Pinkster Celebration and Afro Dutch Foodways

Gingerbread muffin, recipe below

Pinkster is a Pentecost holiday celebrated seven weeks after Easter when the Holy Spirit began his ministry on earth as described in the first chapter of the book of Acts. First celebrated for several days in 1620, it represented a Holiday that Dutch settlers introduced to the Hudson Valley, Northern New Jersey and Western Long Island where they had the greatest concentration. Dutch settlers brought enslaved African to these regions from Africa and the Caribbean and introduced them to this Christian holiday which included parades and festivals. Overtime northern blacks co-opted Pinkster transforming it for their own needs such as a break from the harsh realities of slave labor and using it as an opportunity to both socialize and earn money from the sale of beer, gingerbread, and pies which Dutch, African, Native Americans enjoyed during the festival. Here is a gingerbread recipe from the Hudson Valley that seems most appropriate for this piece of culinary history.

Gingerbread recipe: http://www.all-creatures.org/mhvs/recipes-gingerbread.html