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Thanksgiving is one of those American holidays that has found its way to every country with a strong American expat presence, and despite its dark roots, today it has become more about the gluttonous feasting, food comas, gravy with a side of turkey and pumpkin pie.
To celebrate all this and more, we headed to the Thanksgiving dinner at Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay, which took place by the Azure Pool. We were welcomed with a seasonal mulled beverage and led to the elevated patio, giving us a behind the table look at the chefs preparing the spread for the evening.
We chatted with Chef Brian Becher about his favourite offerings this year. He said: “There are over 25 different dishes tonight. We have taken the classic Thanksgiving dinner recipes and put our own spin on them. So definitely try the jalapeno cheddar biscuits, the cornbread stuffing and of course, the gravy and the three kinds of sauces.”
With our instructions in place, we sampled the entire spread, and I have to say even though I am not a fan of cornbread, something about the stuffing topped with gravy and alongside the turkey also topped with gravy, just worked. I have a sneaking suspicion it was the fresh preparation and definitely not the gravy.
But for me the highlight was definitely the jalapeno cheddar biscuits, which were soft and spicy, with a hint of sweetness that just brought the entire plate together. And after trying some of the brisket, we quickly got down to the real business of Thanksgiving – desserts.
While I took the night off the dessert cart, my dinner companions decided on the pumpkin pie, the vanilla custard and at least a couple of helpings of ice cream to round off the evening.
As midnight approached and we felt the oncoming food coma, Clare Bromilow, the hotel’s director of public relations and communications stopped by to chat and ruminated: “The dinner was quite successful. We were a bit worried about the rain, but it’s been a wonderful evening. The chefs have showcased their finest Thanksgiving offerings. This is just the start of the festive season. Coming up, we have the Nutcracker afternoon tea as well as the Unwine-d dinner at CUT, where chefs base their meals around a selected beverage instead of the other way around. And we will also have Jordanian guest chef Moen, joining us from the US, for the New Year’s Eve party, which should be glitzy Great Gatsby themed affair.”
As we walked back to our cars, we excitedly talked about the festive season to come and if this dinner was any indicator, I can barely wait for what’s next!
