Tags
cooking, cornbread dressing, expats, food, France, Life in Paris, Paris, thanksgiving, Travel
Thanksgiving has a certain smell for me. It’s roasting turkey and cornbread baking and the sweet-sour tang of cranberry sauce boiling on the stove. It’s the sound of familiar voices in rhythmic chatter, the irruption of laughter, the contentment of greeting after a long absence. It’s the warmth of a fire and the crackle as it hisses and transforms. Thanksgiving. It’s America, our values and culture all wrapped up into one festive day.
Here in France, the sounds and smells of Thanksgiving are a strangely familiar variant of their former selves. The smell of rising cornmeal and roasting turkey are constant, but the chatter is in some other language and the voices not quite as familiar. And, to be sure, there is no football announcer’s voice murmuring play-by-plays in the background, such a strong memory from my childhood Thanksgivings.
Of course, the French don’t really do Thanksgiving, as you probably know. But when they make the effort, it invariably involves American expats lurking in the background.
Last night, one of my American friends who works at the Embassy had a Thanksgiving feast chez elle. Much like if she was back home, she spent the day basting a turkey and baking pumpkin pies. Of course, we did this whole to-do on Thanksgiving Eve because the French have to work today even the expats, except those at the Embassy which is closed for the holiday. So after a little clean up this morning, my friend will get to enjoy her day in peaceful thanks of being American. I mentioned last night she also might want to throw in a little thanks for living in France for it was for that reason she had Wednesday off too – like so many French women, for elementary children don’t go to school on Wednesdays in France – to prepare for the feast.
I offered to bring my great-grandmother’s cornbread dressing and a dozen devilled eggs as my contribution to the festivies. I woke up early to head down to the outdoor market – truly my favorite part of living in France. In my neighborhood, we have one in the center square on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday mornings. I bought the few ingredients I was missing to complete my recipes: a head of celery, a dozen fresh eggs and then I asked my trusted dairy vendor what she recommended as a buttermilk substitute (lait fermenté was the answer). I watched in silent horror as a foreigner walked up to the produce and began to pick her vegetables by hand. Upon seeing her, the vendor stopped serving another client in line and told this unsuspecting lady to unhand his clementines. (Remember, in France you normally wait in line to be served by the vendor!) After purchasing my few items, I promptly came home to start on the cornbread. (By the way, I’ve added a slideshow of the steps to making the cornbread dressing on the Canadian Thanksgiving post).
Last evening, we were a group of about 20, both expats and French compatriots. We dined on devilled eggs, homemade mashed potatoes, cornbread stuffing, turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce. And then pies and more pies. It was delightful and an ideal time to catch-up with some other expat friends I don’t get to see very often in the normal routine of life.
As few Parisian apartments or homes are large enough to house a party of 20 seated guests, Thanksgiving this year took on a French air as an aperitif dinatoire. It reminded me of the days when we used to have BBQ parties at my parent’s house and everybody would grab their plate piled high and cop a squat somewhere, anywhere. It was a lot like that last night.
Marché slideshow:
This marks the third Thanksgiving I’ve celebrated in Paris, of my seven years here. Some Thanksgivings have come and gone without much more than an email home with love and my best wishes. But for the third time, yesterday was a memorable reminder of how close home can be, even when we’re thousands of miles away.
Related articles:
ErinHillArt.Travel Journal said:
Thank you for the reminder. Still had time to send a Thanksgiving e-card to our daughter & husband in Boston. Whew. XXE
Becoming Madame said:
Excellent! Glad to be of service! 🙂
mobius faith said:
A nice romantic view of the holiday. Wishing you a wonderful shopping-free weekend.
Becoming Madame said:
Very true, my mom is a traditionalist, so she made these sorts of holidays as close to Rockwell or Leave it to Beaver as she possibly could. And how I thank her for it now as the memories stay with me into my new life. Hope you had a good holiday.
njbrown said:
Did you ever get to the Norman Rockwell museum in Stockbridge, Mass.? His Saturday Evening Post covers were a wonderful part of my growing up. His Thanksgiving picture is just about my favorite. Thank you for bringing it back!
Happy Thanksgiving (here) –
Nancy
Becoming Madame said:
I know, I LOVE Rockwell. I’ve never been to the museum. I thought maybe I had as a child, but no. My mom has a number of his prints at home. I think he particularly appeals to people who moved around a lot in their childhood. He gives some sense of that quintessential family experience… You are most welcome!!
rosewithoutthorns said:
Beautiful description of your memories from childhood! I’ve never celebrated Thanksgiving but the way you showed us how your family used to toast this holiday makes me feel like I’m by the fire with you, eating cornbread, turkey and cranberry sauce!
not sure if “thanks” is the right word, but thanks for being such a wonderful writer and sharing your perspectives with us!
happy thanksgiving!
felicia
Becoming Madame said:
Felicia, thank you sincerely for your kind words. That’s very thoughtful of you!! Not having a fire place in our apartment right now, I think is the one thing that makes me miss home during the cold winter months the most. My mom always had a fireplace. Curling up by it with a book and using our dog as a pillow are some of my most precious memories of home. Warm wishes to you from Paris.
pedmar10 said:
Happy thanksgiving indeed, first time in my life will missed it been in exile in Brittany lol!
Becoming Madame said:
I wouldn’t mind so much being exiled to Brittany! 🙂 Hope you got to celebrate a little, even if you were far from home!
pedmar10 said:
hahaha yes exile is too strong a word, but here is more breton different than the Paris area on everything.
kalamitykelli said:
I wish I could send you some “home”! I too made deviled eggs for our Thanksgiving meal – but my mom still makes the cornbread dressing (with sage) because it’s been handed down from my great grandmother to grandmother to mother, and someday – maybe even next year – mom will turn the job over to me. It was a beautiful fall day here in Oklahoma, 75F and that crazy shopping started at 4PM today no less! We stayed home and watched football. Rocket (grandson) had his first mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and deviled eggs today. It was thumbs up on the potatoes only! 🙂 it must be wonderful living in such a lovely place, but there are some things I sure would miss here – like today!
Becoming Madame said:
Ah, thank you! That’s a very nice thing to say. You day sounds like a picture perfect American Thanksgiving! Thanks for sharing, it makes me thankful that so many of us are still traditional at heart! 🙂 All my best.
Kimby said:
I read your post and exclaimed, “I forgot to make devilled eggs,” ha! (We have them for Thanksgiving, too — can’t believe they were AWOL this year.) But oh that dressing… I was raving about it to my Mom (750 miles away on Thanksgiving) and told her about the bacon fat in the cornbread… incredible. To my surprise, Mom said great-grandma always added to her cornbread, too! I thought it was neat that a recipe from France (via your US heritage) sparked a family food memory unbeknownst to me. So, thank you! Glad you had such a lovely celebration!
Becoming Madame said:
Oh, I love those kind of stories!! Thanks for letting me know. I’m so glad you enjoyed the cornbread and the cornbread dressing. It wasn’t quite the same here this year because the cornmeal in France isn’t quite the same as at home. But I’m looking so forward to having my mom’s in a month’s time! 🙂 Thanks again for sharing!
Kimby said:
P.S. Thanks for the market slide show, too — so vibrant!
denise and sandy said:
my brother lived abroad for most of the last 15 years. i think he loved those Thanksgivings share with other expat’s even more than those he spent in the States. There is something special in that.