Area Immigrants Blend Holiday Traditions at Thanksgiving (2007)

I start this post letting my readers know that I wrote this in November, 2007, as one of my final Journalism assignments at University of Maryland. Here’s my grade: Grade: 49.50/50 - Excellent

By Carol Kagan

Gustavo Porto Moreira, the little Indian on stage, was so excited to be in the Thanksgiving play that he did "whoop-whoop-whoop" from his one-line cue to the absolute end of the play. His brother, Bernardo, portrayed a pilgrim coming to America by boat, complete with the wide-brimmed black hat and buckle.

In 2000, the boys themselves came to this country from Brazil with their parents and are now participating in the American Thanksgiving tradition. In addition to parades, football games and shopping, immigrants like the Porto Moreiras use the time-honored Thanksgiving meal as another way to integrate with their adopted country.

Thanksgiving is a unique American holiday based on the immigrant experience of the Pilgrims and early colonists. Immigrants in the Washington area use it as an opportunity to blend home-country traditions and foods with American ones.

Thanksgiving is the "ultimate immigrant holiday," said Alice Julier, president of the Association for the Study of Food and Culture. "Thanksgiving is the number one national holiday in the United States and participating provides a sense of national belonging. It's a way to participate in the national identity and yet retain the cultural identity, too."

Brazilian Yuka

The Porto Moreira family's traditional Brazilian Christmas dinner features turkey or ham as the main course and includes yuka, the flour of the cassava plant fried with garlic and onions. For Thanksgiving in the U.S., they visit Brazilian friends where the meal includes turkey, corn pudding and sweet potatoes with marshmallows.

"Brazilians usually want to do whatever the day calls for," said Stella Porto. "If it's Thanksgiving, we'll do turkey." However, Porto's husband and chief family cook, Wayne Moreira, often prepares yuka on request for the holiday meal.

The Thursday celebration of Thanksgiving is a challenge for Meena Bipat, a native of Trinidad who came to the U.S. 17 years ago. Bipat, a Hindu whose personal fast day is Thursday, serves a vegetarian meal on Thanksgiving that includes potatoes and rice. 

Bipat said her son, Dylan, told his class last year that he had "turkeycake" for Thanksgiving. Bipat said she asked him why he made up that story. "He said he didn't want to be different from the other kids." This year on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, the family had a meal which included more American dishes, serving roast chicken, potatoes, gravy, and stuffing in addition to rice and other vegetarian dishes.

For many families the preparation of the meal is part of the holiday tradition. Traditional foods usually take more time to prepare, and the holiday allows people to spend more time in the kitchen.

Xalwa, sweet cake w/ butter & lots of sugar

"Thanksgiving is a day we can get together because everyone is off work," said Amal Kassim, a Somalia native who came to the U.S. in 1984. "During the year we don't have time to spend in the kitchen to do the baking and cooking of the traditional foods."

On Thanksgiving Day, Kassim's family prepares traditional Somalian foods and American foods, a mixture of what everybody likes. "We have married Americans and we share our traditional foods with them and have the American ones, too," Kassim said. Some of the Somalian foods include seasoned rice, salads, and special desserts such as xalwa, a sweet cake made of butter and lots of sugar. Some of the American foods include roast chicken with potatoes and gravy.  The gathering is also a time when the younger children can learn about Somalian traditions and culture.

"Thanksgiving has always been a ritual where immigrants have combined local, native American foods with those from the Old World," said Warren Belasco, a professor of American Studies at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. "Thus, the so-called Pilgrims ate turkey not so much because the Indians ate it but because turkey was already popular back in England."

Bashmeel, Egyptian macaroni dish

Sawsan Said (Sy-ed), who came to the U.S. from Egypt 24 years ago, also mentioned the time commitment to make many of the traditional meals. "Most of the year we don't have time to make special dishes," Said commented. She also celebrates Eid al-Fitr, where the main feast food is traditionally seafood, a food that is avoided during the fast. Other feast dishes include stuffed vegetables, and bashmeel, a macaroni dish with sauce and mashed potatoes.

Said's family enjoys the traditional turkey, gravy, and mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving. "It's the gathering more than what we are eating that is the celebration," Said commented. On occasions when her family is invited out for the holiday, Said may make an Egyptian dish of bashmeel or a mashed potato recipe on a large tray.

Robert Tipple, who came here from Canada five years ago, enjoys the traditional turkey along with parsnips and cauliflower, vegetables he remembers having at Christmas dinners since he was young. One holiday food tradition Tipple misses is Christmas pudding, brought to the table with a liquor fueled flame.

In addition to immigrant families blending American and home-country foods, finding foods and traditions from other cultures can make Thanksgiving a more diverse holiday. Six-year-old Gustavo and eight-year-old Bernardo Porto Moreira are at the ages where a flaming dessert would be fun.

Christmas pudding

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Interviewed in person:
Ms. Meena Bipat (Trinidad) 301-985-7710
Ms. Amal Kassim (Somalia) 240-582-2801
Dr. Robert Tipple (Great Britain/Canada) 240-582-2824
Dr. Stella Porto (Brazil) 301-985-7592
Ms. Sawsan Said  (Egypt) 301-985-7825, (With use of the last name for attribution I had to find other words instead of "said".)
 
Experts contacted:
Ms. Alice Julier 413-582-3512, President of the Association for the Study of Food and Culture
Lecturer, Smith College - (I spoke to her by phone.)
Dr. Warren Belasco 410-455-2154, Professor of American Studies, University of Maryland Baltimore County - (He responded with comments on the article by e-mail.)

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