Many Latino families celebrating Thanksgiving, including some who have immigrated to the U.S., are making the traditional turkey — but they're adding distinctive cultural influences.
Some Latino families use wine and orange juice as part of their Thanksgiving turkey preparation, but there are many other non-traditional ingredients that are incorporated in their dishes.
We asked a few of them to share a little more about their turkey preparation, what sides they serve and what desserts they’re planning to eat on that day.
Here’s how some Latino families are preparing their Thanksgiving dinners, using ingredients that showcase their native countries' culinary roots and distinct flavors.
A Brazilian brine
Pietra Cassolato, who has been living in the U.S. for more than 5 years, says she prepares her turkey by making a marinade consisting of garlic, olive oil, mustard and onion and mixes it all in the blender with beer (any type of beer will do). Then, she let’s it brine for five hours putting it in the oven for about three to five hours on low heat.
This is usually served with rice, mash potatoes and potato salad. And for dessert, Cassolato said her family serves passionfruit mousse or a cake.
A bit of Peruvian pizco
Peru is renowned for its rich and culinary heritage. That’s why Luis Toledo prepares his turkey with a variety of Peruvian spices such as aji amarillo, pizco, aji panca and aji girasol and mixes it with some traditional ingredients such as garlic, pepper, oregano.
Toledo said he mixes it, adds it to the turkey and leaves it marinading in the fridge for 12 hours, preferably overnight.
To cook, he puts it in to the oven lathered with butter. The turkey is served with a salad of potato, egg, carrot, lemon and mayonnaise, Toledo said.
He also said that he likes to eat it with Coca-Cola rice, a traditional Peruvian dish, which is prepared with one cup of rice, one cup of water, one cup of Coke, onion and raisins.
For dessert, his family usually eats a cheesecake or ice cream.
“Whatever we have on the table that day,” Toledo said.
Venezuelan sweet and savory
For one Venezuelan family, preparing the turkey begins with finding a bird that looks clean, lean and skinless. Samuel Nacisso says they use pepper, sea salt and a large blended onion to make a marinade. The turkey is left soaking in it overnight in the refrigerator.
When cooking the turkey, Narcisso bastes it with a red wine and guava jam mixture to give it a sweet consistency. The process takes several hours, he said.
This dish is accompanied with chicken salad and chocolate cake for dessert.
Edgar Izquierdo, whose family is also Venezuelan, told us their turkey preparation is a little bit more elaborate and usually includes stuffing it with olives, onions and raisins.
“Since it cooks for so long, it does not matter what you put inside, it just vanishes leaving a great flavor on it,” Izquierdo said.
He accompanies the turkey with Greek salad and lemon pie for dessert.
The next day, he usually cooks “arepas” — a traditional corn cake from Venezuela — for breakfast, stuffed with leftover turkey.
A Colombian family's fruity stuffing
Valentina Angel says she prepares the Thanksgiving turkey by stuffing it with different fruits such as apples, peaches and berries. She lets it sit for six hours, then puts it in the oven.
When the turkey is almost done, she also adds dried nuts for crunchiness.
“It’s a great way to add flavor. I also mix all the fruits together to create a sauce that goes perfectly with it,” Angel says.
Angel says she serves the turkey with salad and plantains, and lemon pie for dessert.
