Thanksgiving is one of the best holidays of the year. It’s a time to get together with your family, friends, distant relatives (the ones you can tolerate, anyway), and everyone else you love to reflect on the things you’re most thankful for in life. But have you ever wondered what it’s like when a Jamaican family celebrates Thanksgiving? Read on to discover a new tradition or maybe find some new inspiration!
Part I: The Preparation
So Thanksgiving dinner prep for us is just going to grocery stores and picking up the necessary foods and ingredients we decide to have each year. Also, getting the dutch oven ready. Because we’re Jamaican, we don’t have those modern-day ceramic Dutch ovens. We got that old-time one made of cast-iron that’s built to last for centuries, and I’m pretty sure we’ve had ours for at least 30 years. It’s that good, people!
One crucial part of our Thanksgiving prep is picking a pie to eat. I like to harass my mom about getting the best pie for each year. At least, that’s what my mom thinks because when I ask her about the pie, her standard response is “Leave me alone, Abeni!” Apple and pumpkin are usually top-choice for us, though, if you need to hear it from me. And anyway, who doesn’t like apple pie, am I right?!
Also, the food starts cooking days before the fact. Someone shreds the cheeses, Mom seasons the meats, and containers are cleaned to hold the food on the table when the day comes. It seems like a rather meticulous process, but it’s pretty easygoing especially because of the shared excitement over us gobbling all this delicious stuff down in a few days.
Part II: The Food
The food. The glorious, glorious food. While our menu slightly varies each year, here is a general list of what we typically have:
- HoneyBaked Ham
- Curry goat
- Rice and peas
- Stuffing
- White rice
- Yellow rice
- Candied yams
- Macaroni and cheese from scratch
- Mashed potatoes
- Potato salad
- Oxtail
- Jerk chicken (sometimes)
- Sorrel
Let’s give some of these items some context. Nobody in my family eats turkey, so we opt for HoneyBaked Ham instead (although I myself am taking a break from pork). Rice and peas are actually rice and red kidney beans, not actual green peas. Curry goat is exactly what it sounds like; have you ever eaten curry chicken? It’s like that but made with goat meat instead and just as good. Jamaicans have jerk meat which can vary from chicken to pork or fish, but we sometimes include jerk chicken into our menu. Sorrel is a Caribbean beverage that is a deep red in color, tastes oh, so sweet and is made from sorrel buds; also known as hibiscus! How cool is that?!
But you can’t forget the most important item on the menu: the OXTAIL.
Oxtail is that one major thing I look forward to eating every single Thanksgiving. Why? If you guessed “Because it’s a savory meat with a taste that melts in your mouth”, then you are absolutely right. I’ve tried several other oxtail dishes from restaurants before, but nothing tops an original home-cooked meal. Given that it is only served at our house on special occasions like this, oxtail is definitely worth the long wait.
Part III: The Leftovers
When I tell you we have food for days…it’s really no joke! The food we have is so good, leftovers last us for at least a week. We have to get to work and figure out how to stuff it all in the fridge. On top of that, now that I’m away at college, I have to pack some of the goods in a number of Tupperware containers for the home stretch before winter break, and any college student will know the struggle I’m referring to here. It really doesn’t even need to be said; you just know.
So basically, Jamaican Thanksgiving is just like how Americans do Thanksgiving. We have some of the common Thanksgiving staples like potato salad and that classic baked mac and cheese. But as my momma says, “No Thanksgiving celebration is complete without some authentic Jamaican cuisine!”