Thanksgiving is a holiday that brings people together, and it’s a time to be thankful for anything and everything. Some people have different definitions of what Thanksgiving is for them, but the one thing that is the same for everyone is the importance of the food. Of course there’s different foods used for Thanksgiving dinner, but what food is eaten for Thanksgiving around the world?
Evidently, some version of Thanksgiving is not celebrated in every country due to religion or other reasons, but one of the largest countries that observe Thanksgiving outside of the U.S. is Canada.
The first celebration of Canadian Thanksgiving traces back to around 450 years ago to 1578, but the holiday wasn’t officially recognized until 1879. Canada has similar traditions to America, including having a turkey on the dinner table and watching football.
Some Canadians eat a traditional “Jiggs Dinner,” which is a boiled dish consisting of cabbage, vegetables, dumplings, potatoes and corned beef. For dessert, Canadians switch the traditional apple/pumpkin pies for Nanaimo Bars, Lemon Meringue squares or a spice-filled Mincemeat Pie. Some other dishes used in Canadian Thanksgiving are sweet potato casseroles, creamed peas, and turkey-stuffed acorn squash.
In Japan actually has traces of a Thanksgiving celebration back to the seventh century A.D., but the modern adaptation began only three years after the end of World War ll in 1948. In Japan, Thanksgiving is called Kinro Kansha no Hi, which translates to Labor Thanksgiving Day.
Japan uses Thanksgiving as a day to give gratitude and appreciation toward people who work hard and contribute to the community.
Japan has much more obvious differences in their day-to-day cuisine, but their Thanksgiving menu isn’t as shocking. The usual Thanksgiving menu in Japan is a meal consisting of grilled fish, rice, and various vegetable dishes. In some cases a mochi vegetable soup is also on the menu.
America and Brazil are actually pretty similar in their traditions, though it is called Dia de Acao de Gracas in Brazil. Brazilian Thanksgiving follows the same tradition of America’s belief that it’s a day of bringing families together through a bountiful harvest feast and celebrate by eating turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie.
Lastly, Germany celebrates Thanksgiving in September and October. Harvest festivals are celebrated in Germany as compared to America’s one day of celebration. On a German Thanksgiving table one will find Rouladen (a common meat roll consisting of bacon, onions, mustard and pickles), red cabbage, potato dumplings and goose.
Although Thanksgiving is thought of as an American holiday in our borders, this holiday has many more world-wide celebrations, where each culture “brings something different to the table.”
