'Tasting History's' Max Miller shares 3 historic recipes to add to your Thanksgiving feast

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The Thanksgiving table has come a long way from what the first Thanksgiving celebration looked like, according to Max Miller, host of "Tasting History" on YouTube and author of the cookbook by the same name.

In a conversation with Paste BN, Miller explained that the holiday to be celebrated on Nov. 28 harkens back to the years before the Civil War. Miller said that while the modern Thanksgiving table is drastically different from the Pilgrim celebration, the foods have not strayed too far from the holiday's historic roots.

"In general, I feel like most of the dishes that we eat today, at least at Thanksgiving, have improved over time but have changed very, very little," Miller said.

Miller said that while the recipes he has made specifically for Thanksgiving are worth considering, others from his catalogue may be just as good of fit on the table.

Here are three historic recipes to try this Thanksgiving.

But first, a Thanksgiving history

The Thanksgiving at Plymouth was not the first such event to occur in America, according to Miller.

"There was one previous that was a Catholic Thanksgiving that took place in Saint Augustine, Florida but we know very little about that event," Miller said.

The Pilgrim Thanksgiving looked drastically different than what became the modern holiday.

"There was a lot of venison, a lot of shellfish, lobster, things like that. They may have had turkey, maybe, maybe not. They would have had a lot of corn and things like that, and they would have had squash," Miller said.

Most accounts of the event's significance are often overstated, Paste BN journalist Eryn Dion previously noted in her reporting.

Members of the Wampanoag were not formally invited as a gesture of good grace. Instead, the Pilgrims became rowdy at their feast and began shooting into the air. Fearing violence, Wampanoag warriors came to identify the commotion − prepared for war if need be − but saw it was a celebration and eventually joined in.

The person Miller and other historians credit for the modern incarnation of Thanksgiving is Sarah Josepha Hale. Hale wrote about the New England traditions of Thanksgiving in her 1827 book "Northwood; a Tale of New England" and later became the editor of "Godey’s Lady’s Book" magazine. Starting in 1846, she pressed politicians and the public to adopt the holiday as an attempt to mend a divided nation hurtling towards the Civil War.

"(Hale) actually said that the fact that the Thanksgiving holiday, as they celebrated it, was after the election period, it was kind of like a moment of healing for everyone," Miller said. "Obviously, it didn't work."

Modern Thanksgiving menus still similar to historic recipes

Miller said that the recipes from the push to adopt Thanksgiving, which occurred in 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln designated the final Thursday of November for the holiday, have largely remained unchanged.

The staples of the Thanksgiving spread, including roasted turkey, pumpkin pie and a cranberry sauce that resembles the modern canned offering, sprang from the first American cookbook "American Cookery" written by Amelia Simmons and published in 1796, according to Miller.

As the holiday proliferated through the country, southern dishes were added to the Yankee spread including sweet potato pie and pecan pie.

The other recipe that changed from the early iterations of the holiday, according to Miller, is stuffing. Oyster stuffing was common before the middle of the 20th century, but the advent of Stove Top stuffing altered what accompanied the turkey to the table in the post-war boom.

"There was a period in the middle of the century when it wasn't looked down upon necessarily to use these canned goods and boxed things because (the attitude was) this is modern this, is this is a step forward rather than spending all day working in the kitchen," Miller said.

The other element that defined Thanksgiving was the advertising and art during the interwar and post war period.

"A lot of the advertisers, not only would they put (recipes) on the back of their products, but they would use the work of Norman Rockwell and other iconic artists and authors of the day to sell this idea of the ideal American," Miller said, referring in part to Rockwell's "Freedom From Want," a part of a series based on President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's 1941 Four Freedoms speech. "Rockwell was actually quite subversive in his art, but many people didn't pick up on that."

Recipe: 1914 pecan pie

Ingredients:

Crust

Your favorite pie dough

Filling

1 cup (235 ml) whole milk
1 cup (220 g) brown sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup (65 g) finely chopped pecans
A pinch of salt

Meringue

2 egg whites
2 to 3 tablespoons castor sugar

Instructions:

For the crust: Line a pie tin with the dough. If you’re using a deep-dish pie tin, double the filling ingredients. To blind bake, line the dough with some foil, then add pie weights and bake at 425°F (220°C) for 12 minutes. Remove the foil and weights and return it to the oven for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the edges and bottom start to brown. Take it out of the oven and let it cool completely.
For the filling: Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (175°C).
In a saucepan, whisk together the milk, sugar, eggs, flour, chopped pecans and salt. Set it over low heat and gently stir. Be sure to do this over low heat because we want the eggs to thicken the mixture into a custard, not scramble. Cook, stirring constantly, for 7 to 8 minutes, or until it’s slightly thickened. Pour into the cooled pie shell.
Add a layer of pecan halves on top of the filling if desired, though it is not a part of the original recipe.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until there’s just a slight wobble in the center.
Set the pie on a wire rack to cool completely.
For the meringue: Using a very clean and dry bowl and very clean and dry beaters or whisk, beat the egg whites on medium speed until you get soft peaks. Switch to high speed and slowly add in the sugar. Beat until you get shiny, stiff peaks.
Spread or pipe the meringue on top of the pie in whatever design you like. Return the pie to the oven and bake for about 12 minutes, or until the meringue browns.
Serve

Recipe: 1896 corn chowder

Ingredients:

1 quart (1 L) whole milk
3 tablespoons fatty salt pork, or bacon fat
1 onion, diced
4 cups Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4” pieces, 4-5 potatoes
2 cups (475 ml) boiling water
3 cups canned sweet corn, drained (about 1 pound, 4 oz worth)
3 tablespoons (45 g) butter
2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon pepper
8 large plain dry crackers (don’t use something like Ritz or club crackers, they’ll disintegrate)

Instructions:

Scald the milk by adding it to a saucepan and warm it over medium heat until it reaches 180°F (82°C). Set it aside and let it cool.
Heat the pork fat in a large skillet over medium-high heat for a couple of minutes until most of the fat has melted into grease. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often so they don’t burn. You want them to be translucent and start to brown.
Carefully pour out any remaining grease into a pot (using a strainer is really helpful), and remove any fatty pieces that might be remaining. Set aside.
Add the potatoes to a small saucepan with just enough water to cover them. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, just to soften them up a bit.
Strain the potatoes and add them to the pot with the grease from the onions, then add the boiling water and set the pot over high heat and bring it to a simmer. When the potatoes can be easily pierced with a knife, reduce the heat to medium-low and add the corn, scalded milk, and onions. Stir and slowly bring it to a gentle boil.
If you’re using smaller crackers, you can skip this step. If you’re using large crackers, break them into large pieces and add them to a bowl of cold milk, soak for 10 seconds, and take them out. Set aside.
When the chowder begins to boil, add the salt and pepper and stir. Add the butter. Once the butter is melted, add the softened crackers and let them float on top while the chowder simmers for another 10 minutes to 15 minutes to thicken.
Serve

If you want to be period accurate, remove the crackers, though Miller notes that the step does not make a large difference in the final chowder.

Recipe: 1789 parmesan cheese ice cream

Ingredients:

6 medium eggs at room temperature
1 cup (235 ml) simple syrup
2 cups (475 ml) heavy cream
3 ounces (85 g) freshly grated parmesan

Instructions:

Whisk the room temperature eggs in a medium saucepan until they’re smooth. Whisk in the cream and syrup.
Set it over low heat on the stove. Once it starts to warm, stir constantly. Don’t be tempted to raise the heat or you run the risk of getting scrambled eggs. It should start to thicken around 170°F (76°C). Don’t let it get much hotter than that or you once again run the risk of scrambled eggs. If you don’t have an instant-read thermometer, you can dip a spoon into it and run your finger over the back. If it leaves a defined line, the custard is ready.
Take the custard off the heat and add the parmesan cheese. Whisk until it’s all melted.
Pour the mixture through a sieve into a bowl. Cover and let it cool to room temperature or colder. You can put a piece of parchment or plastic wrap directly on the surface of the custard so it doesn’t form a skin.
Pour the cooled custard into your ice cream maker of choice and follow the manufacturer’s instructions.
You can either serve the ice cream right away and it will be like soft serve, or you can freeze it (in a mold for extra authenticity) for a few hours. Both ways were done at the time of the recipe.

Contributing: Olivia Munson

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