For a growing number of Londoners, a turkey is no longer just for Christmas — it’s for Thanksgiving too.
The country is embracing the traditional American holiday more and more, figures from Amazon reveal, and residents of the borough of Lambeth are leading the UK trend.
Sales of Thanksgiving-related items have risen by 804 per cent since 2011, with the most popular — a pack of pumpkin spice cookies — up by 1,516 per cent, according to the retailer.
Pumpkin syrup, waffle mix and cranberry sauce, staples of the high-calorie holiday, are also proving popular ahead of this Thursday’s celebration.
The modern tradition can be traced to a feast in Massachusetts in 1621, where Pilgrims and Native Americans came together to give thanks for the harvest. Nowadays, families gather on the fourth Thursday of November for a turkey dinner with pumpkin and pecan pies for dessert.
Financial adviser Francis Gill, who lives in Balham, has enthusiastically adopted the tradition. “My girlfriend is American so after I met her I started celebrating Thanksgiving,” the 27-year-old said. “It’s different. It’s good to take the time to voice your appreciation or thanks for the food and the event and for anything else you have been thankful for over the past year.”
His girlfriend Kaitlyn Dalterio, 25, is from Massachusetts but has been living in London for more than three years. Miss Dalterio, a learning and development co-ordinator, said her friends loved visiting her for the holiday.
“They keep coming back to celebrate so they must love it,” she said. “I think they especially love the food — Thanksgiving is all classic American comfort food, delicious and very high-calorie, so it’s pretty hard not to like it.”
Top London restaurants have also embraced the trend. In Covent Garden, Balthazar is offering a Thanksgiving blowout for £55 at lunch or dinner on Thursday.
Over in Marylebone, Chiltern Firehouse is serving slow-roasted turkey with truffled stuffing and liver parfait, plus sides of French beans Almondine and maple bourbon sweet potatoes, for £32. For dessert, there’s spiced pumpkin and brown butter pie with raisin caramel and bourbon cream for £9.
