Thanksgiving en France

Whenever you take something that is quintessentially American and try to recreate it elsewhere you are bound to have interesting results. Sometimes it is actually a success, as with the cheesecake I made for Zach's birthday without using any cream cheese at all. Most of the time, however, it turns out just not quite right as with any attempt at Tex-Mex food here in France. So take a holiday as American as Thanksgiving, then have it hosted by a Franco-Haitian professor with guests coming from at least five continents, and you've got something quite interesting indeed.

This past week, Zach teamed up with a professor of his to help plan a Thanksgiving feast for his classmates. It was impossible to coordinate who was bringing what with over thirty guests, so the invitation was open to bring anything, particularly traditional Thanksgiving food if possible. What do you get when you ask university students in France to bring something to a party? Wine and cheese and more wine...except for the three American students who brought stuffing, green beans, and an apple pie.  Now Moise, the professor, had already bought several kilos of cheese and a few cases of wine. This Thanksgiving smorgasbord was quickly shaping up quite differently than expected. Thankfully we did have two turkeys, but Moise insisted that one be smeared with foie gras and stuffed with more foie gras.  While foie gras is delicious, if you don't know what it is, it's better not to find out before you eat it. We had volunteered to bring mashed potatoes, but they were definitely trumped by the HUGE, delicious dish of gratin dauphinois that another professor brought.

There we were in a very crowded apartment in the Marais spending Thanksgiving in a most untraditional way. However, maybe Thanksgiving has become too much about the traditions rather than what it really was meant to be about. Upon taking a second glance, the crowded apartment (which had a view of the Eiffel Tower I might add) became full of the people who have become like family to Zach and now to me, and the haphazard selection of food became filled with all sorts of French delicacies that we will miss dearly when we leave France. We have much to be thankful for. Sometimes, it just takes a second glance.