November 21, 2004
Anti-Thanksgiving Menu
The point of the anti-Thanksgiving menu is not to deny the need to give thanks for the good things we have. Instead, it is intended to give thanks without celebrating the Puritan arrival on the Continent. Practically, it amounts to an Italianate New World thanksgiving: by feasting and paying particular attention to the goodness of our food, we honor God Who, when he had created the world saw that it was good. It is to honor Christ, God made flesh, Who gives Himself to us in the Eucharist. As a result, particular honor must be made to bread and to wine.
To start with, how about an autumn salad of chicory, red lettuce, sliced persimmon, shaved pecorino romano, pomegranite seeds and toasted pumpkin seeds, all dressed in a balsamic vinaigrette?
Then, for a primo piatto, a pumpkin risotto (a basic risotto with pancetta, onion, carrotts, celery, then finished with chunks of roasted pumpkin, reggiano parmiggiano, and butter).
For a main course, one could go for young goose with a subcutaneous stuffing of goose innards, pancetta, fennel seed, garlic and rosemary (with a bit of fresh fennel, garlic and rosemary in the bird's cavity), or, if one is afraid of cooking goose, how about arista, a slow cooked loin of pork, stuffed with pancetta, garlic and rosemary.
On the side, with either dish, try fennel braised in milk, or roasted root vegetables.
For dessert, a panna cotta, with calvados persimmon sauce, accompanied by a vin santo.
For wine, start with a Puligny Montrachet to go with the salad, then a good Tuscan red to accompany the risotto and meat.
For a digestive, grappa or nocino would be perfect.
Posted by erik at November 21, 2004 11:58 PM | TrackBackErik:
I admire your postings in general, and the anti-Thanksgiving post in particular. You point out what is right about a national day of thanks, and what is lacking in the apotheosizing of the Puritan tradition. If we get to select our foundational myths, let's find one with a better theology and a better menu.
Bravo!
SC
Funny you should mention Nocino. I bottled my Noci this weekend and have a huge problem. How can I describe it - oh yeah... bitter, bitter, bitter, bitter, bitter.
Sorry I cut in to your otherwise fine discussions, but I panicked.
Did I mention that it was bitter?
Posted by: Jim Nocito at November 28, 2004 5:42 PMJohn,
Probably he would slap you for leaving the Holy Catholic Church first.
Second, this notion that the Puritans are the ones who brought forth the American idea is utter hogwash. The Virginian Gentlemen Farmers who framed the Constitution thought very little of the Puritan notion of law and government. What ideological debt did Jefferson have to the Mayflower degenerates? Don't confuse America with the myth of these Puritans. What we have left from them is best seen in the confused folks who have completely apostasized from Christianity or in those folks who have compartmentalized religion from business, from government, from ethics, etc. The true ideological heirs of the Puritans? Tatooed vegan pro-aborts.
Third, I am all for giving thanks to God. I do it every Sunday in the mass that was instituted by Christ Himself. This Thanksgiving balderdash wasn't even a National Holiday until FDR.
Posted by: Erik Keilholtz at November 24, 2004 11:39 PMMore hogwash from Mr. D'Hippolito about the debt we owe to the Puritans.
Posted by: Joseph D'Hippolito at November 24, 2004 12:25 PMThat's right-once the Continent was jam-packed with happy Roman Catholics. Then those pesky Puritans arrived and wrecked Valhalla. Even their Thanksgiving idea, though it appears to be a welcome and much-needed recognition of America's debt to God, was a farce. Erik, this is ugly crapola. Grow up. My Italian Grandfather was happy to come to this country, Puritan roots notwithstanding. If he read something like this (were he still alive) you'd be liable to get slapped.
Posted by: John Salmon at November 23, 2004 11:37 PMEDITORS NOTE:
Mr. D'Hippolito, who has called the Holy Father "Poop John Ba'al" and openly advocates the use of nuclear bombs on civilian populations, has been banned from commenting on this blog.
Further comments from him will be creatively edited to put words in his mouth that he may or may not intend.
Posted by: Joseph D'Hippolito at November 23, 2004 2:33 PM