Thanksgiving Outside the U.S., Part III

By -
Turkeys

Mandy Dowd, a poet and artist living in the south of France, once had the challenging task of explaining pumpkin pie to a guest who was highly skeptical of what he called une tarte Americaine. She did not help her cause by pronouncing molasses as malaise, the French word for, well, malaise. He declared the pie "special" and left it half uneaten.

In Bangladesh, Debbie Ingram, a development worker, and her partner managed to get a turkey from the U.s. embassy's commissary. When it was cooked, they paraded their proud dinner around on a platter. "Our guests could hardly believe there was a bird on earth that big," says Ingram, "as animals and vegetables in Bangladesh tend to be quite small."
James Ledbetter for Chow magazine, Holiday 2004 issue

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Amaretti

By -
Image
I kicked off our Christmas cookie season by whipping up a batch of Amaretti. Absurdly simple, these are some of my favorites ... basically meringue cookies with ground almonds mixed in. They were made much easier by the fact that I found Almond Meal at the Central Market so I didn't have to grind the almonds in the food processor. I also saw Pecan Meal and Hazelnut Meal there and am now wondering how those would work in variations. I'm not usually fond of meringues but love these so they had to go into the freezer ASAP otherwise we wouldn't have had many left. This recipe came from my mother and I'm not sure what cookbook it came from. However, it is not too different from other such recipes I've seen ... except it is a great deal simpler than some. Step 1: 2 large egg whites 2/3 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon almond extract Beat egg whites until foamy, gradually beat in sugar and almond extract. Continue beating for several minutes until whites form very stiff, sh
Read more

Spicy Tuna Fish Cakes

By -
These are from Gordon Ramsay's Home Cooking and they will completely revolutionize the image that springs into your head when someone says "fish cake." They are fresh, lively, and absolutely delicious. Notes: we made this with tuna canned in water and they seemed rather dry. Later I realized that tuna packed in oil is much more common and would be a better choice both for moisture and (possibly) to help hold them together better. We couldn't find the kaffir lime leaves and, behold, the dish was delicious without them! Spicy Tuna Fish Cakes 1 pound good-quality tinned tuna (we used four 6-ounce cans) 6 tinned water chestnuts, drained and finely sliced 3 green onions, trimmed and sliced 1" piece of ginger, peeled and grated 3 tablespoons chopped coriander 1 red chili, seeded and finely chopped 3 kaffir lime leaves, finely chopped (rehydrated for 5 minutes in boiling water if dried) 2 teaspoons Thai fish sauce 2 eggs, beaten Vegetable oil, for fryi
Read more

Oven "Fried" Catfish

By -
Image
This is a stock photo (so handy working in advertising!), but it is close enough to showing the succulence of Oven Fried Catfish. Rose, living in L.A. since last January, called and wistfully said, "I know what I want for Christmas." I waited expectantly and was surprised when she said, "Catfish." "Oh, I mean what I want for meals when I come home." she said. "Catfish fried in the oven." "Mmmm, sounds good. Potato salad or mashed potatoes with that?" "Ooooo." Her voice got more excited. "Potato salad! And maybe, well, is cabbage a cold weather vegetable?" "Why do you think the Germans and Russians have so many cabbage dishes?" I asked. "Cold weather is what cabbage is all about." "Then coleslaw too! And potato rolls ?" "I have extra in the freezer from Thanksgiving that I'm saving until you come home. So we're on our way!" Sounds good, doesn't
Read more