Pinoy Thanksgiving: A social media cause célébre

BUSINESS

Why not adopt and then adapt the Thanksgiving holiday to complement the Filipinos’ unique customs and traditions? Why roast a turkey when the roasted pig is the native delicacy?

"Maybe they think the Philippines is a colony of America," ventured a friend with a fake profile picture.

Yes, Pinoy Thanksgiving has become some sort of a cause célébre in the social media, ever since some of our kababayans started celebrating the American holiday in the Philippines.

Some argue that it's unique to America. Others counter that it's for everyone. A fringe group thinks it is part of a secret cabal to steal the election, er, the turkey.

Indeed, there is nothing wrong with celebrating Thanksgiving, even outside the realm of Uncle Sam's vast territory. Why? Because everyone is entitled to celebrate one's good graces and bountiful blessings, whenever and wherever this may be, what better way to express one's gratitude than by preparing and savoring sumptuous meals in the company of loved ones?

Moreover, despite the unique immigration foundation of the original Thanksgiving celebration, the fact remains that it is basically a grand feast affair in which food is front and center — with roasted turkey as the main attraction.

Unfortunately, therein lies another slice (pardon the pun) of the turkey holiday controversy that adds even more fuel to the already raging social media fire.

While it is true that turkey has long been a kitchen staple in American households during celebratory gatherings, the Filipinos have never been known to be a race of turkey-eating people. Birds, perhaps, or even ducks, but long-necked fowls with droopy snoods and reddish wattles have never been a gustatory favorite of America's brown siblings in the Orient.

Thus, every time a kababayan whips up a turkey dish to prep up a Thanksgiving meal in the Philippines, he/she ineluctably exposes himself/herself to a barrage of criticisms, if not outright pillory, for exhibiting a colonial, even imitative, mentality, and perhaps justifiably so. Why? Because there's no real reason to cook or roast a turkey in a Philippine dining setting, except perhaps to imitate the celebratory customs of the Americans.

Why not roast or fry a chicken instead, critics would argue, when it is more palatable to the unique Chinese/Spanish combo taste of the Filipinos? Or better yet, why not serve lechon de leche or roasted pig to make the occasion more historically apt?

Indeed, part of every Pinoy's childhood memories during special occasions is gawking, with
mouth-watering longing and gusto, at the crisp, aureate-brown skin of a slow-roasted native hog or lechon pompously displayed in the center of the table like a golden Pompon opus magnum.

Why not adopt and then adapt the Thanksgiving holiday to complement the Filipinos' unique customs and traditions? Why roast a turkey when the roasted pig is the native delicacy?

Who knows, perhaps those
so-called "critics" will clam up or at least back off a jot when they start to see the venerable lechon headlining the Filipinos' Thanksgiving menu instead of the warty-headed fowl, considering that the practice itself of giving thanks or celebrating one's blessings is a universal phenomenon not exclusive to the Americans.

If and when that happens, perhaps the social media colloquy will no longer feel like a Taliban war zone, in which case anybody, wherever one may be, can unabashedly utter the words.