FOOD

Thanksgiving Like it’s 1565!

By Morgan Banno

Ahhh, Thanksgiving. The one time of year we deliberately gorge ourselves on empty carbs and sugar-drenched desserts with no shame, while closey surrounded (uncomfortably so) by family and friends. I’m not entirely sure when my childhood Thanksgivings morphed from the intimate family dinners where we all dressed up and sat awkwardly around the table to the 30-person potlucks that belong on Misfit Island but this year, I’m taking Thanksgiving back to its root – before Plymouth, Massachusetts – to St. Augustine, Florida and the Spanish conquistadors, to the country’s real first Thanksgiving. Stash the stretch pants and keep those sandals handy, because this year is all about Thanksgiving, Florida-style.

School history lessons may have led us to believe the inaugural meal was held in New England because that’s where the Pilgrims landed. But in actuality, the OG party was celebrated on September 8, 1565 by Spanish settlers in St. Augustine. It commenced with a Catholic mass led by Father Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajales followed by a giant feast hosted by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés for the 800+ Spanish settlers.

What did the first Thanksgiving menu look like? Absolutely nothing like it does today.

“For most of human history we ate what was seasonally available,” environmental anthropologist and geographer Gina Rae La Cerva says, adding that this included sourcing food from wild plants. “Nearly 60% of what we eat globally today, including many of our most beloved foods, can be traced back to indigenous Americans.” Squash, beans, shrimp, catfish, mullet, deer, tortoise and green turtle were all found at the first supper – a seafood-dominant meal rich in protein and omega-3 fatty acids. This was the first time indigenous American crops and game had been prepared and served with whatever remaining food product made it over the ocean, unscathed, to the “new” world.

Stash the stretch pants and keep those sandals handy because this year is all about Thanksgiving, Florida-style.

Oysters were harvested from shallow waters. Indians handspeared mullet. Women and children foraged wild foods like mushrooms and ramson and gathered waterfowl eggs. Tribal men would hunt in groups for proteins like duck, mourning doves and alligator.

When the African slaves arrived, they smuggled in watermelon, okra and black-eyed peas. With the Columbian Exchange, products like sugar, tea and breadfruit became more readily available and widely used in food preparation. And wouldn’t you know, by 1672, the wild turkey had become scarce.

The signature dish of the Spanish fleet was Cocido Madrileño – a salt pork, stew-like dish made of garbanzo beans, potato, carrot, broth and meat scraps served with hard biscuits and red wine. While cocido is traditionally cooked all in one pot, it is served as three separate courses. The first course is strained broth and rice (or noodles, for today’s convenience). For the second course, the meat and veggies are strained and served on a large platter. For the final course, the garbanzo beans and potatoes are plated and served family-style.

Cocido Madrileño Yields 6 servings

Ingredients 1 ham bone

1 fresh pig’s foot, halved

1 lb. beef stew chunks

¼ lb. salt pork

¼ lb. fresh ham hock

1 lb. chicken thighs

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 bay leaves

1 can garbanzo beans

1 carrot, cut into three pieces

1 onion, chopped into quarters

8 potatoes, peeled

1 large savoy cabbage, cut into eight pieces

1 lb. Spanish chorizo

1 morcilla (blood sausage) 1 c. vermicelli noodles Salt & pepper to taste

Method

In a large pot, put ham bone, pig’s foot, stew chunks, salt pork and ham hock and cover with water. Bring to a boil and skim any fat. Add chicken thighs, garlic, bay leaves, garbanzo beans, carrot and onion. Simmer for three hours. Remove the large bones and shred the meat. Add potatoes after twoand-a-half hours. Take two cups of broth and place in separate stock pot with cabbage and sausages (additional water may be needed). Cook until cabbage is tender. Cook vermicelli al dente. Add salt and pepper as desired. Serve in three courses, family-style.

This Thanksgiving, skip the post-turkey tryptophan trance and instead round out your dinner with more authentic, Old Florida flavors.