How to create an authentic Thanksgiving in Italy
For many Americans, the fourth Thursday in November – aka Thanksgiving – is the most important holiday in their cultural calendar.
And while Americans living in Italy may be far from home, that won’t stop them celebrating – even if they don’t get a public holiday like they do back home and have to miss out on watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and American football on TV.
Each year, Americans in Italy gather to devour the traditional turkey with cranberry sauce and take advantage of their adopted home by sinking a few glasses of Italian wine.
Those who don't want to put a lot of effort into the holiday have the option of booking a table at a restaurant (there are usually a few across Italy's major cities) hosting a Thanksgiving meal.
But anyone who wants to make their own dinner at home will need to track down certain hard-to-find ingredients that are essential to an American Thanksgiving.
READ ALSO: 17 ways your eating and drinking habits change when you live in Italy
Photo Element5 Digital/Unsplash
People who live in small towns and villages will likely have trouble securing items like Ocean Spray cranberry sauce and Stouffer’s Stuffing, and you may have to settle for a large chicken over a turkey.
But the good news is that it isn’t hard in Italy to source the ingredients you’ll need to make homemade traditional stuffing (which mainly consists of bread, onions, celery, and various herbs) and cranberry sauce from scratch.
Cranberries, or mirtilli rossi, don’t grow in Italy, but some shops sell them dried, and there are plenty of recipes online that explain how to make a sauce by rehydrating dried cranberries.
Otherwise, cranberry sauce can be found at some major chain supermarkets in Italy like Esselunga. If you prefer to start with fresh ingredients, red currents, or ribes, are a decent substitute, and can be found in a number of food stores across the country.
Life in Italy: ‘How our shopping habits have changed since we moved from the US’
It’s also possible to locate pumpkins and sweet potatoes in some markets and grocery stores across Italy, if you’re up to the challenge of making a pie from scratch.
In that case, Milan-based blog Doing Italy recommends the 'La delica mantovana' pumpkin variety for making pie: "a ‘short’ pumpkin with a deep green crust (sometimes with a few white stripes) and bright orange pulp. If not, butternut squash will do, and that’s getting easier to find at organic supermarkets and things of that nature."
Buying a turkey requires a bit of research. You’ll need to start by finding a butcher that specialises in poultry, either by searching online or by word of mouth, and get your order in early to make sure they have time to source your turkey.
READ ALSO: 15 things you’ll probably never get used to about living in Italy
Those who live in a big Italian city are likely to have better luck than countryside-dwellers when it comes to sourcing imported ingredients.
In Rome, the small delicatessen chain Castroni stocks most items you might want for an American Thanksgiving, including stuffing mix, pumpkin puree, and pecans. They have several stores across the city, including in Prati, Trastevere, and off Via del Corso in the city centre.
Drogheria Innocenzi in Trastevere is also recommended as a destination for those looking for imported American Thanksgiving ingredients.
And small but mighty, the tiny Emporio delle Spezie or Spice Emporium in Testaccio stocks pecans year-round, as well as almost any spice you can think of and some other imported food products.
Photo: Keighla Exum/Unsplash
In central Milan, the specialist store American Crunch is recommended by Doing Italy, which writes that it sells "all that ‘traditonal’ American stuff to make your homesick self cry with joy. You’ll find Crisco and Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup and even marshmallows." It also accepts orders online and can deliver to any part of the country.
Milan residents also recommend Mercato Comunale Wagner for Thanksgiving and Christmas treats, and you can even source a turkey here (though you will need to order in advance).
READ ALSO: Where can you celebrate Thanksgiving in Italy this year?
Readers in Florence have told us they've had success buying turkey from the Mercato di Sant'Ambrogio, and have seen Ocean Spray cranberry sauce sold at Enoteca Alessi.
And let’s not forget about the decorations.
Getting hold of those may be even more difficult than sourcing some of the more traditional foodstuffs but there are lots of websites with ideas for how to make them at home – and if you have kids, no doubt they’d love to get involved in this side of the preparations.
If after reading this, you think going the whole hog and creating a traditional Thanksgiving in Italy is just too much effort, you could always keep the most important elements – gathering loved ones together for food and drink – and ditch the turkey.
And as mentioned above, another option could be to book a table at a restaurant with a Thanksgiving menu - these are rare in Italy and limited to bigger cities, but examples of spots that usually put on a meal are the Ristorante Accademia in Florence, and the Hard Rock Cafe in cities across the country including Rome, Venice or Florence.
However you plan to celebrate it, Happy Thanksgiving from The Local.
Do you have any recommendations for sourcing ingredients for a Thanksgiving dinner in Italy? Please leave a comment below to share them with other readers.
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And while Americans living in Italy may be far from home, that won’t stop them celebrating – even if they don’t get a public holiday like they do back home and have to miss out on watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and American football on TV.
Each year, Americans in Italy gather to devour the traditional turkey with cranberry sauce and take advantage of their adopted home by sinking a few glasses of Italian wine.
Those who don't want to put a lot of effort into the holiday have the option of booking a table at a restaurant (there are usually a few across Italy's major cities) hosting a Thanksgiving meal.
But anyone who wants to make their own dinner at home will need to track down certain hard-to-find ingredients that are essential to an American Thanksgiving.
READ ALSO: 17 ways your eating and drinking habits change when you live in Italy
Photo Element5 Digital/Unsplash
People who live in small towns and villages will likely have trouble securing items like Ocean Spray cranberry sauce and Stouffer’s Stuffing, and you may have to settle for a large chicken over a turkey.
But the good news is that it isn’t hard in Italy to source the ingredients you’ll need to make homemade traditional stuffing (which mainly consists of bread, onions, celery, and various herbs) and cranberry sauce from scratch.
Cranberries, or mirtilli rossi, don’t grow in Italy, but some shops sell them dried, and there are plenty of recipes online that explain how to make a sauce by rehydrating dried cranberries.
Otherwise, cranberry sauce can be found at some major chain supermarkets in Italy like Esselunga. If you prefer to start with fresh ingredients, red currents, or ribes, are a decent substitute, and can be found in a number of food stores across the country.
Life in Italy: ‘How our shopping habits have changed since we moved from the US’
It’s also possible to locate pumpkins and sweet potatoes in some markets and grocery stores across Italy, if you’re up to the challenge of making a pie from scratch.
In that case, Milan-based blog Doing Italy recommends the 'La delica mantovana' pumpkin variety for making pie: "a ‘short’ pumpkin with a deep green crust (sometimes with a few white stripes) and bright orange pulp. If not, butternut squash will do, and that’s getting easier to find at organic supermarkets and things of that nature."
Buying a turkey requires a bit of research. You’ll need to start by finding a butcher that specialises in poultry, either by searching online or by word of mouth, and get your order in early to make sure they have time to source your turkey.
READ ALSO: 15 things you’ll probably never get used to about living in Italy
Those who live in a big Italian city are likely to have better luck than countryside-dwellers when it comes to sourcing imported ingredients.
In Rome, the small delicatessen chain Castroni stocks most items you might want for an American Thanksgiving, including stuffing mix, pumpkin puree, and pecans. They have several stores across the city, including in Prati, Trastevere, and off Via del Corso in the city centre.
Drogheria Innocenzi in Trastevere is also recommended as a destination for those looking for imported American Thanksgiving ingredients.
And small but mighty, the tiny Emporio delle Spezie or Spice Emporium in Testaccio stocks pecans year-round, as well as almost any spice you can think of and some other imported food products.
Photo: Keighla Exum/Unsplash
In central Milan, the specialist store American Crunch is recommended by Doing Italy, which writes that it sells "all that ‘traditonal’ American stuff to make your homesick self cry with joy. You’ll find Crisco and Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup and even marshmallows." It also accepts orders online and can deliver to any part of the country.
Milan residents also recommend Mercato Comunale Wagner for Thanksgiving and Christmas treats, and you can even source a turkey here (though you will need to order in advance).
READ ALSO: Where can you celebrate Thanksgiving in Italy this year?
Readers in Florence have told us they've had success buying turkey from the Mercato di Sant'Ambrogio, and have seen Ocean Spray cranberry sauce sold at Enoteca Alessi.
And let’s not forget about the decorations.
Getting hold of those may be even more difficult than sourcing some of the more traditional foodstuffs but there are lots of websites with ideas for how to make them at home – and if you have kids, no doubt they’d love to get involved in this side of the preparations.
If after reading this, you think going the whole hog and creating a traditional Thanksgiving in Italy is just too much effort, you could always keep the most important elements – gathering loved ones together for food and drink – and ditch the turkey.
And as mentioned above, another option could be to book a table at a restaurant with a Thanksgiving menu - these are rare in Italy and limited to bigger cities, but examples of spots that usually put on a meal are the Ristorante Accademia in Florence, and the Hard Rock Cafe in cities across the country including Rome, Venice or Florence.
However you plan to celebrate it, Happy Thanksgiving from The Local.
Do you have any recommendations for sourcing ingredients for a Thanksgiving dinner in Italy? Please leave a comment below to share them with other readers.
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