A Guide to Thanksgiving Abroad
Thanksgiving, by far Elizabeth’s favorite American holiday, is analogous to a Christmas without presents, where the warm reunion of souls for the sake of showing gratitude transcends the spirit of Christmas, now corrupt by rampant consumerism. Sadly, and the reason is obvious once one learns about its history, it is not celebrated elsewhere in the world, and although one would think that, perhaps, there might be hope for the Americans abroad, abandon all hope ye who enter here. We postulated it was because it uses a host of ingredients native to North America, making them harder to acquire, combined with the relatively low attractiveness of an American holiday to a country almost devoid of Americans.
We scoured the web for information, called up a myriad of restaurants in Porto, prioritizing those with a history of hosting thanksgiving, but it was all for naught. It was because of this that we decided to host our own little Thanksgiving gathering in Espinho, where we would collaborate in order to achieve a fusion of both cuisines — American and Portuguese.
The turkey (whole) was hard to get, but by no means an insurmountable problem when one has contacts. The fresh cranberries presented a larger challenge. The fruit is native to North America. When tasted fresh, it is bitter and dry, comparable in taste and texture to a grapefruit from an insufficiently watered tree. “It is no wonder it has not been adopted by the Europeans,” we thought to ourselves. “Dried cranberries it is.” It was a viable option. We found them at Lidl, on sale, and with some elementary mathematical operations it would have been trivial to factor in their vastly higher sugar content when crafting the sauce since it too uses sugar. Elizabeth’s phone rang, it was Cristiano’s mother, she had found fresh cranberries at El Corte Inglés. Of course… However planning out the holiday had just begun.
“My uncle claims to not like anything, but he will eat it. My mom doesn’t like apples, or anything, but she is very excited about going to her first Thanksgiving, so it might be a good opportunity for her to expand her palate. My grandma doesn’t like anything but sweets, but she will have the meat.” THIS was the crux of the holiday. How could we possibly accommodate such picky eaters? A light bulb went off “We won’t.” A menu was crafted with a single consideration in mind, one could call this a concession, “Diana won’t eat the apple pie, so we will make that PLUS a dessert that she might like.” The menu that we came up with is still very close to the tradition, but do keep in mind that “tradition” changes on a per family basis, often depending on the origin of said families. We used two medium sized ovens for this, but one big one might be enough. Sadly, this round of baking will not be sugar free.
THE DAY BEFORE:
The Sour Cream Apple Pie
If you are American, buy premade pie crusts. Just kidding, but if you don’t feel like making your own because the holiday is demanding enough as it is, just do that. How to make your own is beyond the scope of this article so, for now, that won’t be included here, but feel free to google it on your own time. Shameful as it may be to admit it, and contrary to what we would normally do, we had neither the time nor the energy to make our own, so we just bought some premade ones. It will be up to you if you want to precook the pie shells. We ran an experiment and there was virtually no difference, but it might help a little with the sogginess.
When it comes to what apples one should use, we opted for as many types as possible, for a wider range of flavor. We also added a few drops of lemon juice to the mixture to prevent them from browning, while adding a slightly citrusy element. So prepare your ingredients and, you know the drill: liquids in one bowl, solids in the other, apples aside. Mix everything and combine them. Give it an aggressive stir before folding the apples into the mix, and proceed to pour this somewhat liquidy mixture into the pie crust.
After this, you will have to create a crosshatch pattern using your spare pie shell. This video ought to help you:
Lastly, Cristiano’s mother and Elizabeth used some leftover pie crust and carved out some beautiful leaves for decorative purposes. The leaves will not go on it until the second bake.
For the first bake, make an egg wash (eggs not accounted for in the ingredients list) with just yolks. Brush everything generously and bake for 25 minutes at 180℃/356℉. Place it in the fridge. On the day of, you will put the leaves on (should you want to), brush them with MORE egg wash, so that they will stick and look good, and then you will bake it again at the same temperature, for 20 more minutes or until golden brown.
The Pumpkin Pie
Elizabeth did not like it very much. Cristiano loved it. Here is the wildly controversial pumpkin pie that sought discord among its eaters.
Note: the star of this pie, pumpkin purée, proved to be elusive in the city of Porto and across Portugal. Our solution? We made our own of course. Begin by removing the skin of the pumpkin and cutting it in cubes. Any orange pumpkin will work — Hokkaido seems to be common around Portugal this time of year. For a deeper color and flavor, we recommend first roasting it in the oven until lightly browned, but if you’re short on time or you desire a more subsided pumpkin flavor plus a fainter orange color, you can skip this step and jump straight to boiling it in water. After boiling, pour the water out and dry the cooked pumpkin. Finally, use an immersion blender to create your purée.
For the pie: start by combining the spices in one bowl and dry mixing them. Afterwards, mix all the wet ingredients together using your mixer and add the previously combined spices. Mix for an extra 10 seconds.
Put it in the oven and cook for around 40 minutes, or slightly less, if you would like to serve it warm on the day of Thanksgiving.
For the whipped cream: using an extremely chilled bowl and whisk, combine one tablespoon of confectioner sugar, a dash of vanilla extract, and half a cup of heavy cream and beat as fast as possible for one minute.
Then to decorate, we simply piped the whipped cream through a random plastic bag and used a triangular tip and a swirling movement for the rose-like pattern.
Enjoy.
The Cranberry Sauce
By far one of the easiest ones here, as it is a two-step recipe. Double this recipe depending on how many people you’re cooking for.
Simply add all of the ingredients together SAVE for the port wine. Bring to a simmer and lightly bruise the cranberries. Once the desired consistency has been reached—and to us, that is the consistency of honey—KEEP GOING.. until it is slightly thicker. Once you reach that point, take it off the stove, add a splash of white or tawny Port wine, stir it in a as if you were demon possessed. Done.
Note: feel free to add extra Port wine if it is too thick to serve after it has been refrigerated.
THE DAY OF:
The Turkey
Cristiano took care of the turkey. Raw meat, no, raw POULTRY terrorizes Elizabeth and, Cristiano was told, most American households.
Our turkey was an eleven pound female — the meat is moister, more tender, and extra flavorful. It was vacuum packed after the defeathering and so we had to air it out for 1 hour. After that, it was ready for us.
We seasoned it with a dash of salt — not just one dash, but many dashes — and massaged them in. If you are not a seasoned amateur masseur, we pity you. This will be a good opportunity for you to learn the intricacies of massage therapy and acquire yet another useful skill. Next, we grabbed the mayo bottle and squirted it all over the turkey. Graphic. Again, massage it in. Do not be grossed out by the inside of the turkey. Yes, of course you have to lather the inside as well! DO NOT GIVE UP.
Play your cards right and by the time you’re 50 you will have an uncanny ability to touch anything.
Proceed to season it again, with salt and pepper, but this time start dropping your fresh herbs on the beast, “sage, rosemary, and thyme” the Simon & Garfunkel song goes — one can be sure to hear Elizabeth’s mother singing it every year around Thanksgiving. Followed by some homemade chicken stock poured on (Cristiano used a duck carcass, 4 pounds of chicken feet, and 8 hours of his time for his). To make it Portuguese, splash it with Port wine, we opted for white Port for its sweetness. If some of the seasonings come off, put them back on. The success of this recipe hinges on one’s ability as a masseur.
Pop it in your preheated gas oven at 180℃/356℉, uncovered for 13 minutes per pound. We had an 11 pound turkey, so we cooked it for two and a half hours.
Pro tip: after half of the time goes by, take it out of the oven, generously brush it with olive oil and put it back inside. Hopefully this will further prevent it from drying out, while crisping up the skin (and adding yet another Portuguese flair to it).
The Maple Roasted Brussels Sprouts
A favorite of Mia, the happy-go-lucky 90 year old with a penchant for stealing all that is sweet, in direct disagreement with the family and the doctor’s orders!
For this recipe, you may opt for frozen Brussels sprouts or Brussels sprouts on the stalk. As with everything, the fresher, the better, AND they will look even prettier.
On a side note, if you find yourself in Portugal without maple syrup, you may be able to find it at Celeiro and for a price that isn’t AS outrageous as other stores.
Now let’s get the ball rolling on this very simple recipe. Mix the maple syrup and the olive oil together, then put the Brussels sprouts in a container and pour the emulsion all over them. Toss them, season with salt and pepper to taste, and pop them in the oven for roughly 45 minutes, or until caramelized. Decorate with pomegranate seeds.
Pro tip: to get all the seeds out with minimal effort, grab a wooden spoon, imagine the fact of your greatest nemesis, and whack the ever living crap out of the pomegranate like it wronged you. Cut it open and reap the benefits of your labor. Also good for relieving stress.
The Mashed Potatoes
Sorry, but this one is not idiot-proof. Easy as it may be, there are no measurements whatsoever. Everything is to taste.
There are multiple ways in which you can prepare your potatoes. We went for the tried and tested boil-it-in-water method. For extra flavor and color, in typical American fashion, one might try to roast the potatoes, and we would be interested to know how that turns out. However, we were in a rush and had to make it happen as soon as possible. We boiled the potatoes with the skin on in boiling water until soft—once fully cooked the skin will easily slide off. Then, using either the power of your fists or an immersion blender, we lightly puréed the boiled potatoes. Afterwards, melt some butter (we used half a cup for 3 very large potatoes) and add it to the mix. Purée it once more while adding some heavy cream. Do this until the desired consistency has been reached, at which point feel free to season it to taste with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Give it one last mix, and voilà.
The Stuffing
Nonna’s recipe. For in every Italian household there is always a recipe that only the nonna is privy to. The recipe itself may very well be incomplete, but we will never know since it is transmitted through word of mouth only and there are no written records of it anywhere.
Disclaimer: there are hardly any precise quantities, but should you not follow this recipe to a tee, Italian assassins will go to your house in your sleep. Such is life when you commit yourself to following an Italian recipe.
Prep: thinly sliced carrot, diced onion, diced garlic, roughly chopped celery, roughly chopped sausage (without the “skin”), roughly chopped bread, finely ground cheese, and gently cut parsley.
In a frying pan with a thin layer of olive oil, fry up the onion, the celery, and the carrots until the onions are somewhat caramelized. Then, add your garlic, and wait a minute or two until it starts to brown. Rush like a fiend to add your meat. The sausage to ground meat ratio should be 1:1. Half cook it. It will finish cooking in the oven. Lastly, take it off the heat and add your parsley, fresh white bread (cubed), and top it off with a little bit of freshly ground Parmesan all mixed together.
You shall put this in the oven during the last 40 minutes of cooking (the turkey), alongside the Brussels Sprouts, so time it well!
… and with this, our preparations are complete. Don’t forget to pair your meal with a nice bottle of wine!
THE DAY AFTER:
The Leftover Sandwich
Surely you didn’t think this was over, did you? It is now the day after Thanksgiving and, because you are nay a glutton nor stingy, you were left with an abundance of leftovers. What do? Enter, the leftover sandwich.
Realistically, all the extras you will need to buy (or make) are: a fresh loaf of bread — we opted for a rustic baguette — some fresh buffalo mozzarella or flamengo/edam cheese, and, optionally, some walnuts for additional crunchiness.
Spread some butter on your bread, you want it to crisp up nicely. Layer some leftover turkey with your choice of cheese, which you will season with salt and pepper to taste, and possibly some other herb of your choosing, and put it in the oven for about 5 minutes, or until warm. Do not overdo it! we assume no one likes it when the crumb reaches the hardness of diamonds, so be vigilant! Upon taking it out of the oven, spread a dab of cranberry sauce on your turkey and throw your walnuts in.
You’re done, and there is no longer a need to feel sinful about having thrown your leftovers out.
Here’s to many more Thanksgivings spent abroad with family, love, and good food!
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