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For the typical American just the words “Traditional
Thanksgiving Dinner” have the power to evoke a whole range of images and
catchwords. Whose tradition? What
dinner? And for that matter, why are we
giving thanks in this manner, anyway?
Americans love Thanksgiving and as we all know, celebrate it with family
reunions, gatherings of friends and sumptuous feasts. We also surround it with an enormous
collection of myths and questionable history.
As we enthusiastically observe our “great North American Holiday” note
that we were hardly the first civilization to set aside days of thanks. Greeks, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Hebrews and
many other ancient cultures all celebrated in the autumn to give thanks for an
abundant harvest.
The event that we generally think of as the first
Thanksgiving was in 1621. It was a three
day English Harvest Festival celebrated by some 90-odd Wampanoag Native
Americans and about 60 of the surviving Pilgrims. We hold dearly to an enduring image of the
somberly dressed Pilgrims and their native guests enjoying a “traditional”
Thanksgiving menu. However the iconic Turkey
might not have adorned the groaning board, as the term was generically used to
indicate wild fowl which very well may have been duck or goose. No pumpkin pies or dinner rolls either, as
the colonist had long before exhausted their supplies of flour. Boiled pumpkin and fried cornmeal bread were
far more likely and it is recorded that the feasters enjoyed the fresh venison
from 5 deer contributed by Chief Massasoit and his countrymen. Their menu was further enhanced by lobster,
clams and other freshwater fish.
Berries, dried fruit and wild greens were probably enjoyed, as
well.
Even the day upon which we celebrate this event has gone
through considerable evolution. As
genuinely successful as this “first” Thanksgiving seems to have been, it was
not repeated the next year and was never observed by the Pilgrims on any
regular day. The establishment of the
national holiday on a regular annual basis was the result of a 1863
proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln which established our present holiday
on the last Thursday of November. We
have continued with this tradition ever since (mythic imagery and all) except
for a brief and unpopular switch to the third Thursday in November during FDR’s
administration.
People tend to be very opinionated and passionate about
their culinary preferences, although this has more to do with regional tastes
and individual family prejudices than with historical facts. As a youngster in Texas of the 1950s, I fondly remember my
father’s absolute contempt for all white bread “Yankee Dressing”. My grandmother’s sage and cornbread dressing
was and is the holy writ. However, in
both my home and career, I have discovered that it is not necessarily heresy to
recognize the melting pot nature of our American holiday. In this spirit we offer you our recipe for
Sweet Potato Mousse.
SWEET POTATO MOUSSE
A unique Southern dessert made
with Lowcountry Produce’s Sweet Potato Butter; a favorite at Avanti Savoia’s
annual Open House
Serves 8 to 10
Available at Avanti Savoia*
Ingredients:
·
12 ounces Whipped Cream Cheese
·
¼ cup Doug’s Other Honey*
·
One 16 ounce jar Lowcountry Produce Sweet Potato
Butter*
·
2 teaspoons Silver Cloud Vanilla Bean Paste*
·
½ teaspoon Avanti Savoia Allspice*
·
2 teaspoons Avanti Savoia Cinnamon*
·
!/2 teaspoon Nutmeg*
·
½ pint heavy cream
·
2 Tablespoons powdered sugar
Instructions:
1.
Bring cream cheese to room temp and whip in an electric
mixer until smooth.
2.
Add honey and mix well.
3.
Add Sweet Potato Butter and blend very well, scraping
down sides as necessary. Next, blend in
the vanilla and spices.
4.
In a separate mixing bowl, whip cream and powdered
sugar until fluffy. Fold this into the
mousse mixture.
5.
Place mousse into attractive serving bowl or individual
serving bowls. The mousse can also be
served in bite size pastry cups.
Refrigerate over night or for a least several hours.
6.
Serve with or without a dollop of whipped cream.
