11.26.2004
Turkey Is Basic, but Immigrants Add Their Homeland Touches (NYTimes.com)
NZDems: Tell us about the special touches you added to make your Kiwi Thanksgiving special ... (Click on Comment, below)
By KIM SEVERSON
Published: November 25, 2004
PATERSON, N.J. - For all those struggling to get Thanksgiving dinner on the table, consider the plight of Yaser Baker, a restaurateur in this city's Arabic shopping district.
First Mr. Baker had to find a turkey that was slaughtered according to Islamic dietary law, a challenge because some local halal butchers decided not to sell turkeys this year. Then he had to adapt the traditional American recipe to Arabic tastes, which meant bathing it in lemon and olive oil and stuffing it with rice, beef and pine nuts.
Finally he had to brace for reaction from his Muslim neighbors, some of whom are either too devout or too upset about the war in Iraq even to acknowledge Thanksgiving.
But for Mr. Baker, Thanksgiving is all about the bird.
(More ... The New York Times > National > Turkey Is Basic, but Immigrants Add Their Homeland Touches) ¶ 08:04
By KIM SEVERSON
Published: November 25, 2004
PATERSON, N.J. - For all those struggling to get Thanksgiving dinner on the table, consider the plight of Yaser Baker, a restaurateur in this city's Arabic shopping district.
First Mr. Baker had to find a turkey that was slaughtered according to Islamic dietary law, a challenge because some local halal butchers decided not to sell turkeys this year. Then he had to adapt the traditional American recipe to Arabic tastes, which meant bathing it in lemon and olive oil and stuffing it with rice, beef and pine nuts.
Finally he had to brace for reaction from his Muslim neighbors, some of whom are either too devout or too upset about the war in Iraq even to acknowledge Thanksgiving.
But for Mr. Baker, Thanksgiving is all about the bird.
(More ... The New York Times > National > Turkey Is Basic, but Immigrants Add Their Homeland Touches) ¶ 08:04
