Rethinking Thanksgiving Turkey
As we come upon Thanksgiving, I find myself asking: “Why turkey?” After all, the traditional feast was built around mythology; authentic records don’t exist. Historians actually surmise that the 1621 colonists viewed the large birds as hard to prepare. Hmmm. And their Wampanoag guests, who brought venison, by the way, came to the feast because the colonists went out to shoot some fowl – probably ducks and geese. The resulting gunshots triggered a joint defense between Pilgrims and the locals, who initially arrived with the intention of saving the Pilgrims from harm.
In truth, the tradition of serving turkey on Thanksgiving is more likely to have come to prominence after the Civil War, when President Lincoln urged creation of a day of Thanksgiving. That’s likely when turkey farmers began to promote their products.
Giving thanks with something special
Today, four hundred years later, the Thanksgiving turkey will be harder to come by and much more expensive, due largely to avian flu and the high cost of feed. What a perfect time to consider a different Thanksgiving direction! After all, Thanksgiving is really about family and friends and tradition and sharing. For the meal, we want something special, something that makes a beautiful presentation – something we can all give thanks for.
Especially outside New England, ham is often a default on Thanksgiving. But why limit your choices? A prime rib roast or just a simple roast beef can fill the kitchen with delicious aromas and make a worthy presentation. Or consider rack of lamb or a stuffed pork loin. All would easily serve as a very special holiday meal.
Thanking our immigrant ancestors
But what about creating a new tradition? Maybe ask family and guests what cuisine they’d might like to feature for Thanksgiving celebration. It would be easy to select the cuisine of your forebears – doubtless immigrants at one time. In my case, that could be Scandinavian and a meal of a pork roast or a ham. But it could also include some salmon or meatballs, depending on the crowd. What’s your heritage? Maybe you could go with an Italian zuppa de mare, French bouillabaisse, Chinese fish soup, German sauerbraten, or Hungarian gulyas.
You can still include traditional side dishes. For example, mix up some stuffing outside the bird, using seasonings complementary to your main dish, and bake it in the oven. Same goes if you have requests for other Thanksgiving mainstays or potluck from the guests.
On Thanksgivings past, when we have entertained a small group, I’ve roasted a duck. I am especially partial to Clauda Roden’s duck with pears from her cookbook The Cooking of Spain. It’s one of the great dishes of Catalan cuisine and always a guest favorite.
I’m also preparing for a family get-together on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I will definitely plan on something other than turkey. Fish with lentils comes to mind; it makes a beautiful presentation and pleases the non-meat-eaters. I could go Scottish with salmon on a bed of fall vegetables or full Scandinavian with fried sole or halibut with morels or other richly flavored mushrooms. Claudia Roden suggests kefta tagine for a feast – meatballs in tomato sauce that uses local ingredients. It calls for lamb or veal, but I could substitute chicken. And though the recipe is simple, I could easily add apricots and seasonal root vegetables and serve it over couscous. Or maybe this oriental pork pot roast?
You get the idea. Are you planning something other than the usual Thanksgiving turkey?
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