Thanksgiving Gatherings Near and Far
In today’s highly global, mobile and multicultural world, organizing a Salter family gathering during the holidays requires complex travel coordination as well as a blending of culinary traditions. Over the past decade Kit and I have flown three times to London to share Thanksgiving with his niece Kashya, her daughter Natalia, our son Hayden, his wife Ana, and our grandchildren Ines, Catalina and Nico, as well as a wonderful circle of Kashya’s friends from across the years. Kashya welcomes us all into her home in Chiswick, a lovely English borough between Heathrow and Central London.
Last week, this annual gathering took place in Chiswick without us. Instead, Kit and I shared a Thanksgiving dinner at the Lodge in Grass Valley where he continues to recover. I also joined Heidi and Sugie and four of their friends for a vegetarian Thanksgiving at their home in Nevada City later that afternoon. The next day I gathered with neighborhood friends for a day-after-Thanksgiving meal of leftovers with turkey and gravy. When the feasting was finally done, I sat with Kit and shared memories of our last Thanksgiving at Kashya’s and the rich masala of Salter family and friends with roots from around the world who made that London gathering so memorable.
As a culturally blended family, planning and preparing the Thanksgiving meal in Kashya’s kitchen is always a grand production. As the appointed pie maker, I make sure to pack cans of Libby’s puréed pumpkin, evaporated milk, a bag of pecan halves and several 9-inch aluminum pie tins into my luggage. Happily, I can substitute Lyle’s Golden Syrup that is readily available locally at Chiswick’s Marks & Spencer grocery store in place of the Karo syrup called for in a classic American pecan pie. I’ve learned to bring shallow aluminum pie tins from home for my pecan and pumpkin pies, because English meat and fruit pies are traditionally baked in much deeper dishes.
Turkey and ham are both available in London markets from Thanksgiving to Christmas. However, Kashya often roasts two large locally raised, corn-fed English chickens that she fills with her legendary stuffing made from sautéed leeks and onions, apricots, currants and breading seasoned with sage. Thanksgiving sides might include garlic mashed potatoes, roasted yams, crisp green beans and an enormous green salad with artichoke hearts, grape tomatoes, pine nuts and a sprinkling of Boursin cheese. The day before Thanksgiving, I commandeer the kitchen for long enough to make cranberry sauce with fresh cranberries, orange zest and fresh grated ginger, as well as an Indian Chai masala apple cake and pecan and pumpkin pies assisted by Kashya’s wonderful kitchen and home assistant Marissa.
While many meals are prepared in Kashya’s kitchen, there are also culinary excursions for the group of us at neighborhood restaurants that reflect the international melting pot that London has become since I first visited England in 1970. Forget steak and kidney pie unless you have a hankering for traditional English pub fare from the past. Today, London’s food scene is world class and globally rooted. Kit and I can enjoy a simple Parisian croque monsieur sandwich and pot of English tea at Patisserie Valerie after walking Chiswick’s High Road or have a fine dining Italian experience at Casa Dino with the whole family just around the corner.
Because Kit’s family and mine share ties to South Asia, Kashya’s London pantry and mine are fully stocked with jars of ground curry, cumin, turmeric and Garam masala, as well as crushed chilies, coriander leaf, Tikka curry paste and mango chutney. On nights when we don’t cook meals ourselves, Kashya orders takeout from local Indian and Persian restaurants. One evening we shared a Bangkok Thai meal at Busaba that was my favorite ethnic meal until a day later when savored the flavors of Lebanon’s souks with Kashya and two of her old friends at Comptoir Libanais in the heart of Oxford University.
The day after Thanksgiving, I love strolling Chiswick’s High Road with Kit when the annual transition to Christmas takes place in local flower markets. Christmas trees and all manner of holiday berries and plants suddenly appear overnight. Markets in Covent Gardens in Central London and the botanical grounds of Kew Gardens near Chiswick are wrapped in festive Christmas lights and decorations that delight visitors throughout December. And before heading home, a final trip to Chiswick’s Marks & Spencer grocery story is always a must. Perusing each delicious aisle, I stock up on mini mincemeat pies and gorgeous tins of shortbread cookies for Christmas gifts to share with family and friends during the holidays.
While Kit and I were not able to physically travel to London this year, a serendipitous touch of London visited us. On a recent trip to our local Target store in Grass Valley, I found myself face to face with a big-as-life Marks & Spencer, double decker English bus display at the end of one of the food aisles. It was stocked with gorgeous holiday tins of Scottish shortbread cookies and assorted boxes of chocolates. There were also packages of hot chocolate tucked inside tin music boxes and gingerbread cookies tucked inside mini houses that light up. It was a magic moment that triggered rich memories of Thanksgiving gatherings that Kit and I will continue to treasure for years to come.
