Did the pilgrims eat popcorn? It was a question posed by the author, who is a culinary historian. The answer: No. In fact, popcorn was not even eaten by the colonial Americans, not the Pilgrims. According to Mr. Plimpton, popcorn balls were a creation of the Indians, but they were actually a mid-nineteenth-century invention that jumped into mainstream New England society.

Evidence that the pilgrims ate popcorn

The first known reference to popcorn dates back to 1889, when Jane Adams wrote a fictional novel about the pilgrims. It is unlikely that the pilgrims ate popcorn, as it is not known when the first pop-corn was consumed. In addition, the pilgrims had only flint corn, which did not expand like popcorn. In addition, the pilgrims did not have the luxury of sugar, and cider was not yet widely available.

The Department of Agriculture has ample evidence that the Native Americans ate popcorn, but not in the Atlantic colonies. While letters from colonial Williamsburg ask whether the pilgrims ate popcorn, historians at Colonial Williamsburg have never given a definitive answer. Native Americans in Massachusetts, on the other hand, were growing the Northern Flint variety of corn. In spite of the lack of evidence, historians have made the assumption that the Natives ate popcorn.

The Pilgrim settlers shared meals with the local Wampanoag tribe, a Native American tribe that inhabited the Plymouth area. The native people had been using molasses to cook the corn, but this wasn’t the same as today’s kettle corn. It’s unlikely that the Pilgrims shared their first meal with the Wampanoag tribe over popcorn. The Pilgrims likely did not bond over popcorn, as the Northern Flint corn was not good for popping.

Evidence that the Wampanoags brought popcorn to meetings with colonists

In 1619, Gorges funded the first expedition to the New World by a group of colonists and a Native American tribe. Dermer had heard stories about violent encounters between the Native Americans and European explorers in the area. Five years later, the colonists were preparing to end the exile of the Wampanoags in Tisquantum.

The natives had been tracking Pilgrims’ movements since their arrival, and their first encounter occurred only a month after they arrived. The natives had gotten into a tiff with them less than a month later. This confrontation sparked a series of battles and eventually resulted in the Wampanoags being expelled from the settlement.

The Wampanoags were not only eager to trade with Europeans, but they also enjoyed eating cranberry sauce. In 1614, Captain Thomas Hunt anchored his ship in the port of Patuxet, which is now known as Plymouth. They also knew about the Massachusett tribe, which had plotted against Plymouth. And they were warned that this tribe would attack Plymouth if they didn’t act accordingly.

While the “First Thanksgiving” in Plymouth, Massachusetts, was not the first time that Europeans ate popcorn, the fact remains that the natives brought it to peace talks. Popcorn, too, was popular among colonial housewives and was the first puffed breakfast cereal consumed by Europeans. And it wasn’t long before some colonists popped it in front of their fireplaces with thin sheet-iron cylinders. Popcorn remained popular until the Great Depression. Street vendors even followed the crowds, pushing gas or steam-powered poppers through parks.

Evidence that the pilgrims ate popcorn at Thanksgiving

A long-standing tradition claims that Native Americans brought popcorn to the Pilgrims during Thanksgiving, but this is a false claim. The earliest chronicles of Thanksgiving mention ‘fruit’ and ‘fowl’, not popcorn balls. The Pilgrim settlers probably ate corn that didn’t pop, a variety known as Northern Flint. This corn is not suitable for popping, and it’s unlikely that the Pilgrims ate popcorn to bond with the Native Americans.

While corn was a staple crop of the early pilgrims, it was also considered poisonous during this time. The pilgrims would eat cranberries and mashed potatoes, two of today’s Thanksgiving staples, but they had no sugar. Moreover, cider was not available. Corn was a main crop for the pilgrims, and the Wampanoag Indians grew flint corn, a type that is not as nutritious as today’s corn.

There is also no archaeological evidence that the Pilgrims ate popcorn at Thanksgiving. While there are no written records of popcorn being eaten in the early colonies, many people believe the legend is based on legends that were invented to Americanize new immigrants. But, the origins of the popcorn-and-Pilgrims association begin in the mid-19th century, when the first written reference to popcorn appears in Harper’s Magazine. Only in the late 19th century did popcorn become commercially important.