thankful for pumkin'

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Pumpkins have always been a part of our Thanksgiving holiday. The first festival in 1621 brought together the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag, the Indian tribe who helped the Plymouth Colonists adapt to their harsh new land. The first feast was composed of fish, duck, geese, wild turkey, venison, cornbread with nuts, succotash—an Algonquian dish of shelled beans and green corn—and for dessert, pumpkin stewed in maple sap. 

This last item interested me. 

What would such a dish taste like? To find out, a few years ago, I bought a locally grown "cooking" pumpkin from a produce vendor. Since maple sap is a little hard to come by at this time of the year, I next purchased a jug of pure, organically grown maple syrup from the local Food Co-Op. To make sap, I diluted the syrup with water which is what producers of maple syrup do, except in reverse.
    
To be authentic, I built a fire in the fireplace and stewed chunks of pumpkin in the maple sap. After about a hour and half the dish was done. The pumpkin dessert had the look and consistency of spiced apples but its color was more orange. It was surprisingly good although somewhat smoky tasting.
    
Now, I wonder what kind of nuts the Pilgrims put in their holiday cornbread.

Happy Thanksgiving.

- Photo by Wayne Mallinger. Thanks.


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