It’s that time of year again. If you were in the United States right now, you wouldn’t miss a beat in knowing what I was talking about. Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Although this great American tradition is not celebrated in Germany, expats and their friends gather and have learned how to search and seek in order to create feasts in the new Heimat just like they would have back home. If you’ve joined an expat group or community of some sort, there’s usually an organized potluck. Since I’ve been in Germany, there have been years when I’ve celebrated multiple times (up to three) in a year to none at all. In addition to participating in the potlucks, I’ve hosted and invited others including all of my husband’s department colleagues one year and my German in-laws another.
In an effort to replicate the family feast, questions arise as to “where can you get … in Germany”? Access to ingredients have changed over the last decade and availability of certain foods also depend on regions, but with some planning you shouldn’t have any problem checking off everything on your Thanksgiving shopping list in Germany these days. Otherwise, it might be time to improvise and introduce a new tradition in your new home.
With some planning, a traditional US Thanksgiving can be replicated in Germany. PHOTO: Jane Park
First things first: where to source the turkey. At the request of an American friend, I once bought a frozen Butterball turkey at the army base in Stuttgart for our potluck. It was incredibly cheap. My first year in Germany though, I ordered a bronze turkey from my local poultry stand at my local market since my husband had just read an article about them in the FAZ. It was incredibly expensive, but it was really good. From then on though my tradition, while I was still living in southern Germany, became ordering an organic turkey from this stand. The only catch was that they couldn’t always guarantee the size I wanted. One year the bird was almost two kilos bigger than what I had wanted and and the other option was nearly two kilos smaller. And before you start grabbing for the bigger bird, don’t forget that standard German ovens are smaller than American ones. (Note: extra large ovens exist should you be purchasing a new kitchen and wish to design it around your Thanksgiving turkey. And yes, a friend has done this.)
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I’ve been living in Germany for 4 years now, three of which I’m spent teaching first year students at a private university in Cologne. More than anything else, this experience has taught me humility; I realize now just how thankful I should be that I’m not 19 anymore. Teaching at the university has given me the opportunity to speak to thousands of kids, most of whom exhibit a curiosity bordering on incredulity when I tell them I’m from Chicago, a reaction that I still can’t really understand. More often than not, their general interest in my background sparks a conversation about our two countries, the most interesting parts of which relate to how my students see themselves and their country.
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