23 November 2010
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For Alia Al-Kasimi, founder of the website Cooking with Alia and author of Moroccan Cooking the Easy Way, Thanksgiving is the best American holiday for fusing food between cultures. In fact, she dedicates recipes to doing just that on her website.
This year, Al-Kasimi is adding another dish that combines American and Moroccan ingredients to her website to mark the Thanksgiving holiday.
“I am making a pumpkin pie, but with a Moroccan twist by adding saffron, orange blossom water and honey to the pumpkin filling,” Al-Kasimi said. The zesty pumpkin pie recipe joins others already on her site, like sweet potato salad with raisins and turkey with almonds and apricots.
Al-Kasimi likes the fact that in America, life seemingly comes to a standstill for family and friends to spend time together over a home-cooked meal.
“It reminds me of the Arab culture where people are gathered around the table — the food is so important,” she said. “I think it is one of the most important culinary feasts of American culture, and I feel connected to it because of that.”
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