Wednesday, November 23, 2011
AN AMERICAN custom and practice since the colonial times in the 1600, Thanksgiving is celebrated for a good autumn harvest and is almost synonymous with Turkey. And when I say turkey, it is always and will always be Roast Turkey with Bread stuffing and Cranberry Sauce.
The very first American Thanksgiving dinner I ever had happened way back in 1987 with the charming and fascinating Hidalgo Family, my “adopted” Fil-Am family in Rockland County, New York.
Dr. Nelson Hidalgo, a noted Child Psychiatrist, and her lovely and gracious wife Garcenia, has been celebrating this since the early 80’s when they migrated from the Philippines.
I could still recall the chilly Autumn weather with pretty multi-colored leaves on the trees and shrubs as I travelled from the Bronx with Garce’s aunt, whom we fondly call Mama Inday. It was less than an hour of scenic drive passing through the long Tappan Zee Bridge, which crosses the beautiful Hudson River.
There, with Nelson and Garce’s immediate family and friends, we devoured traditional American foods with some Pinoy dishes. We had of course the huge roasted turkey, Virginia boneless ham, pasta, adobo, pumpkin pie, cassava cake and many more. It was surely an unforgettable experience for a newbie like me in America.
Last year, I was invited and had the honor of doing a live culinary demonstration at the atrium of the SM Mall here in Cagayan de Oro City featuring Thanksgiving Dishes but using our very popular and well-loved Roasted Lechon as the main ingredient. It was a unique experience for me because I was tasked to concoct several dishes using “left-over” lechon and turning them into something new as compared to the usual lechon paksiw, which we normally cook with vinegar.
Lately, several department stores all over the country are now decorated with either “Fall” or “Autumn” and/or “Thanksgiving” Theme, making use of orange-colored decors like leaves, turkey, pies and others just like what the American do. And it does make the place very festive, although some others would decorate their establishments with Christmas ornaments as early as September.
And since turkey is expensive in the Philippines, I would not be surprised to see roasted pig or roasted chicken in our “celebration,” which would also include a lot of other Filipino fares like pancit guisado, sotanghon, bihon or bam-I, adobo or humba, fruit salad or buko salad, a layer of chocolate cake, and many others.
Celebrating a sumptuous or simple dinner with our family members and friends and spending quality time together makes us closer and I should always say, makes us feel better!
But why do we celebrate Thanksgiving in the Philippines? One thing for sure, we adopted the American way. Because we don’t do autumn harvest here. But one thing I can see in doing this is that we are thankful to the Lord for all the blessings He bestowed upon us.
We thank God for our family, our friends and everyone who are a part of our lives. We thank God for everything that He has given to us. We thank God for our health, our jobs, our lives and our existence.
God is awesome and we should always be thankful for even the smallest and simplest things we enjoy.
Remember, life is God’s greatest gift to us and we should acknowledge that in our day to day existence, even if it is not Thanksgiving day!
Have a great one!
(Email: potsnpans1976@yahoo.com; website: www.potsnpans1976.weebly.com)
Published in the Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro newspaper on November 24, 2011.
No comments:
Post a Comment