Fall is fully in the air (and it seems the weather here in Houston finally agrees)! What better way is there to celebrate cooler weather and the start of the holiday season than with a hearty Thanksgiving lunch?
On the menu for the afternoon was a delicious Thanksgiving-style lunch from Cracker Barrel. For the main course: sliced turkey dressed with gravy. There were several sides as well, including green beans, mashed sweet potatoes, and dinner rolls. To top it all off, students enjoyed their choice of apple, pumpkin, or pecan pie.
Interestingly, while these dishes can be considered quintessentially American, you can find similar items on holiday menus in a few other countries around the world. In France, for example, you might find a traditional stuffed turkey on tables for Noël, or Christmas.
Called dinde in French, turkeys were first introduced to Europe by the Spanish. As it was customary to eat fowl for the holidays in France, the turkey quickly became a very popular choice among the population.1
If you visit Japan in the fall or winter, you might find yaki-imo - baked sweet potato. Similar to the mashed sweet potato our Intensive English students enjoyed, yaki-imo can be found all over the country and makes for a filling treat for anyone with a sweet tooth. Japanese sweet potatoes are supposedly extra-sweet due to the methods in which they are harvested and stored. There are even sweet potato festivals across the country! 2
Apple pie is perhaps the most “American” item on our Thanksgiving menu, but even that has its origins outside of the United States.
Early recipes dating as far back as the 1500s have been found in England and the Netherlands, but had some notable differences from the apple pie of today. In fact, the only native species of apples to North America was the crab apple, so colonists bred thousands of other varieties over time, each with their own uses and palates.3
After lunch, our Intensive English students participated in a Thanksgiving trivia contest, testing their knowledge of the American holiday against their friends. Though the questions were easy for just about any person familiar with the holiday to answer, students still had a fun time and won some prizes in the process!
“Where does the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade take place?” Hands immediately shot up from participants after this question was asked. If you’ve ever seen the parade on TV or online, you can guess that it is held yearly in New York City.
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade first began exactly 100 years ago, in 1924. Employees of the department store put on the first edition of the parade not with giant balloons, but with animals from the Central Park Zoo. Over time, the parade has evolved to feature performers, floating pop culture references, and even Santa Claus himself riding in on his sleigh to ring in the holiday season. The parade is enjoyed by millions of viewers nationwide while they prepare for the Thanksgiving feast that is enjoyed later in the day.4
Another question presented to students was “What animal is pardoned by the American President each year at Thanksgiving?” Again, students’ hands flew up in haste when they noticed the answer choices: a turkey, a pig, a chicken and a fish.
The tradition itself, though, is certainly a strange one, especially to those not familiar with its history. Dating back to the 1800s, American presidents were often gifted turkeys and poultry as a festive gesture during the holiday season. There is speculation over which president was the first to pardon a turkey, as the pardoning was done mostly informally over the past century.
The annual tradition did not gain popularity, however, until 1989, with President George H. W. Bush. Since then, the White House has hosted a ceremony where the sitting president has pardoned a turkey from being served at Thanksgiving dinner, saving its life to live peacefully on a farm instead.5
It is easy to associate the Thanksgiving holiday purely as an American one, even though many people and their loved ones share holiday traditions in countries all around the world. The next question presented to students during our trivia asked them to identify what other country celebrates Thanksgiving as a national holiday. The answer is Canada, America’s neighbor to the north, which also celebrates Thanksgiving as a national holiday.
Thanksgiving celebrations in Canada, in fact, predate the first American Thanksgiving, with a history of harvest celebrations of indigenous peoples dating back to well before the arrival of Europeans. However, Thanksgiving was not officially made a national holiday in Canada until 1879. The holiday is held over a month before the American one, on the second Monday of October.6
At the end of the day, while six Intensive English students walked away with some Rice-themed prizes, it was a festive event for everyone, filled with laughter, friendship, and a bit of friendly competition.
By Hadrian Barbosa and Bianca Perez
Sources
1France.fr. “Here a Turkey, There a Dinde.” FRANCE.FR, 30 Dec. 2022, www.france.fr/en/article/here-turkey-there-dinde/#stuffed-turkey-with-caramelized-onions-1.
2“Japan’s Sweet Potato Obsession: A Love That Grows (with Halal Recommendations!).” JAPANeid, JAPANeid, 7 Oct. 2024, www.japaneid.com/blogs/news/swepota01#:~:text=Rich%20in%20nutrients%2C%20fiber%2C%20and,sweet%20potato%20desserts%2C%20and%20tempura.
3Eschner, Kat. “Apple Pie Is Not All That American.” Smithsonian.Com, Smithsonian Institution, 12 May 2017, www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-apple-pie-linked-america-180963157/.
4Callahan, Michael, and Chris Klimek. “How the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Went from Its Modest Start to an American Tradition Rivaling Stuffing and Pumpkin Pie.” Smithsonian.Com, Smithsonian Institution, Nov. 2024, www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/macys-thanksgiving-day-parade-modest-start-american-tradition-rivaling-stuffing-pumpkin-pie-180985216/.
5Monkman, Betty C. “Pardoning the Thanksgiving Turkey.” White House Historical Association, www.whitehousehistory.org/pardoning-the-thanksgiving-turkey. Accessed 27 Nov. 2024.
6Mills, David, et al. “Thanksgiving in Canada.” Edited by Celine Cooper, The Canadian Encyclopedia, 5 July 2019, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/thanksgiving-day.