Embracing Culture at the Thanksgiving Table

One amazing thing about being a child of immigrants is the duality of cultures you grow up with. Especially on holidays like Thanksgiving, families across the United States celebrate with a mix of dishes and traditions from their ancestors in addition to those they have created for themselves and future generations. While I have definitely assimilated to American culture as a second generation immigrant, there is still a plethora of Filipino meals that have become a staple in my household, specifically in the coming holidays. 

With half of my extended family from Pampanga, known as the culinary capital of the Philippines, we tend to take food very seriously. Our typical family Thanksgiving consists of a three-family potluck, including Filipino, American, and even Italian dishes. Despite the fact that every guest eats two dinners, there are more than plenty of leftovers to take home. Of course, every family is different. We personally enjoy the signature oven-roasted turkey, but other Filipinos are known to celebrate with a whole fried pig. 

Similar to my family, groups of first and second generation immigrants across the nation continue to integrate their own culinary heritage with their American lifestyles. In November of 2016, “The New York Times” interviewed 15 different immigrant families about how they individualized their Thanksgiving meals with traditions from back home. Reporter Sam Sifton reported on second generation immigrant, Diane Yang. With parents from Laos, she spoke of how egg rolls with turkey stuffing have become a Thanksgiving staple within her family. 

Through the years, it has accumulated into an annual custom to visit her “parents’ farm to pick mustard greens from the garden, toast sticky-rice patties and grate Hmong cucumber with sugar and water”, followed by a table set “heavy with turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy”. While Yang perfectly mixes her Hmong and Wisconsin lifestyle at the dinner table, she simultaneously celebrates the culture of her ancestors with the American life her family has grown into, too. 

Individuals such as Yang enforce a message to immigrants that assimilation and letting go of one’s traditional way of life are far from mutually exclusive. Yang’s ability to adapt to cultural diffusion while staying true to her roots isn’t uncommon among Asian American immigrants, and her traditions embody those of many Thanksgiving family dinners. Even at my own Thanksgiving table, pan-fried noodles and oven-baked turkey are adjacently served on every plate. 

Without the foods we hold dear to us, we lose connections to our ancestry. It is quite easy to forget that family recipes can hold unimaginable power, regardless of one’s origins. Excluding representation, we will lose touch with our gastronomic culture and have nothing to pass down to our future generations.  Dishes handed down from my grandparents make me feel connected to relatives I have never met, whether they live halfway across the world or before my time. Given the necessary social distancing caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, traditional meals will allow one to reminisce how good it feels to be with family, and can create a comforting feel of company. 

Whether or not you get to spend your annual dinner with loved ones outside of your household this Thanksgiving, food acts as a social surrogate to give us feelings of belonging. The Asian American Thanksgiving allows families to celebrate foods enjoyed by their ancient ancestors along with classic American staples. As much as I love the customary mashed potatoes and stuffing, nothing makes a meal complete without some dishes from back home.