Den fjärde torsdagen i november är det dags för Thanksgiving. I Nordamerika är det en högtid som är nästan lika viktig som jul.
Varje familjs firande ser såklart olika ut, men enligt tradition äter man sötpotatis,tranbärssås,majsbröd, gröna bönor, pumpapaj, kalkon och ”stuffing”, det man fyller kalkonen med innan tillagning. Thanksgiving är i grunden en skördefest med religiösa förtecken, men har mer och mer blivit en stor familjehögtid.
Vi frågade DIS-studenterna Hannah och Idy om deras Thanksgivingfirande med sin värdfamilj.
Hej Idy and Hannah! Do you usually celebrate Thanksgiving?
Idy: I do celebrate this holiday with my family every year because it was the one day of the year when they weren’t working. However, besides the turkey, the dishes at the table weren’t traditional Thanksgiving dishes. My family usually makes Chinese dishes, such as sautéed vegetables, duck, and chicken. This is my first Thanksgiving without my family members and I knew I wouldn’t be able to eat the same usual dishes. But to me, Thanksgiving is all about eating as much as you can, regardless of the dish, and in good company. So even though I was away from my family, I wasn’t too concerned or homesick because I had my host family and friends in Sweden.
Hannah:At home, I usually celebrate a very Asian-American Thanksgiving with my family. I have a large extended family and we all gather in my grandma’s tiny apartment and every one of my mom’s five sisters brings some dishes to represent their family. They always bring some kind of rice, noodle, and vegetable dish, but the turkey is all up to my parents. I have no idea where they got the recipe, but it highly resembles a soy-sauce chicken, except in turkey form, and tastes extremely moist and amazing, especially since it is stuffed with vegetables and mushrooms. Since we still try to have a traditional celebration, my family also makes mashed potatoes with gravy made from the turkey. Other than that and the turkey, everything else is really traditional Chinese food.
How did you celebrate this year?
Idy: For the Thanksgiving dinner with our host families, My friend Hannah and I decided to incorporate both American and Chinese dishes. So we had: meat (and vegetarian) dumplings, mac and cheese, turkey, chicken (in Chinese, we call it “3 cup chicken”), green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, broccoli sautéed in garlic, and mashed potatoes with turkey gravy. For dessert, Hannah’s host mom made lemon meringue pie and apple pie, which were really good. Hannah, my two other friends, and I took about 6 hours to cook everything.
So, how did the evening turn out?
Hannah: So, being in a country without much diversity and slim choices in Chinese food compared to New York City, I was feeling a bit homesick. However, my host family is really kind and I feel extremely lucky to be placed with them so I was not feeling too down. The good memories just inspired me to try and have a really great Thanksgiving in Sweden with my host family and Idy and her host family because I am grateful to have them in my life
I like to think that they were very pleased with the result and impressed by all of our hard work! I was so proud of Idy, Elisabeth, Risa, and I because we never really cooked before Stockholm and were still able to produce an entire, edible meal for 14 people. We were all starving by the end so even though I think the food was good, the hunger was probably a really good “spice,” as my host dad would say.
Stort tack Idy och Hannah för att ni delat med er av era erfarenheter!
Inför Thanksgiving anordnade vi en tävling för värdfamiljer och studenterna. Här kan du läsa om vinnarna.
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