New England Harvest Feast

I mentioned we went to Cape Cod Massachusetts for a few days with friends, one of the things we did was to go to the New England Harvest Feast at the Plymouth Plantation. What an amazing experience. It’s basically a pilgrim dinner just like they would have had many years ago but with some obvious changes. All of the people were dressed in character and played a role that included talking about what their life was like, telling us about each course we were being served as well as making sure we were using proper table manners. Proper table manners now and then are very different. We were asked to put our napkin over our left shoulder and we were told to use our thumb and two fingers to eat our meal. We were given a spoon so there may have been a little cheating going on!

NOTE- it was extremely difficult taking food pictures at an interactive family style dinner so my apologies with a few of the pictures!

This was a family style dinner served at one very long table. If you are concerned with covid this may not be the event for you as the food plates were passed and shared BUT I will tell you some interactive type dinners are fun and the food is just ok at best BUT not only was the service and experience exceptional but the food was absolutely terrific! As you can see we had butter and salt at the table, along with fresh pressed apple cider. Then we started with a salad of romaine and watercress, cucumber ,chopped egg with a sweet and sour dressing. This salad dressing was amazing! So fresh and bright!

Next up we had mussels sautéed with beer and garnished with parsley along with the star dish of the night, the roasted Turkey with a cabbage, leek and onion gravy. The mussels were enjoyed by all but that turkey is dream worthy. It was hands down the most moist turkey anyone at the table had ever eaten and that onion gravy was a terrific compliment! Jim loved this so much he asked the people further down the table for their turkey if they were not going to eat it…..I kid you not that really happened!

Next we had some veggies, starting with a native sweet corn pudding and a stewed squash. Both of these dishes were very good, we particularly liked the corn as it was a bit sweet and had dried cranberries in it. We emptied the bowl of that! The squash was also very good but also very different as it had a hint of vinegar in it making it just slightly tart.

The next two dishes although still very good and enjoyed by everyone these were my least favorites. They were roasted pork and fricassee of fish. The pork was just a touch dry for my taste but still good and the fish Was cod and beautifully cooked and perfectly flakey. Are you feeling full after all of this? We sure were! We were not done just yet though! They were not letting us go without dessert!

The dessert was a 17th century cheesecake and a plate of dried apricots, grapes and a velvety smooth cheese. The cheesecake was not at all like the cheesecake we are used to now. It was closer to a ricotta cheesecake but this one also seemed to have some dried fruits in it. Not everyone loved this dish, if you wanted a sweet dessert this was not it. I enjoyed it and would have it again!

If you find yourself in the Cape Cod Massachusetts area check out everything the Plymouth plantation has to offer. It’s a wonderful place to visit and go back in time a little bit!

Enjoy!