"America's most sacred annual meal: roast turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potato, pumpkin pie — eaten by 50 million families on the fourth Thursday of November."
About Thanksgiving Dinner
America's most sacred annual meal — a roast turkey (brined or dry-rubbed overnight, roasted for 4 hours) with cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potato with gravy, sweet potato casserole with marshmallow, green bean casserole and pumpkin pie; a meal eaten by 50 million families on the fourth Thursday of November; the turkey must be golden, the gravy pan-dripped and the pie homemade.
Thanksgiving Dinner — a staple of United States's cuisine
A roast turkey (brined overnight, roasted for four hours), cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potato with gravy, sweet potato casserole with marshmallow, green bean casserole and pumpkin pie. Eaten by 50 million families on the fourth Thursday of November. The turkey must be golden, the gravy pan-dripped and the pie homemade.
Stuffing (or dressing, if cooked outside the bird) is the most debated element — cornbread stuffing in the South, bread and sage in the North, oyster stuffing in New England. Each family's version is the correct one.
What to Expect
The Thanksgiving table arrives all at once — the turkey centrepiece, the casseroles, the cranberry sauce. You eat more than you planned and feel the correct amount of guilt.
Why Try It
Thanksgiving is the meal most deeply embedded in American cultural identity — the food is the occasion, and the occasion is the food.
Insider Tips
Brine the turkey 24 hours before — dry brine with salt and sugar changes the texture fundamentally.
The pumpkin pie must be homemade — tinned filling in a homemade crust is the acceptable compromise.
Eat at an American household if invited — restaurant Thanksgiving is never the same experience.
