November 2019

(image; Unsplashed)

Ah, the mystery of the Thanksgiving Dinner to a Spaniard…

Once a Spanish friend asked, “Is Thanksgiving as important as Christmas in the US? I see it in a lot of movies.” she said.

“Not really,” I answered…

I began to think I needed to introduce my Spanish friends to this truly American experience. Cooking for people who have never had Thanksgiving dinner seemed like an easy chore; how could I go wrong, and I liked the odds of meeting their expectations.

Thanksgiving, the “traditional foods” can be challenging to find in Spain if you don’t live in a more prominent city. I started searching a month earlier, first with the turkey. Spain is not a big turkey eating culture. They think the meat is dry– and I could agree. To ensure a moist turkey, I had my friend in North Carolina send me some oven-bags.

When I told my Spanish friends, I would cook the turkey in a plastic bag, they could not imagine what I meant. One even suggested I save on the expense and shipping and use a plastic grocery bag from El Corte Ingles, a department store here.

“No, it’s not that kind of Bag,” I said.

My North Carolina friend Cristy was ready to help, “…and if you don’t mind, can you throw in some Cranberry Sauce?” Personally, I hate the stuff, but it is a holiday standard, and I thought they should have the whole Thanksgiving experience.

“Oh, and Cristy, make sure to include some cream of mushroom soup, please.” What is Thanksgiving without the green bean casserole?

The Turkey

On this item, all my organic friends would agree I had luck. One of the guests, Javier, had a connection for a fresh turkey… at a friend’s farm, I could buy. His friend insisted we select a female turkey because it’s better tasting than the male. So, of course, I bought one.

Excellent, it was going to be fresh and from a local friend’s farm! 

Then I began to wonder how the turkey would be delivered. I told Javier that it needed to come completely featherless, feetless, and of course, headless. Done Javier said, & how primitive do you think we Spanish are?

Now for My Side Dish Menu:

I would need Sweet Potato Casserole, Stuffing with Sausage. My Mom’s Mash Potatoes. Garlic, Brussel Sprouts, Green Bean Casserole, sweeten Carrots and Gravy. 

My Challenges !!

– All will have to be from scratch. They do not have any of the items pre-prepped “shortcuts” because they don’t eat them. For example, I will be cutting the white bread into cubes and letting it get stale a couple of days before I make the dressing for the stuffing.

– Next will be translating all the items, including the spices, into Spanish.

– Then it is the quantities conversions into Metric

– And finally, converting the cook times from Fahrenheit to Celsius.

I started the day before completing the casseroles and the stuffing. 

(In Spanish Casserole=Carmela and the Stuffing=Relleno says Google Translate, but they don’t exactly stand for the same foods.)

 

It is the day of the Feast.

THANKSGIVING DAY is not a holiday here, so of course, the guests began to arrive, all six guests, at 8 pm.

Dinner was going to be served “Spanish Style” with wine/beer, nuts, and olives, in advance and lots of conversation. My boyfriend was in charge of this part of the dinner. Allowing me time to run around the kitchen and create that magical synergy where everything comes out hot and on time. (Right!)

First Tiny Problem, I hadn’t accounted for the tiny oven’s overload and its inability to cook the food evenly. So now dinner was going to be ready at 10 pm & only if I served the dishes as they were done.

I decided to take the Turkey to the table to be sliced, buying me more time in the kitchen.

The turkey was finished and beautiful. I set it on the table and knife in hand & asked who wanted to carve it? Second Problem.– No one knew how to cut the TURKEY. Blank stares as the knife was passed among them. I quickly stepped in, gave a demonstration, and assured everyone that the “sacredness of the holiday” did not lie in how the turkey was carved. It’s a Hollywood Movie Myth, I said.

I returned to the kitchen to bring the next fully cooked side dish to the table. With the second cooked sidedish now placed on the table, I told everyone to get started. Planning to be back in a few minutes with another dish.

I did this one-dish delivery two more times.

When I returned, hoping to see smiling faces and full plates, But what I saw plates were plates with only two slices of turkey on them. What was going on? This Feast was their FIRST THANKSGIVING DINNER!!! They did not know how to assemble the food on their plates.

The Spanish diet and typical serving is …one food type at a time. Combinations on one plate are not the standard.

I demonstrated how the plate should look and where the gravy should go. After tasting the strange salty/ sweet foods on their dishes, I got grins of complete satisfaction from everyone.

They loved it! What a relief I felt!!

Dinner lasted two more hours; after clearing the table, we added bottles for mixed drinks in the center. (I just love this Spanish Tradition of lingering around the table with an after-dinner drink.)

We said goodnight as I give some of the girls the recipes of the evening.

It was now about 1:30 or 2 am. As everyone was on their way home… the Cranberry Sauce STILL lay on the table, getting watery. 

It seems they dislike cranberry sauce here as well!

What an incredible experience it is sharing my culture with another.

I felt so blessed and grateful for this opportunity. I plan on doing it again next year for my boyfriend’s family.

Where was your favorite Thanksgiving dinner served? Was there anyone at your table that was having their first treat to this classic meal?

Can you share with me your favorite food for Thanksgiving dinner?

Love to hear one of your adventures.

Kathy XX