Laura Dean Bennett
Staff Writer
I know it may be heresy to suggest this, but Americans might just as well have chosen fish and seafood as traditional Thanksgiving fare, after all, according to Early American historians, seafood likely comprised a large portion of the first Thanksgiving meal.
Fowl, including wild turkey, may or may not have been on the Pilgrims’ menu – but it’s pretty sure that seafood was.
Mayflower passenger and Plymouth colony leader Edward Winslow wrote in his journal that the Plymouth Bay was “full of lobsters” as well as mussels, eels and a “variety of other fish.”
In any event, in the ensuing three hundred years or so, America has placed turkey center stage on the Thanksgiving menu – a menu that includes standard side dishes – dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie.
Regional variations of the modern Thanksgiving meal reflect the rich diversity of America as well as the unique history of each American family.
Particular family preferences, ethnic and regional influences have given America some interesting departures from what are usually considered traditional Thanksgiving foods.
Of course it’s impossible to generalize, but I’m going to do so anyway.
In the East, turkey is almost always accompanied by what we call, stuffing. In the West, it’s more often called dressing.
Southerners serve pecan pie; Northerners serve pumpkin pie.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg lettuce when it comes to the interesting culinary differences found on Thanksgiving tables around America.
My Jewish friends in New York City, and elsewhere, make their turkey stuffing with challah bread.
For appetizers, thin slices of pumpernickel bread are served with lox and capers. For dessert, of course, it’s cheesecake.
Texans have been known to prefer barbecued brisket or chicken spaghetti to the usual roasted turkey.
And when they do opt for turkey, it’s often deep fried or barbecued.
A favorite way of eating leftover turkey there is as turkey spaghetti or what are called Texas dressing cakes – patties of turkey and stuffing which are baked or fried.
On the Texas Gulf Coast, where raw oysters and other seafood is often on the menu, turkey is often served with chopped oyster dressing.
In the Midwest, there’s almost always turkey on the menu and sometimes a ham. And it’s almost always accompanied by corn.
Wild rice dressing is popular, especially in Minnesota and so is tater tot or green bean hot dish. Hot dish is code for casserole – and Minnesotans, and Midwesterners in general, never met a hot dish they didn’t like. There’s often a wild rice hot dish, which includes mushrooms, pecans and onions.
A Minnesota holiday meal may offer the lefse (potato pancake) or lutefisk (made from aged whitefish or dried cod) which harken back to the state’s Norwegian heritage.
Cranberry sauce with cherries is popular in Michigan.
In Michigan, there might also be chili on the menu, and in Wisconsin there are likely to be shrimp side dishes and beer cheese dip as an appetizer.
Hoosiers love their corn pudding during the meal and persimmon pudding for dessert.
My Nebraskan friends tell me that, instead of the typical turkey, some people there make butternut squash lasagna, layered with hot Italian sausage, spinach and lots of cheese.
There are countless variations of what’s called “fluff,” for dessert. It’s an ambrosia-like Jell-O salad, made with marshmallows, canned fruit and either sour cream or mayonnaise or both.
Arkansas, like Texas, also enjoys its turkey spaghetti.
In Iowa, most cooks favor turkey, but there is sometimes pheasant on the menu.
One acquaintance in Iowa told me they have standing rib roast with Yorkshire pudding, sautéed Brussels sprouts, and in a nod to tradition – “lots of pie.”
Kansans are also known to enjoy both turkey and roast beef, and occasionally ham, with wild rice cooked with mushrooms, pecans and onions and twice baked potatoes with cheese.
In New England, Thanksgiving might be as likely to feature seafood as a turkey glazed in Vermont maple syrup and dressing featuring chestnuts.
At a Thanksgiving table in Maine, it’s all things lobster, not just for the main course (stuffed lobster tails), but in the appetizer (lobster rolls) and soup course, too (pumpkin and lobster soup).
If turkey is served, it may feature lobster and bacon stuffing.
Blueberry pie is as popular as pumpkin pie throughout New England.
Massachusetts is known for its New England clam chowder or corn chowder and Vermonters favor butternut squash soup.
In Rhode Island one will often find Thanksgiving Stuffing Monkey Bread (a regional variation of a pull-apart bread).
Chesapeake Bay Blue crabs are king in Maryland and crab cakes are often served as a side dish at Thanksgiving. There’s also likely to be German potato salad on the table.
In Baltimore – in testament to its German heritage – there will almost always be sauerkraut (simmered with brown sugar, chopped apples, caraway, and bacon) and pickled herring on the table.
New Jersey loves its crab cake burgers, and for an appetizer – hot pork roll and cheddar cheese dip.
Turkey is often at the center of the feast, but it will almost always be served with a side of pasta.
In New York there are always favorite pasta dishes like lasagna or manicotti on the table.
And the Big Apple has brought us a new twist on the traditional turkey – called “tipsy turkey” (turkey marinated in vodka) served with, of course, vodka gravy.
For dessert, never leave out New York’s pride and joy – cheesecake.
In Pennsylvania, there are sure to be Pennsylvania Dutch dishes, for instance- “potato filling,” a casserole of mashed potatoes and stuffing.
The popularity of Southern foods has crept into all corners of the nation.
Hence, cornbread dressing with oysters and candied sweet potatoes topped with marshmallows have become traditional on many Thanksgiving menus around the country, not just in the south.
Macaroni and cheese is another southern dish that’s taking the country’s Thanksgiving menus by storm.
And good luck finding an appetizer table in the South that doesn’t have deviled eggs on it.
Ambrosia (probably as close to a salad as you’ll find on a Thanksgiving table in the south) is a fruit-based salad popularized in the southern U.S. in the 1800s. It was originally reserved for special occasions and is still de rigueur at a southern Thanksgiving feast.
Southerners love their bread, and especially, cornbread, at any meal. There won’t be a Thanksgiving meal without cornbread or homemade rolls.
They love their greens, too – collard, mustard or turnip greens – especially cooked with ham hocks.
Speaking of ham, it might rival turkey as the centerpiece of the meal.
And look for a little bit of bacon in everything – the green beans, the sweet potatoes, the Brussels sprouts. You name it, it’s in there.
If turkey is served, it’s just as likely to be deep-fried (Southerners love all things fried) as roasted. It might be served with cornbread dressing with giblet gravy or oyster dressing.
Scalloped oysters or oyster casserole has its roots in coastal places like New Orleans and North Carolina but its renown has travelled as far inland as Kentucky, where it’s also served for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
There might also be corn pudding, also called corn spoonbread, and green bean casserole (soaking in mushroom sauce and topped with fried onions).
Pecan pie, sweet potato pie and banana pudding are regulars on a southern dessert menu and, of course, there’s always, always sweet tea.
In Mississippi, look for a regional delicacy called “chitterlings” (pork intestines), usually served with vinegar or hot sauce and toasted or candied pecans.
In Alabama, spatch-cocked turkey with yellow cornpone dressing made with leftover cornbread and biscuits is popular, as is fried okra and another non-salad called strawberry pretzel salad made of strawberry Jell-O, cream cheese and pretzels.
In Georgia, they’re partial to peach pie and peach dump cake and in the Carolinas, they love their sweet potato pie.
North Carolina favors cornbread and honey and sweet potatoes cooked any way at all (NC is the country’s biggest producer of sweet potatoes).
Tennessee tables offer sausage ball appetizers and Tennesseans love their papaya salad
Kentucky: Chicken and Dumplings and Kentucky Derby pie.
Florida and the Florida Panhandle have typical southern tastes, but its east and west coastal towns are heavy into seafood, as is south Florida.
But South Florida is also known for its Cuban food. There, turkey and mashed potatoes are likely to share center stage with mojo pork roast, yucca, rice and beans, plantains, stuffing, and sometimes a spiced ham for good measure.
Dessert might be Florida’s favorite – key lime pie – but there will also have to be tres leches and flan. And, of course, Cuban coffee, to keep dinner guests from falling asleep with their heads on the table.
Louisiana is famous for its Cajun cuisine, and you’ll likely find it featured at Thanksgiving there, whether it’s gumbo, crawfish or oysters – raw, fried or charcoal grilled.
In New Orleans, there’s a special dish called shrimp and crab with mirliton dressing. The dressing is a typical dressing, made from day old French bread, but mixed with mirliton, which is another name for chayote, which is cubed, boiled and mashed.
Out West, some folks dine on venison and elk tenderloin steaks or pork chops for the big feast. And you can find jalapeno stuffed turkeys just as often as glazed hams.
There’s green chili pork soup and frog eye salad (a mixture of pasta shells, oranges, pineapple, eggs and whipped cream).
In Utah, they’re particularly fond of a casserole called “funeral potatoes,” and they wrap their leftovers in crescent rolls.
The influence of the Native American, Mexican and Spanish cultures brings a special spiciness to Thanksgiving in the Southwestern states.
Turkey is usually still on the menu, but it may be rubbed in chili paste and cumin and served beside cornbread topped with green jalapeno chiles.
Sweet potatoes may be mashed with chipotle peppers.
In New Mexico, fried venison and buffalo stew are popular for Thanksgiving, as are papas con chili (Tex-Mex mashed potatoes), handmade empanadas with homemade red chili sauce and pumpkin empanadas or flan dessert.
On the west coast, where the region is known for fresh produce, Thanksgiving usually means lots of citrus or vegetable salads on the Thanksgiving table.
Californians who favor a traditional dressing will make it with sourdough bread and fresh mushrooms. They also like tamales and tortillas, as does New Mexico and Arizona.
In San Francisco, where crab season opens around the beginning of November, and Dungeness crabs are plentiful, lots of people do crabs for Thanksgiving.
In Los Angeles some people serve sushi.
Fresh strawberries with balsamic cream and black pepper are particularly popular in the Pacific Northwest, particularly in Oregon and huckleberry pie is popular everywhere out there.
Alaskans more often serve salmon with wild berry or sweet chili sauce, goose or ptarmigan than turkey.
Some Americans skip the hassle of having Thanksgiving at home altogether. They prefer going out for their feast.
Some may even order in. Shocking, but true.
Here in West Virginia, we like to celebrate the traditional way with the traditional roasted turkey and the traditional trimmings.
But there are a few special West Virginia favorites you may also find on the table.
Thanksgiving appetizers might include deviled eggs – not an unusual choice, but ours are usually garnished with chowchow relish.
Our turkey might be a wild bird, as it is turkey season.
And it’s deer season, too, so there may well be venison steaks on the menu. And we’re also known for our trout fishing.
If you’re lucky, there may be some ramps.
There will definitely be homemade dinner rolls. What is better than fresh bread right out of the oven?
Slathered in butter and honey or spiced apple butter? Nothing.
We wash our meal down with homemade apple cider or sweet tea and stagger away from the table to “let our food settle.”
You may have room for dessert after enjoying a little touch football in the yard, or, more likely, “watching a little football.” And by that, I mean taking a little nap in front of the TV.
There will inevitably be several kinds of pies to deal with.
We love pie – pumpkin, sweet potato, berry and every other kind of pie – as long as it’s homemade.
While Thanksgiving Day brings us together to share good food with family and friends, I think it’s more than the food that brings us together.
I think it’s the chance to express our gratitude and love.
How good to know that all around the country, no matter what’s on the Thanksgiving menu, Americans are gratefully sharing a day of fellowship.
Whether you live in the north, the south, the east or the west, we all have so much to be thankful for.
Gobble, gobble.
