Here we are, nearly four centuries after the first Thanksgiving, concerned enough about the survival of dishes native to various regions of our country to present a yearlong series celebrating some of this nation’s regional food treasures.
During that first Thanksgiving, way back in 1621, no one thought about regional cooking except a few homesick Pilgrims who missed the beef, pork and ale served on feast days back in England. In short order they would impose these and other European foodstuffs and dining customs upon their new homeland, and reject foods that native Americans held in high regard.
But their method of giving thanks for the successful harvest (and survival, for that matter) gathering at a festive table to consume a bountiful repast has evolved into our strongest national food tradition.
No matter how fast the pace of life through the rest of the year and how infrequently an entire family dines together; no matter how intriguing are ingredients, recipes and restaurants from abroad; no matter how infrequently we use our stoves at home or indulge in dishes rich in sugar, butter and/or cream, on Thanksgiving Day home-cooked fare based on treasured family recipes (even though some of them may have come originally from the side of a box) is the order of the day.
More or less, it’s a national menu for Thanksgiving dinner. Tradition rules when planning the meal. There’s no danger of turkey being impeached as the national bird on this day. The bread and rolls, the relishes and condiments, vegetables and salads will be familiar. So, most especially, will the dressing, although, because of contemporary health concerns, it may be cooked separately instead of being stuffed inside the turkey.
But regional touches do exist, most notably in dressings, desserts, vegetables and appetizers.
Even here the purist is on slippery ground. Wisconsin and the Pacific Northwest, not just Massachusetts, can claim the cranberry. A dressing might contain oysters from any of our three coasts, while the chestnuts in another probably have been imported. Pies created from cans of pumpkin know no regional boundaries, nor (despite Idaho’s imposing production) do potatoes, once they are mashed.
Whatever their origin, they are as welcome as the relatives and friends who return each year to surround the table and share the bounty.
The recipes collected here are a sampling from the nation’s culinary treasury. Any of them would be useful to a cook seeking to include at least one new taste treat in this year’s feast.
MID-ATLANTIC
`It was said that in 1900,” writes Joseph E. Dabney in “Smokehouse Ham, Spoon Bread, & Scuppernong Wine,” “a squirrel could hop aboard a chestnut tree in Maine and travel all the way to Georgia without ever having to leave chestnut branches.”
But a parasitic Asian fungus wiped out the magnificent forests. Old-timers remember still the sweet flavor that freshly harvested chestnuts gave to dressings and breads. Georgia native Frank Pressley is quoted by Dabney: “When I was growing up, us boys would get up on fall mornings; we’d grab on our brogan shoes and head to the chestnut trees before the squirrels could get ’em, the ones that fell that night. We’d take ’em home and my mama would boil ’em and peel ’em and put ’em in dressings and different things.”
Here’s a basic bread and chestnut stuffing, adapted from “How to Cook Everything,” by Mark Bittman, that is flavored with aromatic sage that was popular both east and west of the Appalachian mountains before the chestnut blight. Imported chestnuts, both fresh and canned, are widely available at this time of year.
BREAD STUFFING WITH SAGE AND CHESTNUTS
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Yield: 20 (1/2 cup) servings
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 medium yellow onion, minced
1 package (17 ounces) cooked, peeled chestnuts, see note
1/2 cup dry white wine
10 cups fresh bread cubes
2 tablespoons minced sage leaves or 2 teaspoons crumbled dried sage
1/2 cup minced green onion
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
1. Melt butter in large, deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add yellow onion; cook, stirring often, 1 minute. Add chestnuts and wine; simmer 5 minutes.
2. Add bread cubes and sage; toss to mix. Turn heat to low. Stir in green onions, parsley, salt and pepper. Adjust seasoning.
3. Lightly pack dressing into turkey, if desired. Or place in ovenproof casserole; cover, bake at 350 degrees, 30 minutes. Uncover and cook until heated through, about 15 minutes.
Test kitchen note: For whole fresh chestnuts, place chestnuts in saucepan with lightly salted water to cover; heat to boil. Boil 3 or 4 minutes. Remove from heat. Remove chestnuts from water one at a time; cut off outer and inner skins. Chop chestnuts.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories ………… 185 Fat ……….. 11 g Saturated fat ….. 6 g
% calories from fat .. 51 Cholesterol .. 25 mg Sodium ……… 265 mg
Carbohydrates …… 20 g Protein …… 2.7 g Fiber ……….. 1.5 g
GULF
Shrimp is a symbol of hospitality all along the Gulf coast. Preparations range from the ultra-casual (a shell-them-yourself shrimp boil with newspaper covering the table) to the ultra-chic (a black-tie dinner with shrimp-filled avocado or artichoke heart as a first course). Shrimp remoulade falls somewhere in between. Because it can be prepared ahead and has an almost universal appeal, it makes an ideal beginning for a Thanksgiving repast–especially if the menu planner decides to eschew soup. There is no better version than that served at the famous New Orleans restaurant Galatoire’s. This recipe appeared in Howard Mitchum’s “Creole Gumbo and All That Jazz.” The remoulade sauce is a splendid example of Creole cookery, America’s first fusion cuisine. The French sauce of that name is a mayonnaise to which mustard, chopped pickles, capers and herbs have been added; or an oil and vinegar mixture with the chopped pickles, capers and herbs plus chopped, hard-cooked eggs. New Orleans cooks heightened the flavor with garlic, paprika and green onion, then marinated shrimp in it.
GALATOIRE’S SHRIMP REMOULADE
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Marinating time: 3 hours or overnight
Yield: 10 appetizer serving
4 green onions, whites with some green portion
3 small cloves garlic
2 ribs celery
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup vinegar
6 tablespoons Creole or grainy Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup olive oil
3 pounds cooked, deveined, peeled shrimp
Shredded lettuce, optional
Finely chop green onions, garlic, celery and parsley in food processor fitted with metal blade or blender. Transfer to large bowl; add vinegar, mustard, paprika, salt and pepper. Gradually stir in olive oil. Mix well. Place shrimp in sauce; marinate at least 3 hours or overnight in refrigerator. Serve on shredded lettuce, if desired.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories ………… 300 Fat ………… 19 g Saturated fat .. 2.6 g
% calories from fat .. 56 Cholesterol .. 265 mg Sodium …….. 660 mg
Carbohydrates ……. 4 g Protein …….. 30 g Fiber ………… 1 g
SOUTHWEST
Few of us can resist noshing before the Thanksgiving feast. Along with cheese straws, nuts are popular with pre-meal cocktails. Here Texas chef Stephan Pyles stimulates taste buds by giving the noble pecan a sweet and spicy coating, a popular combination in the Southwest. The pecan, the nation’s second most popular nut (after the peanut), writes John Mariani in “The Dictionary of American Food and Drink, was known in Virginia at the time of the Revolutionary War and later flourished in Oklahoma and Texas, where it shows up in pies, ice cream and pralines. Adapted from “Stephan Pyle’s New Tastes from Texas.”
SWEET AND SPICY PECANS
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Yield: 12 (1/4 cup) servings
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cups pecan halves
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon each: ground cumin, pure chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add pecans; cook until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add brown sugar; cook until lightly caramelized, about 3 minutes. Stir in cumin, chili powder and paprika. Add vinegar; cook until all liquid has evaporated, 1 to 2 minutes. Season with salt.
2. Spread pecans on baking sheet. Bake until crisp, about 3 to 5 minutes. Cool. Store in airtight container until ready to serve.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories ………… 235 Fat ………. 21 g Saturated fat .. 3 g
% calories from fat .. 78 Cholesterol .. 5 mg Sodium ……. 55 mg
Carbohydrates …… 11 g Protein ….. 2.7 g Fiber ………. 2 g
MID-ATLANTIC
This classic was created by the great maitre d’ and banquet manager Oscar Tschirky, known as “Oscar of the Waldorf” at the Waldorf Hotel in New York. It debuted at a “society supper” for 1,500 in 1893 as part of a preview of the new hotel. The Waldorf would be the prime choice in the city for banquets and celebrations, including family Thanksgivings, during Tschirky’s long career and beyond. Adapted from “Rare Bits: Unusual Origins of Popular Recipes,” by Patricia Bunning Stevens.
WALDORF SALAD
4 apples, cored, diced, unpeeled
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 cups chopped celery
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing or as needed
Lettuce leaves, washed, dried
Toss apples with lemon juice in medium bowl. Add celery and walnuts. Stir in enough mayonnaise to bind ingredients. Serve on lettuce.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories ………… 390 Fat ……….. 36 g Saturated fat .. 5 g
% calories from fat .. 79 Cholesterol .. 22 mg Sodium …… 245 mg
Carbohydrates …… 18 g Protein …… 3.5 g Fiber …….. 3.7 g
MIDWEST AND CENTRAL
`One of the Midwest’s greatest contributions to the culinary world is its pies,” writes Diane Roupe in “The Blue Ribbon Country Cookbook.” “No matter where you may find yourself in these 12 states, a piece of unforgettable pie is not far away. Holiday meals in the Midwest traditionally include pie. In our family, pie shares the holiday meal spotlight with turkey.” Roupe calls this creation from her book “a rich, smashing alternative to conventional pumpkin pie.”
MELINDA’S PUMPKIN CHIFFON PIE
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 8 minutes
Chilling time: 4 1/2 hours or overnight
Yield: 8 servings
3/4 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons (1 envelope) unflavored gelatin
3 large egg yolks
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon each, ground: nutmeg, ginger
1 can (15 ounces) solid pumpkin
3 large egg whites, see note, or 1 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 nine-inch baked graham cracker crust pie shell
Sweetened whipped cream
1. Pour 1/4 cup of the milk into small bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over milk; let stand 15 minutes.
2. Place egg yolks in top of double boiler. Beat egg yolks slightly with whisk. Add brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and ginger; whisk to combine. Whisk in remaining 1/ 2 cup milk. Place top of double boiler over simmering water in bottom pan. Cook mixture, whisking frequently, until thick, about 8 minutes. Add gelatin mixture; whisk until well blended.
3. Remove top of double boiler from bottom pan; place on wire rack. Add pumpkin; whisk until evenly blended. Refrigerate pumpkin mixture until cooled to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
4. Remove pumpkin mixture from refrigerator; set aside. Place egg whites or whipping cream in large bowl of electric mixer. Beat egg whites or cream on high speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add 1/ 2 cup sugar, beating until stiff and glossy. Fold pumpkin mixture into egg whites or whipped cream.
5. Turn filling into pie shell; spread evenly with spatula, mounding slightly in center. Refrigerate until filling is cold and set, about 4 hours. Decorate pie with additional sweetened whipped cream and sprinkling of nutmeg.
Test kitchen note: This recipe calls for uncooked egg whites. The author writes, “Egg whites do not support the growth of the bacteria (Salmonella enteritidis) well . . . Therefore, the inclusion of uncooked, refrigerated egg whites in properly refrigerated foods might be considered a low risk for healthy people.” If you are cautious, use the whipping cream instead.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories ………… 340 Fat ………… 10 g Saturated fat .. 2.7 g
% calories from fat .. 27 Cholesterol .. l80 mg Sodium …….. 365 mg
Carbohydrates …… 58 g Protein ……. 5.7 g Fiber ………. 2.2 g
NEW ENGLAND
Originally, this was a Narragansett Indian dish called msickquatash. A combination of dried beans and corn, it became a staple of the Colonial diet, wrote the late Evan Jones in “American Food, the Gastronomic Story.” Combining the two vegetables made sense because they were planted together in the Pilgrims’ fields. Squanto, the New World’s first food consultant, showed them how the corn stalks could support the bean vines.
The name also was applied, in the mid-1700s, to a stew that could be called a New England cassoulet. It was made by boiling fowl and simmering dried white beans separately with salt pork; then combining the two and adding corned beef brisket, turnip, potatoes and dried corn. The beans, traditionalists say, should be cranberry or shell beans. But limas have been the bean of choice for succotash through this century.
Undoubtedly the best-tasting succotash is summer succotash. Fresh beans are cooked with onion and diced bacon until tender, then mixed with corn cut directly from the cob, salt, pepper and cream. Add fresh herbs if you like. This recipe is adapted from “Rare Bits: Unusual Origins of Popular Recipes.”
SUCCOTASH
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 8 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
1 package (10 ounces) frozen lima beans or 10 ounces fresh
1 package (10 ounces) frozen corn or 4 ears corn, kernels removed
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Minced fresh herbs, such as thyme, optional
1. Cook lima beans and corn separately according to package directions or just until tender; drain.
2. Melt butter in large skillet; add lima beans and corn. Cook, stirring frequently, 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper; sprinkle with herbs.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories ………… 105 Fat ………. 2.3 g Saturated fat .. 1.3 g
% calories from fat .. 18 Cholesterol .. l5 mg Sodium …….. 135 mg
Carbohydrates …… 19 g Protein …… 4.6 g Fiber ………. 4.2 g
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SERIES SCHEDULE
Gulf: Key lime pie
Southeast: Carolina barbecue
Mid-Atlantic: Shoofly pie
Mountain and Pacific: Cobb salad
Southwest: Indian fry bread (and) Chicken-fried steak
The nation: Thanksgiving classics
UPCOMING
Midwest and central: Persimmon pudding (and) toasted ravioli
Mountain and Pacific: Baked salmon
New England: Clam chowder
Gulf: Oyster poor-boys
