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Blogs / On the Table / February 2008 / Holiday: the raw and the cooked

Holiday: the raw and the cooked

Our Thanksgiving table as much a meeting of culinary philosophies asthe original Pilgrim feast. Our menu represented the totaltraditionalist, the locavorous, the strictly personal, the vegan, the raw foodistand the completely omnivorous points of view. By the way, you'll noticethat raw foodism involves a lot of quotation marks. My daughter-in-lawexplains that in this cuisine, the names of dishes are strictlymetaphorical.

Le Menu
Appetizers: Organic crudites with raw "cheese" made from blended cashews, garlic and lemon
Cocktail: Slushy made from frozen green grapes and organic sparkling wine
Turkey: Fresh, organic, from Whole Foods, unstuffed, unbrined, basted with its own juice, carved at the table. Carving is the hardest part.
Stuffing: Straightforward Mom-homage; sausage, celery, onions, sage andcroutons, moistened with a little turkey broth made from the giblets
Mashed Potatoes: Red-skinned, with major amounts of butter, hand-mashed
Sweet Potatoes: Casseroled with toasted pecans, brown sugar and vanilla
Kale Salad: With fresh lemon juice dressing
Open-face "Burgers" (made from I'm not sure what, formed into patties)with "ketchup" (made from reconstituted dried tomatoes) on collardgreen leaf "buns"
Jicama Stick "French Fries:" Raw, of course, rolled in olive oil and paprika
Cranberry Sauce: Made precisely from the recipe on the back of the bag
Pecan Pie: Traditional Texan, with whole pecans and Karo syrup
Apple Pie: Traditional American, with peeled apples
Chocolate Pie: Because none of us really like pumpkin
Raw Chocolate Balls: Kind of like dense truffles

Originally published 2007-11-27