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Recently while getting my nails done, I had a chance to catch up with Cindy, the Vietnamese owner of the salon, about her Thanksgiving plans. As a first generation immigrant, I had imagined that if she and her family celebrated Thanksgiving it might involve a lemongrass and kaffir lime scented roast turkey with sticky rice instead of potatoes and perhaps a fiery chili and green bean stir-fry all served up with a side of fish sauce.
No, I was informed that her kids love Thanksgiving and as such she has made an effort for the last ten years that she has lived in my town to do Thanksgiving the good old-fashioned American way: roast turkey, mashed potatoes, and all the trimmings.
She admitted that when she and her family first began celebrating Thanksgiving she hadn’t the slightest clue how to roast a turkey. Even now with years of experience roasting the large bird, it is the one time of year they eat turkey in her house. But it is important to her kids, so she has gone out of her way to master what is surely the most American of traditions.
The first year her family did Thanksgiving, Cindy turned to her older clients at the nail salon seeking their culinary expertise. She gathered recipes from each of them that she studied in her attempt to recreate this American holiday for her kids. One woman insisted that she cook the bird in the bag as there is nothing worse than a dry turkey and the bag was a sure-fire way to insure a juicy bird. She says she no longer needs to cook the bird in the bag as she now believes she has mastered the practice of turkey roasting. All these years later, even though two of those wise women who shared their knowledge have since passed away, she hangs on to all the recipes and brings them out every year as she makes Thanksgiving part of her own family’s history.
As this is a country made up of immigrants (with the exception of Native Americans), at one point in time every American family has been faced with adapting their own cultural traditions to Thanksgiving, the quintessential American feast. As the domesticated turkey is native to North America and not found widely outside of the continent, the prospect of any newly immigrated family having previous experience roasting the bird is pretty slim. While Cindy turned to the experience of those seasoned home cooks who could guide her down a traditional turkey path, other newly immigrated families might choose to interpret the turkey tradition with their own cultural twist.
Just as I secretly hoped that Cindy’s interpretation of Thanksgiving would involve a fusion of her birth country’s distinct flavorings, many other immigrant families do choose to add their own cultural flair to the traditional turkey roast. Take for instance my friend who spends each Thanksgiving with her boyfriend and his Nicaraguan family. There is turkey in the Thanksgiving spread for sure, but their Nicaraguan take on bird is stewed in a sweet sauce and served with rice instead of potatoes.
For immigrants from Southeast Asian countries where meat is often cut into bite-sized pieces, small enough to pick up with chopsticks, before being cooked quickly over a high flame, roasting a large bird can seem like a foreign concept. To incorporate a bit of both worlds, I could see piecing a turkey into legs and breasts, rubbing in a marinade of cilantro, lemongrass, and fish sauce, and roasting in a hot oven, for a quick, moist and flavorful take on the American tradition.
Bringing a bit of Old World flair into the Thanksgiving tradition is possible for those of us with European roots. Common turkey herbs like rosemary and sage are familiar to many European cuisines. For a quick and easy take on turkey that can be done for Thanksgiving or enjoyed year-round, I like interpreting the classic Italian saltimbocca dish, typically done with veal, only using turkey breast cutlets. The cutlets are pounded thin and a sage leaf is placed on one side then topped with a slice of prosciutto. The cutlets are pan-fried in butter and topped with pan gravy made from deglazing the pan with white wine.
For hundreds of years people like my Northern European ancestors or Cindy and her Vietnamese family have immigrated to the United States in hopes of a better life. All cultures have struggled with adapting to the melting pot of America while retaining the roots of our cultural heritage. This Thanksgiving whether making our grandmother’s recipe for a roast turkey, borrowing the knowledge of our other people’s family recipes for turkey-in-a-bag, or adapting the turkey to marry with one’s own cultural traditions, the good news is that there is no wrong way to cook a turkey. In the melting pot that is America, whatever way you cook a turkey is just as American as the bird itself.
©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
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A Turkey Melting Pot
No, I was informed that her kids love Thanksgiving and as such she has made an effort for the last ten years that she has lived in my town to do Thanksgiving the good old-fashioned American way: roast turkey, mashed potatoes, and all the trimmings.
She admitted that when she and her family first began celebrating Thanksgiving she hadn’t the slightest clue how to roast a turkey. Even now with years of experience roasting the large bird, it is the one time of year they eat turkey in her house. But it is important to her kids, so she has gone out of her way to master what is surely the most American of traditions.
The first year her family did Thanksgiving, Cindy turned to her older clients at the nail salon seeking their culinary expertise. She gathered recipes from each of them that she studied in her attempt to recreate this American holiday for her kids. One woman insisted that she cook the bird in the bag as there is nothing worse than a dry turkey and the bag was a sure-fire way to insure a juicy bird. She says she no longer needs to cook the bird in the bag as she now believes she has mastered the practice of turkey roasting. All these years later, even though two of those wise women who shared their knowledge have since passed away, she hangs on to all the recipes and brings them out every year as she makes Thanksgiving part of her own family’s history.
As this is a country made up of immigrants (with the exception of Native Americans), at one point in time every American family has been faced with adapting their own cultural traditions to Thanksgiving, the quintessential American feast. As the domesticated turkey is native to North America and not found widely outside of the continent, the prospect of any newly immigrated family having previous experience roasting the bird is pretty slim. While Cindy turned to the experience of those seasoned home cooks who could guide her down a traditional turkey path, other newly immigrated families might choose to interpret the turkey tradition with their own cultural twist.
Just as I secretly hoped that Cindy’s interpretation of Thanksgiving would involve a fusion of her birth country’s distinct flavorings, many other immigrant families do choose to add their own cultural flair to the traditional turkey roast. Take for instance my friend who spends each Thanksgiving with her boyfriend and his Nicaraguan family. There is turkey in the Thanksgiving spread for sure, but their Nicaraguan take on bird is stewed in a sweet sauce and served with rice instead of potatoes.
For immigrants from Southeast Asian countries where meat is often cut into bite-sized pieces, small enough to pick up with chopsticks, before being cooked quickly over a high flame, roasting a large bird can seem like a foreign concept. To incorporate a bit of both worlds, I could see piecing a turkey into legs and breasts, rubbing in a marinade of cilantro, lemongrass, and fish sauce, and roasting in a hot oven, for a quick, moist and flavorful take on the American tradition.
Bringing a bit of Old World flair into the Thanksgiving tradition is possible for those of us with European roots. Common turkey herbs like rosemary and sage are familiar to many European cuisines. For a quick and easy take on turkey that can be done for Thanksgiving or enjoyed year-round, I like interpreting the classic Italian saltimbocca dish, typically done with veal, only using turkey breast cutlets. The cutlets are pounded thin and a sage leaf is placed on one side then topped with a slice of prosciutto. The cutlets are pan-fried in butter and topped with pan gravy made from deglazing the pan with white wine.
For hundreds of years people like my Northern European ancestors or Cindy and her Vietnamese family have immigrated to the United States in hopes of a better life. All cultures have struggled with adapting to the melting pot of America while retaining the roots of our cultural heritage. This Thanksgiving whether making our grandmother’s recipe for a roast turkey, borrowing the knowledge of our other people’s family recipes for turkey-in-a-bag, or adapting the turkey to marry with one’s own cultural traditions, the good news is that there is no wrong way to cook a turkey. In the melting pot that is America, whatever way you cook a turkey is just as American as the bird itself.
Turkey Cutlets Saltimbocca
Made with white wine, butter, olive oil, turkey breast cutlets, salt and pepper, fresh sage, prosciutto
Made with white wine, butter, olive oil, turkey breast cutlets, salt and pepper, fresh sage, prosciutto
Serves/Makes: 6
- 2 pounds turkey breast cutlets
- salt and pepper
- 1 bunch fresh sage leaves
- 1/4 pound thinly sliced prosciutto
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 cup white wine
Preheat a baking sheet in the oven to 300 degrees F.
Working between two sheets of plastic wrap, pound out turkey cutlets to 1/4-inch thickness. Season each cutlet with salt and pepper.
Working one cutlet at a time, place 1-2 sage leaves on a cutlet and top with a slice of prosciutto (cut prosciutto into smaller pieces if necessary to fit turkey cutlets).
Heat a large saute pan with the olive oil over medium high heat. Adding a couple at a time, pan fry the cutlets prosciutto side down to start for about 90 seconds. Flip onto the other side and continue cooking for another 90 seconds. Transfer cooked cutlets to the baking sheet in the oven and repeat the process with the remaining cutlets.
When all turkey cutlets are cooked and in the oven, add the butter to the pan and melt. Add the wine and working with a wooden spoon scrape up the bits stuck to the pan. Reduce the wine by half and season to taste with salt and pepper.
To serve, arrange turkey saltimbocca on a platter and pour the wine pan sauce over.
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©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/amy-powell/982-turkey-melting-pot/