Growing up in England, thanksgiving was never a big holiday. Although I’ve lived in the U.S. for years now, I’ve given the holiday little thought every year, and even went to Canada to eat curry and nachos with my friends last year instead of binging on turkey. However, after spending the day with Americans abroad and hearing frequent nostalgic mentions of family traditions, I’ve come to realize how important and seemingly irreplaceable cuisine can be in respective cultural customs.
In Spain, there are many gastronomical habits that both follow and oppose stereotypes, solely judging from my homestay meals. There is a very generous amount of ham in meals, but I had no clue Spain consumed the largest quantity of fish per person in Europe. People occasionally drink sangria, but there’s much more beer and wine and even vermouth. Chorizo is popular, but morcilla (blood sausage) is sometimes better. My host mom hates gazpacho, loves lentil soup, and snacks on sunflower seeds while watching movies. I have paella often, but my favorite is black squid paella, which as it sounds, is dark, tangy, and can include a variety of calamari.
In reality, the most common and easy to make Spanish dish is the Spanish tortilla, which is actually a thick omelette with potato, and is not something you can wrap a burrito in. This was particularly confusing the first week since a French tortilla is a plain omelette. And while most of us miss peanut butter, I have found that plenty of nut-centric desserts that pop up around Christmas are festive alternatives. One named turrón, which is made of honey, almonds, and other nuts, tastes like condensed peanut or almond butter and can be found in large bricks everywhere. Lastly, while churros certainly aren’t an everyday staple, when Spaniards go out until the morning hours and the famous churros place in the center of Madrid is open 24hrs, grabbing a few with friends is an inevitable final activity.
Of course there are plenty examples of American culinary influence all over Spain. Besides the scattered assortment of Starbucks and KFC stores, there are many twists within them too. The “Dunkin’ Coffee” shops (that's right, coffee before donuts) serve pastries as well as tomatoes on toast (so Catalan) and Serrano ham. McDonalds also offers gazpacho and cherry tomatoes.
Thanksgiving dinner was again an opportunity to for a Spanish interpretation of an American practice. We started with tapas, like croquetas and spring rolls, and finally received a healthy portion of turkey, with stuffing, gravy, mashed butternut squash, and a chestnut puree. The most controversial part was the accidental heating of the cranberry sauce, however the experience was a flawlessly Spanish thanksgiving. After pumpkin pie and tiramisu and plenty of wine, our program leaders left us to dance to the live music with the local Spaniards before hurrying back to our home stays.
To be honest this year I went to two thanksgiving celebrations. I attended GW Madrid’s swanky, intimate restaurant dinner and a friend’s program’s much larger, potluck style dinner the next night in France. However it was pretty clear at the second that the company of the “GW Madrid” family, and the indescribable Spanish flair incorporated in all our experiences, are incomparable to any other and I am thankful and very full.