Talke Talks – Casserole Giving | nd-aktuell.de

Howdy from Texas, dear readers, you know Halloween and the Fourth of July, Santa’s Coca-Cola Christmas and the Valentine’s Day flowers and dinner pact. But do you really know what Thanksgiving is all about? For me, too, until the parade, it was the most enigmatic of all American rites: an autumn festival that takes place amidst Christmas decorations. In November, the Christmas tree – or several trees, in some cases even one in each room – is generally put up here. My mother-in-law asked me how they could last so long. “By being artificial, of course,” I replied (after some initial hesitation, I have four of them).

The myth of Thanksgiving says that in 1621 the English Pilgrims enjoyed a feast with the Natives in peace and friendship; Historians strongly doubt this fact. A misdecorated and contextualized family celebration where everyone argues about politics, and most violently every fourth year because it takes place directly after the elections. Not least a feast with the most disgusting food in America since the Pilgrims entered the promised or stolen land.

The dry chlorinated turkey is served with cranberry sauce for cystitis and a load of “stuffing”. I once thought it was something that, as the name suggests, was previously stuffed into the turkey. But don’t, the Americans find that disgusting, they make their stuffing outside of the bird: They bake pieces of bread soaked in broth and herbs in the oven! Because they are reminiscent of croutons, they are also called “dressing” in the south. But salads are rarely served at Thanksgiving. The “Green Bean Casserole” is much more popular: canned green beans, over which you pour mushroom soup (also from a can), then bake them in the oven and then garnish them with fried canned onions (we are still in the richest country in the world?). Then there is “Corn Pudding”, which is also a rotten casserole, but this time with corn kernels that are baked in a mixture of eggs, butter, sugar, milk and cornstarch (no, this is not a cake, but a side dish for the stupid turkey!) .

And if that’s still not sweet enough for you, you can resort to the “Sweet Potato Casserole”, a, you guessed it, casserole with sweet potatoes covered in – drumroll! ̶ Marshmallows. In the south, people often use canned sweet potatoes because they contain even more sugar. Nothing screams “the perfect dinner” as loudly as the tin can. Oh, I almost forgot “Mac and Cheese”: These are overcooked little noodles in cheese and roux that are gratinated (or stuffed?) with breadcrumbs. UNESCO has already protected Neapolitan pizza, French baguette and Korean kimchi. When will the US Thanksgiving side dishes finally arrive?

Of course, Thanksgiving isn’t just for upset stomachs and arguments. Shortly before the festival, you can watch the president on television performing the “Turkey Pardon,” a somewhat silly ceremony in which one or two animals are “pardoned” before they are slaughtered. The idea of ​​grace came from Ronald Reagan, who wanted to distract from the Iran-Contra affair like the Pilgrims once did from colonization. On the morning of the actual festival, those naive people who hope that exercise could prevent the irreparable damage that the casseroles will inflict on the organism run a mini-marathon called the “Turkey Trot”. In the afternoon you watch football and the Macy’s Parade on TV.

Speaking of Macy’s: “Black Friday”, the fake special offer day, is probably familiar to you in Germany for a long time. In the US, people used to storm stores and fight over televisions on the morning after Thanksgiving. Nowadays, the pseudo-reduced junk items that are already broken or out at Christmas can be found online weeks in advance. Every day, your email address is flooded with idiotic advertising messages trying to persuade you to shop, like: “Buy ten items for the price of eleven!” After all the hardships, some Americans dream of a “pardon.”