Parisian Turkey Day
Certainly, the hardest part about celebrating Thanksgiving in Paris is that….well it isn’t Thanksgiving. It’s just another Thursday with Parisians going about their business of living a regular work day. No Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade to watch for hours on end, culminating with Santa coming to town. No smells of turkey roasting and stuffing stuffing and sweet potatoes being all sweet with gooey marshmallow topping. No endless football to watch as the males in the group lay on the sofa, struggling to get comfortable after to much stuffing and sweet potatoes and sleep inducing turkey and most likely, several beers. Some of us need to add to this mix certain crazy family dynamics that can spin out of control for no reason leaving behind an even bigger mess to clean up. Ah, I do believe the holiday season is upon us!!
If you find yourself in Paris missing out on all the aforementioned fun, there are a few ways you can get yourself some Thanksgiving action.
Those of you who have a “kitchen”, tiny as they may be here in Paris, recreating Thanksgiving dinner is an option. The good folks at The Real McCoy (map) makes the claim that they stock the largest selection of US foods in Europe! Having nothing else to compare it to, I would say that they certainly come close. You can find all the goodies that one gets an incredible hankering for when one can’t have it like Jif peanut butter and mayonnaise and marshmallows and Hershey’s chocolate. I even think they have graham crackers so we Americans can indulge in a little s’mores goodness! Once the holidays roll around, they stock up on items that we yearn for to recreate our own French version of Thanksgiving. The one thing they don’t have are the turkeys. Which are hard to come by and expensive when you do. They have turkey cutlets in the meat departments–look for “dinde”–that could be creatively made into something fun. Otherwise, you may have to serve up a Thanksgiving chicken. That would certainly be a good story to tell!
Certainly your best bet for a home cooked meal would be Thanksgiving (map); a shop on rue Saint Paul in the Marais that not only sells all the fixings for the inspired chef but will cater an entire Thanksgiving meal for you. They have small turkeys and rolled turkey roasts available. And cornbread stuffing and cranberries and pumpkin pie. Wow! Who needs crazy family antics when you can escape to Paris and still raise your glass to the Pilgrims in thanks.
For those of you less domestic types, going OUT for dinner would be a wonderful solution. Bistrot Le Saint Martin (map)in the 1oth has prepared a Thanksgiving meal being served from Thursday thru Saturday featuring a traditional menu for 30€/per person. Just think, three days of Thanksgiving! Sort of like eating left overs all weekend only better.
Last but not least, if all else fails and for one year you can do without turkey and all the trimmings, I would suggest the obvious….give yourself the royal treatment at one of Paris’s best restaurants and make that the Thanksgiving story you tell for years to come.
Additional information:
Photo credit: PDX Pipeline@flickr
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Thanksgiving is an expat grocer with €9 boxes of Graham Crackers, €5 bags
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