SC - Thanksgiving food

[Vincent Cuenca]

Ours was not so memorable, in that the food was prepared by a local grocery 
store.  :(  It was tasty enough, I guess, but not up to standards.

There is a reason for this sacrilege; Thanksgiving was being held at my 
parents' house, and my uncle and his family were coming up from Springfield, 
MO to St. Louis, and my sister was coming in from New York, and nobody had 
time to cook.  In fact, my uncle specifically requested that we not cook, 
since they had to be back in Springfield that day.  (BTW, it's a three-hour 
drive each way.)  My mother is somewhat fumble-fingered in the kitchen, and 
I had no time to execute the major holiday orgy I usually do.  We got all 
the usual sides and trimmings and so forth; I won't bore you with them since 
they weren't homemade anyway.  The large amount of wine consumed made things 
pleasant anyway.

The real memorable food came in the days afterward.  My sister lives in New 
York, and so I see her maybe once or twice a year.  My fiancee and I joined 
my sister and father at his house for dinner a couple times that weekend.  
These family gatherings give my father a reason to do two things:

1. Buy wine.  Lots and lots of wine.
2. Make patacones, yuca sancochada, and all sorts of other Colombian goodies 
that he doesn't ordinarily eat otherwise.

For the unenlightened: patacones are also known as tostones, and they're 
twice-fried plantains.  Take a plantain (basically a banana on steroids; 
starchier and denser than regular bananas), cut off the skin with a knife, 
and slice it into pieces an inch long.  Fry in oil until golden, then crush 
flat with the bottom of a glass.  You should have rounds about 2" in 
diameter.  Fry again, then salt generously and eat.  I had to fight my 
sister and fiancee for some, as I was stuck with frying duties and my diet 
does not allow for nibbling between meals.
Yuca is the root of the cassava plant (I think), and in its raw state is 
suitable for hand-to-hand combat.  A sancocho is a monumental Colombian 
version of the one-pot meal; the various meats and vegetables are wrapped in 
cheesecloth and stewed slowly in broth for hours.  Yuca sancochada is 
therefore stewed yuca.  The texture when cooked is rather sort of like a 
crumbly potato, and it's quite yummy.

The focus of the meal was on starches and legumes and alcohol; there was 
meat there, but it wasn't nearly as important or coveted as the last 
spoonful of rice and beans or the last fried plantain.  (I think I may make 
these for Christmas dinner.)  We rolled home stuffed and tipsy, belching 
happy patacones belches.  :)

We'll see how Christmas dinner goes; with luck I'll be able to do one of my 
fancy gourmet blowouts.

Vicente
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