Thanksgiving is a way to eat good food and be thankful. When you think of Thanksgiving, the first thought for many is food. Different types of food are often made during Thanksgiving: turkey, mashed potatoes, and mac and cheese. Even in these foods, there are thousands of recipes. Which ones are the best, and what should we use next year?
Turkey is the obvious answer. However, I and other Americans agree that Thanksgiving is more about the side dishes than the turkey. Statistics show that 50 percent of people wish that turkey hadn’t been served as the main meal on Thanksgiving, according to statistics from “Specialty Foods.” Even with this, most people agree that turkey is not their favorite dish from other polls. The Difficulty of cooking a turkey is not worth the outcome. The problem is that while people expect a turkey for Thanksgiving, many do not consider it the best Thanksgiving Dish.
We can better understand people’s honest opinions by looking at side dishes. A poll shows each state’s favorite side dish in America by “Allrecipes.” Using California in general, our favorite dish is root vegetables. California can explain this as a new trend promoting healthy foods. Though California is in a bubble, as almost everywhere in America, the most common food is mashed potatoes. This makes sense as mashed potatoes are a simple food everyone can make and appreciate. If done correctly, mashed potatoes can taste good, helping families worldwide make it. I may be biased, though, as my favorite dish is mashed potatoes. Nevertheless, I believe that eating mashed potatoes every year may become dull.
Even with your favorite food, you need variety. Thanksgiving has been the same type of food over and over again since 1863. Trying new foods can open you to new flavors. From personal experience, my favorite Thanksgiving was when I tried something different from what is traditional. Even if it’s not customary to you, other cultures have traditions that may taste amazing. In Korea, it’s common to eat sweet and spicy turkey, while in Italy, it’s expected to eat lasagna. We can be thankful for our lives and the crossing of cultures we can experience.
While it may be true that mashed potatoes in America are the best traditional food, every other country has its own best traditional food you can experience. You don’t have to ditch the turkey, but maybe switch out a salad for maple-glazed rutabaga in Finland or replace your mashed potatoes with hassled back potatoes from Sweden. Next year, you should try new strategies to create a new Thanksgiving you will not forget.
