【大纪元2014年10月08日讯】秋天带来感恩节，在这个备受加拿大喜爱的传统节日里，全家人围着一桌美食欢聚一堂，共同庆祝丰收的喜悦。
先说说感恩节的由来。加拿大的感恩节与美国的有所不同，美国的感恩节是早期登陆者（第一批移民）为与土着们分享野生火鸡和玉米等食物的感恩。他们的感恩节是十一月的第三个星期四，这是一年中重要的家庭庆祝日，也是迎接圣诞节的序幕。
加拿大的感恩节是为庆丰收举行的盛宴，历史可追溯到旧时的欧洲习俗，为能有丰盛粮食收成以度冬季而感恩。据说加拿大（也是北美）的第一个感恩节是在1587年，探险家发现到现时的纽芬兰而感谢并庆祝。19世纪时感恩节还不是一个年度性的节日，而是作为重大事件的里程碑的不定期的庆典。一直到1879年才开始在每年的十月或十一月庆祝感恩节。1931年起感恩节便固定在每年十月的第二个星期一举行。（今年的感恩节是十月十三日。）
火鸡可是感恩节的传统主菜，通常配以收成到的南瓜、玉米等。今天用鸭子或素食火鸡（由豆腐制成）代替火鸡也很普遍。
从小到大，我们家的感恩节菜单就没怎么变过，我妈妈在曼尼托巴的农场长大，她做饭很好不过没太多花样，所以晚餐从来都是简单而传统的。主菜是一大只烤至金黄的火鸡，里面酿满香草面包馅料。配餐是我们家自制的蔓越莓果酱、土豆泥或甜马铃薯、少量肉汁、青豆，另外还有胡萝卜和红萝卜泥（来自我爸爸的英国传统）。在这样特别的日子，妈妈还会做松软可口的焗小白面包。假日聚餐时孩子们可以获准喝一小杯酒，可惜我们都不喜欢喝，兴趣也不大，总觉得酒是大人喜欢的口味。不过甜点就不一样了，加了淡奶油的南瓜派，是孩子们的至爱！一年才能吃到一次的美味，无论吃了几多，肚子里总有空位吃南瓜派。
直到今天，我家的感恩节晚餐几乎还是老样子，主菜仍是火鸡。不过我们改用“开边弄”的方法（除去脊骨后展成平平的一片）然后烧烤，这样一来，火鸡的里里外外都能烤到，烤好后的火鸡外脆里嫩，而且省了很多时间。我是烤火鸡的拥护者，因烧烤火鸡的任务是由酷爱烧烤的男士们负责的。
家里那张餐桌总会不断扩张，以便招待来访的亲朋友好。用小孩子们精心挑选的火红、橙色和金黄色的完美枫叶做装饰，简单而漂亮。
食物甫端上桌，宴会就开始了。通常会准备各式酒酿来满足不同人的口味。 由香槟至浓艳的红酒，都可以配火鸡。但带少许香辣味，用本地甜南瓜做的南瓜派，配一杯葡萄酒，便给感恩节大餐画上了完美的句号。
配酒：Black Sage Vineyard Pipe 2008
在葡萄牙，Pipe 是量酒容器，这枝名为Pipe的卑诗制造的“砵酒”配南瓜派是个不错的选择。（只有在葡萄牙制造的砵酒才可以称之为砵酒，所以名为Pipe）。由梅偌（Merlot），红苏维翁（Cabernet Sauvignon），卡法兰（Cabernet Franc）混合，在橡木桶里存3年，凝聚了咖啡、无花果、坚果和香兰草的芳泽，味道好极了。@
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Thanksgiving in Canada
By Judith Lane
Fall means Thanksgiving, one of Canada’s most beloved long-lived family celebrations. It is centered around food and family when loved ones join together to celebrate the harvest’s bounty.
But first a little bit about Thanksgiving and how it came to be. It is different from American thanksgiving which is based on America’s early settlers (the pilgrims) and the natives who shared indigenous foods like wild turkey and corn with them. Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, a major family celebration of the year and is a lead-in to Christmas, on the third Thursday in November.
Canada’s Thanksgiving celebrates the bounty of the harvest that grew out of ancient European festivities to give thanks for plentiful food for the winter. It’s thought that the first Canadian (and North American) Thanksgiving happened in 1578 when explorers discovered the now Newfoundland and feasted in thanks. In the 1800s, Thanksgiving happened occasionally to mark various milestones but it wasn’t until 1879 that it became an annual celebration in the Fall. Since 1931, Thanksgiving has been celebrated on the second Monday in October. (It’s October 13 this year.)
Turkey is traditional centerpiece of the holiday feast along with other harvest foods like squash and corn. Today, alternatives to turkey like duck or vegetarian tofurkey (made with tofu) are common.
Growing up, my family’s Thanksgiving menu didn’t change much. My mother, who was raised on a farm in Manitoba, was a good but plain cook and our dinner was simple and traditional. The centerpiece was a glorious big turkey roasted to golden perfection and stuffed with a fragrant herbed bread stuffing. It was served with homemade cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes, a small ocean of gravy, green beans, and mashed turnips and carrots (a tradition from my father’s English family). My mother baked wonderful soft fluffy white buns for special occasions like this. Kids were given a small glass of wine at holiday meals which none of us liked very much. None of us cared for wine but we learned about it and decided it must be for adult tastes. Dessert was a very different story. Pumpkin pie! With whipped cream. No matter how much we’d eaten, there was always room for this once-a-year treat.
Today, my family’s Thanksgiving dinner is almost the same. It’s still centered around the turkey but we now spatchcock the bird (this means to remove the backbone and flatten it) and grill it on the barbecue. The turkey cooks much quicker and more evenly. The skin is crisp and the meat moist. I’m a big fan of this method since grilling falls to the man of the house who loves to barbecue.
Our always-expanding table is filled with whatever family is visiting and assortment of good friends. The table is decorated simply with beautiful red, orange and gold maple leaves that children have carefully gathered, choosing the most perfect ones they can find.
Once the food is served, the feasting begins. There is always an assortment of wines to please everyone’s palate. Champagne or sparkling wine is great to drink throughout the meal while other wines include Riesling, rosés, and bold fruity reds like certain Pinot Noirs, Merlot and Shiraz that pair well. Turkey is very wine-friendly and the best match of all is to drink a wine that you like.
Pumpkin pie–lightly spicy and made from local sugar pumpkins–and a glass of Port are a perfect finish to this celebratory meal.
Wine pairing: Black Sage Vineyard Pipe 2008
Port or a port-style wine like this BC-made fortified wine is an ideal match pumpkin pie. (Only Port made in Portugal can be called Port.) Made from a blend of merlot, cabernet sauvignon, and cabernet franc, Pipe is aged for three years in neutral oak barrels. With hints coffee, figs, nuts and vanilla, Pipe pairs deliciously with pumpkin pie.
