Southern hospitality and good food are at the center of every celebration in New Orleans. Whether it’s a birthday party, a baptism, a wedding, a holiday, or just a Tuesday in the city, you can bet your bottom dollar that both a good time and good food will be had! The rich traditions make each holiday truly special and memorable, year after year. Here in New Orleans, the food alone is a tradition in and of itself. If you’re hosting Thanksgiving this year, be sure to treat the seniors in your life to a nostalgic celebration by incorporating some of these local dishes into your menu.
Creole-Inspired Thanksgiving Feast
If you’re lucky enough to enjoy a Thanksgiving feast in New Orleans or the surrounding area, chances are you’ll need to grab a platter instead of a plate to serve your dinner. You have 364 days a year to practice healthy eating, but Thanksgiving is a day to splurge. Help your seniors get their stretchy pants ready, because they’re going to need them!
At the center of every meal, you’ll find the star of the show, the turkey. You can never go wrong with a traditional baked turkey, infused with Creole flavors, before being cooked and carved to perfection. However, don’t be surprised if a second or third turkey makes its way to the table. In New Orleans, where we live to eat, chances are the chef of the family would also like to put their own spin on the bird. Smoked turkeys, fried turkeys, and even Turduckens are all tasty variations that have become popular over the years.
But we are just getting started. While the turkey may take center stage, we know that everyone is actually most excited about the sides, with each person having a favorite that they can’t pass up. Here are a few traditional New Orleans dishes you should serve this year:
Oyster Dressing
In place of a traditional stuffing, New Orleanians have long enjoyed oyster dressing. This New Orleans staple is made by baking fresh Gulf oysters, French bread, the Holy Trinity, and Creole herbs and spices until they’re golden and crisp.
Shrimp Mirliton
Mirliton, a type of gourd, is hollowed out and stuffed with a mixture of shrimp, bread crumbs, fresh herbs, cheese, onions, and bell peppers to make this delectable dish. It offers the perfect Gulf flavor to the holiday table.
Dirty Rice
Here in New Orleans, the plain, white rice is reserved for the children and the picky eaters. There’s no better place to ladle the turkey gravy than on top of a heap of dirty rice. Sauteed onions, bell peppers, celery and creole seasonings are paired with ground meat (often made from chicken livers and gizzards) to create the base for this well-loved dish.
Sweet Potato Casserole
While this may be a common staple across the country, it’s done a bit differently here in New Orleans. This sweet dish is best finished off with a candied praline topping, made with butter, brown sugar, and pecans (that’s pronounced puh-cahns, not pee-cans). The crunchy, caramelized topping will remind you why you grabbed the platter instead of the plate.
Maque Choux (pronounced mock-shoe)
Beginning with the Holy Trinity, as most dishes here do, corn, tomatoes, Creole seasonings and butter and/or cream are then added before being cooked down to perfection. The finished product offers a savory, and slightly sweet, side dish to go along with the feast.
Green Bean Casserole
While this may be a familiar dish at the Thanksgiving table, Andouille sausage and/or tasso are often added to set it apart from the others. The smoky flavor, when paired with the green beans, cream sauce, crispy fried onions, and parmesan cheese, adds just a bit of lagniappe to make this a memorable dish.
Cornbread Dressing
Cornbread is a popular Southern alternative to the traditional bread dressing seen elsewhere. The sweet crumbled cornbread is the perfect base for this dish. As with most dishes, begin with your sauteed veggies and then add in some ground sausage. To kick it up a notch, replace the ground sausage with crawfish tails. Although it may not be crawfish season, they somehow always find their way to the table in New Orleans.
As if all of this is not enough, it’s not unusual for the meal to begin with a bowl of gumbo. Whether it’s chicken and sausage or seafood gumbo, it’s the perfect way to get the meal started. Pour an Old-Fashion or a Sazerac, pull up a chair, and let the good times roll while you enjoy your Creole feast and the Southern Hospitality that you can only find here in New Orleans. Happy Thanksgiving, y’all!