Sherburne History Center Blog

Thanksgiving marks the beginning of several celebratory feasts.   The turkey day, Christmas, and New Year’s Day call for some type of feast and celebration. With the end of the Thanksgiving feast, I paused to wonder about the food I had just devoured.   Specifically, why turkey?   After a brief search, I discovered a variety of meats served during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.   Each of the centerpieces, whether they be turkey, goose, or pork; held a significant meaning to traditional diners.   In the United States most holiday revelers held Turkey as the primary dish of a festive meal.   Whether at Christmas or Thanksgiving, the bird of choice remained the gobbler.   The wild turkey must be hunted and killed.   And so, early feasts celebrated the holiday and the hunting skills of family members.   As you move into the twentieth century, turkeys became domestic farm animals and more easily attainable.   Goose and pork, on th...

Beginning with Thanksgiving and continuing to Christmas and New Year’s Day celebrations, food remains a constant topic of discussion.   It seems appropriate, then, to explore food traditions during the holiday season.   Why do we serve turkey during the holidays?   In Minnesota, why is lutefisk a tradition in so many households?   Whatever happened to the traditional Christmas goose?     A quick search of the internet provides some leads to the important question of why these foods are served on the holidays. Lutefisk, white fish soaked in lye, is long a tradition of Norwegian foodways.   My favorite explanation of the importance of lutefisk suggests the fish reinforce the traditional image of the sturdy, strong Norwegian immigrants.   One story claims Irishmen in an effort to drive off invading Norsemen tried to poison a supply of dried white fish by pouring lye over a barrel of the fish.   By the time the poison was discovered, st...