuts, Acorns
Herbs and Seasonings: Olive Oil, Liverwort, Leeks, Dried Currants, Parsnips

What Was Not on the MenuSurprisingly, the following foods, all considered staples of the modern Thanksgiving meal, didn't appear on the pilgrims's first feast table:
Ham: There is no evidence that the colonists had butchered a pig by this time, though they had brought pigs with them from England.
Sweet Potatoes/Potatoes: These were not common.
Corn on the Cob: Corn was kept dried out at this time of year.
Cranberry Sauce: The colonists had cranberries but no sugar at this time.
Pumpkin Pie: It's not a recipe that exists at this point, though the pilgrims had recipes for stewed pumpkin.
Chicken/Eggs: We know that the colonists brought hens with them from England, but it's unknown how many they had left at this point or whether the hens were still laying.
Milk: No cows had been aboard the Mayflower, though it's possible that the colonists used goat milk to make cheese.
Source: Kathleen Curtin, Food Historian at Plimoth Plantation.

quoted from History.com

 

[Cindy B]

I going ready say you most work in the South because all those foods is traditional southern foods is be serve almost at any gathering that you will have.

No, I don't work in the South.. I work in an urban area of Philadelphia.

 

[disykat]

I can see why people would enjoy macaroni and cheese at Thanksgiving and how it might be a tradition in their family to have it, but no way is it a "traditional" Thanksgiving food in the widespread sense.

Mashed potatoes are traditional, because turkey with gravy is traditional. Gravy goes on mashed potatoes. I'm not a huge traditionalist, but I've never really heard of a "traditional" turkey dinner without mashed potatoes. The three things I would assume would absolutely be part of that would be turkey, gravy, and mashed potatoes.

 

[C.Ann]

The last thing in the world I would ever consider having with Thanksgiving dinner is mac 'n cheese..

I've never heard of anyone having this until now..

 

[npmommie]

i think you should have toast and popcorn

Don't forget the pretzels and jellybeans

 

[paintnolish]

We never had it growing up, but I have made it and served/brought it to the last few Tgivings. It goes over really well and is an awesome leftover. Anyone have a good mac n cheese recipe? I think I use a different one every year! I like the ones you bake. TIA!

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

I think I need to read a tad bit slower, I totally missed the "meaning" of this thread! Please disregard the lesson plan on my previous post.

 

[laurie31]

What is a tomato casserole? It sounds yummy....

You are correct! At least, we think so! My children LOVE this stuff.



Tomato casserole

2 cups tomatoes, chopped
2 tablespoons onion, chopped
1 tablespoon green pepper, chopped
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup bread crumbs

Mix together in a bowl the tomatoes, onion, peppers, sugar, salt.
Layer in casserole dish - a layer of tomato mixture, layer of bread crumbs, layer of tomato mixture, a layer of crumbs.
Dot with butter.
Bake at 350 for 15 muinutes, remove, top with cheese, and bake 10 minutes longer.



My mom makes this by chopping up actual tomatoes, green peppers, and onions, but I "cheat" by buying cans of diced tomatoes with green peppers and onions already added. I also omit the 1/2 teaspoon salt (I figure the canned tomatoes have enough salt - lol) and use however much cheese it takes to give the whole thing a nice 1/2 to 1 inch thick coating of cheese - lol.

It's really very quick and easy using the canned tomatoes. My family doesn't eat the "heels" of bread loaves, so I freeze them and use them for bread crumbs for things like this. Of course, you can use whatever bread crumbs you like, although they don't need to be tiny crumbs; I actually just cube my bread. My aunt makes this and uses torn up french bread, and it's very yummy too. You want the bread to absorb the tomato juice.


Enjoy!

 

[HsvTeacher]

I'm from Alabama, and we've always had macaroni and cheese at Thanksgiving. Maybe it's a Southern thing? But then again, at most restaurants down here, macaroni and cheese is listed as a vegetable on the menu. Go figure!