“Older” dishes deserve a place at the table
Caramelized, delicious sweet potatoes crowned with crispy golden marshmallows. Creamy, comforting green bean casserole. Nutty, sugary pecan pie. Who knew these scrumptious, traditional Thanksgiving staples could spark such intense culinary discourse?
But these sides and desserts, the same ones people jokingly claim are only eaten by the “founders of the adult table,” have more than earned their rightful place at the Thanksgiving feast.
Since when did old become synonymous with unworthy? Whether you personally hate or love this genre, a dish doesn’t stick around for multiple generations by accident.
These recipes deliver something far deeper than flavor alone — they offer nostalgia and comfort, a traditional sense that neatly ties one holiday season to the next. Whether you personally love or hate these dishes, their recurring presence says enough; they matter.
Thanksgiving isn’t the time to exile old cuisine and curate a menu of the trendiest foods and palates. It’s a family table, often chaotic yet always meaningful, and every dish on it carries a story.
Your grandma’s green bean casserole? Even if you wouldn’t touch it with a 10 foot pole, I can guarantee someone else at that table has been yearning to dig their fork into the first creamy scoop. That sweet potato casserole you swear tastes like canned baby food? It might be the dish someone is looking forward to all year round.
If anything, these “outdated” recipes deserve a heavy dosage of respect, not to be tossed to the side. The culinary traditions have earned their spot through decades of shared meals, memories, and stories passed from one kitchen to the next. This Thanksgiving, don’t fight that homemade pecan pie; let the classics shine. Keep the old dishes, sometimes, old is exactly what makes the holiday feel like home.
Don’t force down “outdated” dishes
Come dinner time on Thanksgiving day, there’s always that one family member who will bring out those old dishes almost no one touches. The green bean casserole, the creamed corn, the sweet potato puree, and the pecan pie. It seems as time goes on, less people are at the edges of their seats salivating over these dishes.
Purely thinking out of the context of sentimentality and tradition, some food is just out of style. I mean, honestly, when was the last time you heard a young person say their favorite pie is pecan?
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When setting up a Friendsgiving or being the one to finally host your family’s, if the dishes aren’t eaten, don’t force them to stick around.
You don’t have to subtract them if you like them — all the more power to you if you do — but so often in my own family I see someone make one of these oldtimers just for it to be picked at like a dead carcass.
Presentation is one of the factors I think is sorrowfully misused. The look of the dish alone can instantly improve how appetizing it is. For example, which sounds better? The sweet potato puree with marshmallow meringue toasted on top, or a few marshmallows just thrown on there.
It isn’t always plainly the food itself. But sorry to say, if the green bean casserole looks sad, then I’ll feel sad trying to eat it.
The elders in the family might love them, but at my Friendsgiving, there won’t be an incessant need for creamed corn.