A British Person Rates US Thanksgiving Foods


By Joly Cox, Third Year, Politics and Economics

The Croft // In the US, Thanksgiving is the celebration of peace between the Pilgrims and the Indians, but to most of us here in England it's just an excuse for a meal of Christmas dinner proportions. I’ve rated the top 3 classic Thanksgiving foods for those ‘honorary Americans’ celebrating Thanksgiving who may not actually know their ‘football’ from their Macy’s Parade!

Pumpkin Pie 8/10

Pumpkin season has been and gone in England with Halloween. But, if you have any leftover lanterns, pumpkin pie is the perfect spiced dessert to fill you up on a cold November night. The pumpkin custard filling can be a lot but what’s the point of a huge Thanksgiving meal if you’re not painfully full at the end. It can take a while to make, but your luck’s in, Boris has given us all the time we need to make the perfect pumpkin dessert.

The perfectly spiced dessert for cold November evenings | Savannah Coombe / Epigram

Roast Turkey 10/10

The Americans do their Thanksgiving main much like our Christmas dinner. Roast potatoes, stuffing, veg, gravy…but most importantly they also do the roast turkey. If you can’t wait until Christmas and you have enough room in your weekly budget, the roast IS Thanksgiving. Plus, surely taking control of a huge roast turkey is the biggest alpha move anyone can pull.

Candied Yams 1/10

Yes, the name is off-putting but candied yams ARE even worse than they sound. All you do is make mash from some yams (or sweet potato if you have no idea what yams are). You put the mash in a dish, stick marshmallows on top and bake it in the oven. If all that sounds odd, it is.

A ’disgustingly’ sweet dish | Phoebe Ransom / Epigram

Having said all this, candied yams are a Thanksgiving essential. A question of ‘don’t knock it until you’ve tried it’ for sure, and then feel free to knock it because it’s disgusting. Surprisingly served as a side not a main, this sweet (and I mean SWEET) dish is the perfect extra to fill that last bit of stomach you never realised you had. I’ve given candied yams a measly 1 simply because it’s at least a conversation starter, and at this stage of lockdown you definitely need it.

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Featured Image: Phoebe Ransom / Epigram

What do you think of thanksgiving foods?