Thanksgiving in Parma, Italy
We had a lovely Thanksgiving in Parma, Italy on Saturday, November 26, 2016. We decided to delay the celebration until the weekend to make it easier on our guests who had to work or go to school on the actual Thanksgiving day. As a side note, Larry and I did, of course, have some turkey on Thursday when we stopped at a ToastAmore cafe for some toasted turkey, provolone and tomato sandwiches when we were out and about doing errands!
For the actual Thanksgiving feast, we hosted it at our apartment. Although we had wanted to invite all of our new friends, we were limited by the amount of space we had, so we invited our next door apartment neighbors, as well as the first people we had met last summer when we came to explore Parma.
With the help of these friends (and many more who were in our thoughts), we were able to find a beautiful apartment, understand the lease terms, buy a car, buy our bicycles, open up a bank account, get the city municipal services set up (gas, water, electricity, garbage, etc.), get our apartment set up by borrowing a dolly, a drill, a ladder, locating the power source in the apartment building when the lights went out, providing bottles of water and homemade food when we were tired from all the unpacking, inviting us over to their homes for dinner and camaraderie, etc., etc. The list goes on and on … and still continues as we navigate through bill paying, mail order deliveries and customs delays, etc.
Our meal for Thanksgiving was as American as we could make it. A few weeks before Thanksgiving, I had ordered a fresh nearly 14-pound (6.3-kilogram) turkey from the local butcher who is just around the corner from our apartment. That Friday morning, I picked it up from the butcher and wheeled it home in the basket of my bicycle. Then, later that morning, we had to measure the turkey so we could buy a roasting-type pan that would fit the turkey as well as fit into my small oven. Fortunately, we found a pan at Happy Casa, a local department store.
Now it may surprise many of you, but I have not cooked a turkey in many years as my brother-in-law, Jim, cooked the turkey and I brought all the desserts when we would get together with my sister, Julie, and her family for Thanksgiving each year. After researching on the internet and reading many ways to cook a turkey (typical American-type of turkey), I realized this turkey was a heritage turkey (longer legs, less breast meat), so I then started looking for recipes for this type of bird. There are two extremes in the cooking method: long cooking time at a low temperature (325 degree F/165 degrees C) or a fast cooking time at a high temperature (475 degrees F/250 degrees C) for 20 minutes, then turning the temperature down to 400 degrees F/200 degrees C for the rest of the time.
On Saturday morning, I opted for the fast cooking method. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean less prep time. All the recipes I read stressed taking the turkey out of the refrigerator and letting it come to room temperature while it sits in the roasting pan, which generally takes about 2 hours. While it was resting, I cut up some vegetables (carrots, celery, onion, fennel, garlic) and apples and put them into the cavity of the turkey as well as scattering them into the pan along with some fresh herbs (rosemary, sage, thyme, parsley, bay leaves). Next, I made a butter, olive oil, crushed garlic, chopped parsley and rosemary rub and put it in between the skin of the turkey and the flesh, as well as rubbing it all over the outside of the bird. I next sprinkled paprika and homemade seasoned salt over the outside. Last prep step was to pour about 2 cups of a broth-white wine mixture into the pan.
The turkey was now ready to go into the oven for 20 minutes at 475 degrees F/250 degrees C. Once the time was up, I lowered the temperature to 400 degrees F/200 degrees C, basted the turkey with the juices in the pan, oiled some brown paper and tented it loosely over the turkey and returned it to the oven for an hour, which I had estimated was the half-way point based on the weight of the turkey. When the hour was up, I inserted the thermometer into the thigh and breast meat. I was shocked to find out that it was almost at 155-160 degrees F/68–71 degrees C, which is the recommended temperature for heritage birds to come out of the oven! So after basting with the pan juices, I put it back in the oven for only 15 more minutes. When I checked the temperature again, it was done cooking and ready to come out. Wow! Into the oven at 4:00 pm and out by 5:45 pm!! Now, it had to rest for 30 minutes (it continues to cook while the internal juices tenderize the meat) before Larry could carve the turkey. Meanwhile, I was busy making the gravy.
Our guests started to arrive by 6:30 pm or so that evening. Some of them did not know each other beforehand, but they were all connected in some way to us. They were all Italian, except for one American. And, of course, Larry and I were the Italo-Americans. It was great to see everyone conversing, laughing and having a fun time!
Each brought wine or a side dish to share, based on American recipes I had previously given to them earlier that week or the week before. The assembly or cooking techniques for making these dishes were different than what they were used to in preparing some of these recipes. In fact, the week before, I went over to Valentina’s house and showed her how to make the sweet potato casserole and Navajo fry bread. Red/orange sweet potatoes are not a common vegetable in Parma. I was lucky to find them in a “bio” (organic) food store. Other side dishes included a green bean casserole with mushrooms, sweet red peppers, onions, shallots, fresh herbs, a cream sauce and crispy prosciutto made by Erika, and baked homemade stuffing balls and mashed potatoes made by Isa and Umberto. Since you can’t find fresh or frozen cranberries in Parma, I made the cranberry relish by reconstituting dried cranberries in cranberry juice and adding some brown sugar, a bit of salt, some grated orange peel and some cornstarch. I have to say I liked it better than cranberry relish made with fresh/frozen cranberries.
Now, everyone was sitting at the tables and ready to eat. The food was delicious! The turkey came out very moist and the side dishes were very tasty. A big hit was the Navajo fry bread. Thanks to my nephew, Joe, who made this bread every Thanksgiving, we now will be continuing that tradition here in Italy! Dede, who is American, commented that the food smelled and tasted like the food she remembered at Thanksgiving when she lived in the United States. And, it wasn’t so hard for the Italians to put all their food on one plate!! Traditionally, Italians separate their food onto different plates and serve them in a particular order. After a demonstration of loading up your plate with the meat, vegetables and bread, then pouring the gravy over the turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing, they got the hang of it!
Once we had eaten the main dinner and digested a bit, it was now time for dessert. As my role for many Thanksgivings at my sister, Julie’s house, I made the desserts. An added bonus this year was that my neighbor, Isa, also joined me in this endeavor and made a chestnut cake. So on Friday evening (after my Italian class), I made my traditional zucca (pumpkin)-sweet potato pie. I only make this once a year as it is so labor intensive, but it is worth it as it is very creamy and smooth. Next, I wanted to make two key-lime pies so there would be enough. I wasn’t able to find key-lime juice here, but I was able to buy fresh limes at a local supermarket. However, due to the size of my oven, I realized I would have had to cook them one at a time and it was already 10:00 pm. Instead, I doubled the recipe, used crushed cookies for the crust (they don’t have graham crackers here) and baked it in a 9 x 13-inch baking pan. This dessert was actually a big hit with our guests! Then, on Saturday morning, I baked a large rustic apple tort and made the whipped cream for the key-lime pie, with extra for the pumpkin pie. Needless to say, we had more than enough desserts! Our guests were able to take some home with them (to go along with their turkey and veggie leftovers) and Larry and I were able to take some of the desserts to my Italian relatives’ house (near Lake Garda, 1 hour and 45 minutes north of Parma) when we visited them the next day.
We are very grateful and thankful to so many people who have made our transition to our Italian life worthwhile and wonderful! This Thanksgiving was extra special for us and we were glad to be able to share it with our Italian and American friends!
