Thanksgiving is a day to give thanks for all the things that are a part of your life. Thousands of families travel for multiple hours to be able to meet up with their loved ones and to share a meal with them.

On Thanksgiving, people from different backgrounds come together to celebrate this holiday; there are many different dishes to choose from on this day. The most traditional one is the turkey. Even though turkey is the most traditional dish, some families choose to make other dishes instead including some that were passed down to them from past generations.

In Santa Ana there are a lot of different ethnicities. Many people from different backgrounds in Santa Ana celebrate Thanksgiving. Although all these people celebrate, they all make it a little different with their own unique dishes.

Godinez High School freshman Jessica Aldana is a Guatemalan who celebrates Thanksgiving with her family and who also lives in Santa Ana. Aldana shares the dishes her family makes to celebrate this day.

“Typically on Thanksgiving I know you’re supposed to eat turkey and mashed potatoes, but my family doesn’t do that. If I’m being honest, no one in my family really likes turkey, so instead we eat some Guatemalan traditional dishes like pupusas, chiles rellenos and then my personal favorite, caldo de res,” she said.

Out of these dishes, two of them originate from Mexico and one of them from Guatemala; the chiles rellenos were the ones that originated in Guatemala and have been a big hit since in other states.

Guatemalans are not the only ones who celebrate Thanksgiving with their own cultural dishes, but also Mexicans do too.

Freshman Jackelyn Hernandez is part of Mexican culture and she shares some of her family’s own recipes and what makes it so special to her.

“My family’s special recipe for Thanksgiving is tamales de puerco; my mom always makes sure to make a big batch of them for the whole family. Tamales are just food I know, but they have such a special memory with them. I remember making these tamales with my grandma and laughing so much with her; unfortunately she’s no longer with us, so that’s why I say food can be so much more than people think,” she said.

In addition, a very interesting thing about this recipe is that it’s believed to have been around since Indigenous times. It is believed the Aztecs thousands of years ago created this recipe. This dish then continued to be passed down and now is a big part of Mexican culture.

Freshman Dylan Gomez is American, and he shares the more traditional Thanksgiving dishes.

“Yeah well I guess as an American, usually on Thanksgiving the main course is definitely the turkey. We combine the turkey with mashed potatoes, sweet corn and for dessert my favorite, apple pie,” he said.

Although all cultures have different dishes, some cultures tend to use other dishes that are not a part of their culture. Tamales and chile rellenos are now dishes that are made by not only Guatemalans and Mexicans, but are also used by other cultures around the nation.

In the end the food you eat on Thanksgiving is more than just food; every dish you eat can have special memories and history. Thanksgiving food can be so much more.