A traditional Thanksgiving Dinner in Wroclaw?

I have not been to an American Thanksgiving aka Turkey Holocaust day for many years. Where can one find a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner in Wroclaw?

Are you talking in terms of restaurants? The only american themed restaurants in Wrocław serve burgers and steaks from what I know ; o

You'd have to make it from scratch yourself, or get invited to an American home that's keeping up the tradition. Fortunately, all of the ingredients are available in larger cities in Poland. Even sweet potatoes. European cranberries are a lot smaller than American ones, but the taste is the same. Actually, it's easier to find good pie pumpkins in Poland than in the States. The biggest problem is trying to fit a large turkey into a small European oven. Did it once when I was studying in Germany, but it was a very tight fit.

Another problem you'll run into is that most Poles detest the taste of sage. With an unquenchable passion. So if you're having Polish guests over, leave out the sage. They have no problem with the rest of the foods, though. They might think pumpkin pie and sweet potatoes with maple syrup sounds strange, but they love them once they taste them.

This year, I'm roasting a whole turkey (in my friend's professional kitchen) with chestnut stuffing, and serving it with New England clam chowder, Waldorf salad, homemade cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes with maple syrup and REAL AMERICAN black walnuts (by chance, there is a REAL AMERICAN black walnut tree growing near where I live; how it got here is anyone's guess), succotash, corn on the cob, mashed potatoes (actually the hardest to make, because good potatoes are a real beech to find, at least here in Wrocław; I have to order the variety called "Bryza"; the regular varieties are extremely bland and watery to the point that they're inedible), sweet yellow Yankee cornbread with lots of butter, cream and eggs, pumpkin pie, baked apples a la mode, apple cider (there is a Polish product that is similar to the American one; takes connections, but it can be done) and eggnog.

What is this? I remember watching an episode of Family Guy and it was mentioned, but...what is it?

Feeding five thousand by the sounds of it !
I wish you the best of luck bringing that all together at the same time ... There is always a point in the middle of my Christmas dinner adventure when I could really do with a little fold in the space-time continuum to help me keep everything hot.


It's medicinal here. Once you've got used to sucking sage pastilles for a sore throat it's difficult enjoying that same taste with a mouthful of food ...


Yes, they are. I bought some Tesco 'Red Lady" recently and they weren't bad ... but nothing of the taste and texture of a well cooked "British Queen" (thompson-morgan.com/vegetables/potatoes/second-early/ potato-british-queen/zww5035TM .... link provided as that phrase is semantically dodgy ...). Perhaps I should grow them myself ....

What stores were you able to find these products in? I am from the US living in Wroclaw and I would like to make dinner for my friends, but I have no idea where to find American food.

Except for the black walnuts, the ingredients for making a full-blown Thanksgiving dinner from scratch are all available in Poland, or there are very good substitutes available, like European cranberries for American cranberries. The one thing that is hard to get is molasses. In fact, you can probably pick up just about everything in Hala Targowa, including the turkey and the sweet potatoes.

As far as the black walnuts are concerned, I lucked out. There is a tree growing near my place that someone planted as an ornamental.

Hahaha! I'm stealing this.

its a soup sunshine:)

Oh, if only there some encyclopedia type thing on the internet! If there were, you coud look it up

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clam_chowder

DominicB
Please share this magical cider connection!

I too am making full blown t-giving dinner, but for the first time in a while for only a handful of people. 3 years ago I made it for 27 people, it was hell.

Turkey, stuffing, gravy, green bean casserole, cream cheese mashed potatoes, cranberry relish, pumpkin pie, dutch apple pie, pecan pie and a crustless cranberry pie. But I am waiting until next month to do it.

I have a friend who knows a guy with an orchard who makes it. But you can make apple cider yourself very easily with an ordinary juice machine and Lobo apples, which are easy enough to find. Most fruit stands have them. Lobo is a MacIntosh hybrid that is ideal for cider making- pleasantly tart. After extracting the juice, let it sit overnight at cellar temperature to ferment slightly, then either chill or served warm with spices. Make sure you use Lobo's. If you use a different variety, the taste can be rather bland. Also be sure to let it sit overnight so that it ferments just a little and gets a little carbonated. Greatly improves the taste.

Also, you can buy a similar product at the Targ Ekologiczny that is now on Nowy Targ in the Old Town in Wrocław. A bit pricey, though.

Thank you! I have looked into making my own but was under the impession that I had to use a press. I will try this! I wonder if I could can it, or freeze it?

Actually, a juice machine is a press. The only difference is the nature of the force applied.


Can it? Probably not. Unless you're going to serve it warm after you thaw it. Apple cider freezes very well. Just leave about 10% headspace in the jug for expansion.

I was wondering about this too, but figured there was no way I would find a restaurant in Wrocław that had Thanksgiving food, and I'm too poor of a cook to try cooking something I've never cooked before even in its native country. I just ate some rice. :(

Actually, a pretty wise move. Start small and gradually develop your skills. A full-blown Thanksgiving dinner is a pretty hectic affair for an experienced cook who knows what they're doing.


Sadly, for too many people on this earth, a simple bowl of rice is a feast they can only dream of. More reason for us to be thankful.