Food & Recipes

Thrilled to be interviewed by @RashaAlAqeedi at @newlinesmag.

We talked about my new recipe, Thanksgiving vegan biryani, and how immigrants bring their flavors to this American tradition.https://t.co/pumnRD18mX

— MirriamZary 🇦🇫 (@mirriam71) November 24, 2022

…For the Seddiq family of northern Virginia, Thanksgiving is always an event. Immigrants from Afghanistan, they first arrived in America in the 1970s. To accommodate the entire extended family on Thanksgiving, the Seddiqs organize a potluck banquet at a rented hall. Family member Mirriam Zary is a lawyer and well-known food blogger on Instagram and TikTok. Her passion for traditional and contemporary Afghan cuisine is evident in her social media posts. Mirriam believes that, for observant Muslims, the concept of gratitude is never restricted to one day…

As the second and third generations of the Seddiqs came of age in the family’s new country, Mirriam wanted to include both America and Afghanistan in an innovative infusion. Hence “Thanksgiving Biryani” was born. Combining the main rice ingredient with the spices and flavors of fall, such as cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and raisins, along with root vegetables such as butternut squash and carrots, Mirriam creates the perfect balance of the aromas of her two homelands. The dish is vegan but can serve as a side to turkey.

Some families of other immigrant communities take a slightly different approach. Shahed Amanullah, an entrepreneur and developer of the halal food app “Zabiha,” is attending a Thanksgiving banquet hosted by his mother, an immigrant from Pakistan, where only “the traditional American” dishes will be prepared. Shahed describes his mother as a “Thanksgiving purist,” but, since he will be taking on the task of cooking the turkey this year, he insists that he will “spice it up a bit.”…

Puerto Rican Thanksgiving reflects the cultural syncretism of the Caribbean island and its complex relationship to the United States. The traditional turkey would be considered bland in comparison with the endless flavors that abound in Caribbean cuisine, and bland food is no cause for celebration. Nilsa Méndez relocated from Puerto Rico to Chicago several years ago. Thanksgiving for her means gratitude and family, and one way of expressing this is an elaborate method of cooking turkey. For starters, the giant bird lies in a marinade of sofrito — a blend of aromatic ingredients finely chopped and sauteed or braised in cooking oil with various spices. Nilsa then cooks a dish of “arroz con gandules” (rice and pigeon peas, a staple in Puerto Rico). The rice is flavored with a traditional adobo spice mix that consists of granulated garlic, onion powder, salt, black pepper and oregano. It may also contain citrus zest and/or turmeric. The rice is then stuffed in the marinated turkey. The result is a moist, flavorful cut of poultry that needs no gravy for taste and texture…

Thanksgiving is an all-American holiday and one for which, most of the time, there’s little division between different generations of immigrants. Not all families celebrate, but many do. For these families, the changes to the traditional feast seldom face objection or resistance. Infusion and inclusion are accepted as the natural outcomes of immigration.

“Would it be better if we stayed in our villages and guarded the recipes of meals? Maybe,” says Mirriam. “But we didn’t. We are here now and this is our home.”

If you would like the actual recipe, you can watch it here on my YouTube.https://t.co/3UzQjZjP1D

— MirriamZary 🇦🇫 (@mirriam71) November 24, 2022

Dinner will be delayed a bit. We're working on it.https://t.co/2hS5BsNARm

— jeffreyw (@imjeffreyw) November 24, 2022

show full post on front page

Open Thread: Leftovers, the Best Part of ThanksgivingPost + Comments (102)