All You Need to Know About Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is likely to be America's premier family holiday. It is celebrated at home or in a community setting and is characterized by a well-served banquet. Thanksgiving is the time for gatherings with family and friends, and the time when Americans shows their appreciation for the freedom they enjoy, as well as for food, home, and so much more.
Many Americans also take time to prepare and serve food for those in need. Others prefer to donate food to charities or participate in fund-raising events in benefit of those who need it. In fact, on Thanksgiving Day hundreds of nonprofit organizations across the country hold charity races, called the "Turkey Trot."
Thanksgiving kicks off the holiday Christmas season that runs through New Year's Day. The Friday after Thanksgiving is called Black Friday and is one of the main days of the year for shopping, since shops and stores offer incredible deals.
Like any celebration of this type and taking into account the tradition over the years, it indispensably requires the component of a toast for Thanksgiving dinner and nothing more suitable for that great event, than a toast with wines, the more traditional and ancient liquor.
Where is Thanksgiving celebrated?
Thanksgiving is celebrated in the United States and Canada, but on different dates. On US soil it is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November and on Canadian soil, the second Monday in October. The importance of this day has been adopted by other countries, nonetheless, not many know the origin of this celebration.
The tradition in the United States began in 1621 when a group of settlers from Plymouth (a.k.a. Massachusetts today), shared a meal with the Wampanoag tribe to celebrate the fall harvest and thank them for teaching them farming and hunting techniques.
The American natives brought deer meat to be roasted and turkeys, while the settlers had learned how to cook blueberries and prepared different recipes of grain on dishes unknown to the natives.
This first Thanksgiving in history lasted three days, and it would be one of the few examples of harmony between European settlers and Native Americans.
However, it was not until 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving as a national holiday, which would be celebrated on the last Thursday of November.
In this proclamation, the figure of Sarah Josepha Hale, a pilgrim who convinced Lincoln to establish a day of “thanksgiving” to restore the country from the devastating war, had a lot to do with it.
Evolution of the Thanksgiving celebration
The celebration of Thanksgiving has evolved, although the origin of sharing blessings and good wishes with family and the people closest to you remains. The tradition dictates that people give thanks for all the good things they have and ask for blessings together for their own. In Manhattan, New York, a department store chain organizes a colorful parade that attracts millions of people, including tourists and Americans.
Thanksgiving Day and its traditional dishes
One of the best-known dishes prepared for Thanksgiving day is turkey, which is known to have been eaten at that celebration in 1621. Today, most Americans bring baked stuffed turkey to their table. It is at this stage of the celebration that the choice of a good wine for its pairing with these traditional dishes takes an important part.
Turkey stuffing is also a traditional dish, it is made with bread and chopped celery, carrots, onions and sage, although the recipe can vary, as some include chestnuts, chopped bacon, sausage, raisins or apples.
To accompany the turkey, one of the garnishes that are prepared are the mashed potatoes and the gravy, made with the same juices that the turkey releases when it is cooked in the oven.
Although corn is a very Mexican element, in the United States it is the main ingredient for one of the typical dishes of Thanksgiving Day, corn bread; although many prefer to take it to the table as corn on the cob or corn cream.
Another traditional sauce that is made for Thanksgiving dinner is blueberry, which is combined with turkey meat, and due to its sweetness and acidity, it is the favorite of many Americans.
Among the sweet dishes that accompany the dinner are the candied sweet potato, although it is not considered a dessert, since it is used as an accompaniment to the other dishes. But in a dinner like the one in Thanksgiving Day, desserts cannot be missed, the most traditional are pies, made of pumpkin, walnut and apple
As you can see, Thanksgiving dinner has many traditional dishes that make it a great celebration for all Americans.
Recommended wines to accompany this great Thanksgiving dinner
One of the great concerns for this annual event is always the choice of the appropriate wines for the occasion and that those are feasible to pair well with the different dishes served on this day, so a good wine must be taken into account for this celebration. Sparkling wines and champagne are really good options to solve this problem, since they meet with all the conditions to stand out in the thanksgiving dinner.
Sparkling wines and champagne add elegance and phenomenal pairing versatility to any meal. They shine on the Thanksgiving dinner table because they generally carry a good dose of acidity and add a festive touch to the table.
Regional sparkling wines are fully capable of handling varied appetizers. They are delicious with fried or salted food and also pair well with turkey. The crisp fizz manages to seamlessly cut through the rich layers found in many desserts as well.
Finally from the “finding.wine” wine store, we wish you a happy experience of enjoyment in your thanksgiving holiday this year 2020; offering you the best wines for you and your closest family and friends on that special dinner, with the experience, knowledge and excellent prices just for you in the promotions and deal of these days, being sure that they will be of your total satisfaction, in order for you to fulfill the objective of spending a special evening in the next thanksgiving. Don’t forget to check out our other articles!
- Fabianni Posteraro