Culinary traditions around Thanksgiving

Ranging from extravagant feasts to spending time with extended family, Thanksgiving is one of our most cherished culinary holidays. With the emergence of multiculturalism in America, Thanksgiving means a variety of things to people from different cultures. Over time, it has become a celebration to appreciate other cultures and American traditions.

For senior Isabel Wang, enjoying traditional Chinese food with her family for Thanksgiving helps her connect with family back in China.

“Since we are a family of immigrants and there is no one in my family who lives over here we usually have a feast with some family friends, and eating food like fish or dumplings during Thanksgiving is really harkening back to the feeling of family, especially for my heritage,” Wang said. 

Junior Abigail So’s Thanksgiving traditions include both Chinese and American dishes, helping her spend quality time with family, while appreciating different cultures.

“Even though we eat more traditional American foods for most of our Thanksgiving dinners,” So said. “We sometimes do have more traditional meals, especially for our appetizers, and the most fun thing about our family meals is that we have different family friends all cook and bring a different thing.”

With a shared emphasis on enjoying different people’s cuisine, junior Bhuvi Thiriveedhi celebrates Thanksgiving through potlucks with friends and family.

“For lunch, we have a Friendsgiving feast where everyone brings their own dishes, so it is basically American food, and Indian food,” Thiriveedhi said.

 “Around dinner, we also make cranberry juice, as our activity of the day.”

Additionally, So also enjoys participating in cooking for Thanksgiving with her family, which is another way to bond with her loved ones. 

“One of our family values is cooking together,” So said. “So sometimes our friends and family will cook together, whether it be [making] more American desserts or [making] some Chinese red bean desserts.”

Senior Vishnu Vasudev shares a similar sentiment, appreciating how cooking brings his family together on Thanksgiving.

“We don’t really make the typical American Thanksgiving meal, we somehow came up with the tradition of making pizza on Thanksgiving,” Vishnu said. “So for the past couple of years, we have been making and eating pizza on Thanksgiving, and that is what we mostly do, as far as traditions go.”

However, Thanksgiving doesn’t have to mean enjoying food of a certain cuisine. To senior Louis Staton, the holiday means a celebration of all the various foods many cultures have to offer.

“For Thanksgiving, my family usually eats something different every year. In Frisco and Plano we live in a very diverse area, somewhere where we really need to embrace these other cultures,” Staton said. “Maybe one year we are having Italian food, and then another year we are having French food, or another year we are having Indian, or anything like that”.