From movies or series like Friends, we know all too well what Thanksgiving Day is; a family gathering that for Americans is even more important than Christmas. We know that it always falls on a Thursday, that it is celebrated before Christmas and that the star of the dinner is turkey. But what exactly is Thanksgiving?
In our non-alcoholic drinks shop you have all the options to enjoy an alcohol-free Thanksgiving.
Non-alcoholic drinks for Thanksgiving
Among the alcohol-free drinks, for the Thanksgiving lunch or dinner, non-alcoholic wines cannot be missing; both non-alcoholic white wine and non-alcoholic red wine pair very well with turkey.
For the appetizer before the turkey, we recommend non-alcoholic beers and alcohol-free vermouths. Non-alcoholic craft beers are very trendy this year. To finish, you can toast with non-alcoholic sparkling wine and have a good cocktail with our alcohol-free spirits. As you can see, you don’t have to give up variety or flavor when you don’t want to drink alcohol.
History
Thanksgiving was originally a day of express gratitude for the harvest and for the previous year. Similar end-of-year festivities are celebrated in Germany, Switzerland and Japan.
Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States, and on the second Monday of October in Canada. Therefore, this year it is 24th November for Americans and was 10th October for Canadians. Although Thanksgiving has historical roots in religious and cultural traditions, it is now also a festivity without any religious overtones.
In the United States, the modern tradition of Thanksgiving has its origins in 1623 in a celebration in Plymouth, in the present-day state of Massachusetts. There is also evidence that Spanish settlers in Texas held celebrations on the mainland earlier in 1598, and thanksgiving feasts in the colony of Virginia.
The feast in 1621 was held thanking God for a good harvest. In later years, the tradition continued with civic leaders such as Governor William Bradford, who planned to celebrate the day and help in 1623. Since the Plymouth Colony initially did not have enough food to feed the 102 settlers, the native Wampanoag tribe lent a hand. They helped the Pilgrims by giving them seeds and teaching them how to fish. However, the practice of holding such a harvest feast did not become a tradition in New England until the late 1660s.
The traditional turkey
The traditional main course for dinner is a large roast or baked turkey, accompanied by a stuffing made of cornbread and sage. It is traditionally served with a cranberry jelly, garnished with green beans, and sweet potato and mashed potatoes with gravy made from the juice of the roasting turkey. A variety of desserts are also served, with pumpkin pie being the most popular.
What do you drink at Thanksgiving?
Thanksgiving is traditionally a non-alcoholic celebration. Thanksgiving punch is a drink based on apple cider, mineral orange juice and grape juice, accompanied by fresh orange slices and cranberries. A good non-alcoholic drink suggestion is to replace the cider with a good sparkling white wine, such as Pierre Zéro Signature Chardonnay, which is very aromatic and fruity. According to Gastrolab magazine, of the seven most consumed drinks at Thanksgiving, two are non-alcoholic: Asam tea with milk and coffee. In addition to punch, which can easily be replaced by a good non-alcoholic sparkling wine, alcohol-free beer and alcohol-free wine are the best alternative to enjoy a non-alcoholic Thanksgiving dinner.
