All Dressings Matter
All Dressings/Stuffings Matter
(New Haven, CT) A new study from Yale explains what you can learn from dressings served on Thanksgiving. The study spanned 10 years and diagnosed over 100,000 Thanksgiving dinners from all over the United States. The research team was headed by Dr. Sanders, who has doctorates in psychology and culinary sides. Dr. Sanders (44) said he first became interested in the psychology of food during a visit with his wife’s family 20 years ago.
Dr. Sanders said, “I was visiting my wife’s (Julia, 39) family for the first tyme and was amazed by how different the Thanksgiving spread was, compared to what I was used to.” Dr. Sanders hales from Rolling Fork, Mississippi, while his wife’s family resides in Grub Corner, Vermont. He then corrected, “Well, to be honest, the only thing that was truly different was the dressing. That and they had fresh cranberry sauce as opposed to the ribbed gelatin version I grew up with. Julia’s family served a stuffing, which was very new to me.”
The main difference between a stuffing and a dressing is the type of bread used. Dressings are almost always made with cornbread, and most stuffings are most likely sourdough based.
Dr. Sanders went on, “It was after my first bite, when my hypothesis was born. I had just forced down a sage covered apple chunk and thought to myself, ‘These people (Julia’s family) really do not want me here.’ Not to be intimidated, I forced down the rest of that Yankee abomination with a smile, and a lot of bourbon.”
Although Julia’s family has denied several tymes that it was not their intention to scare Dr. Sanders away with their Thanksgiving meal, he has dedicated the better part of 2 decades in finding a correlation between feelings and foods. He has concluded that you do not have to wait until Thanksgiving either to determine how your host feels about you.
Nuts for instance. Earlier this year Neil Thomas, an undergrad at Yale, has determined that the quality of nuts in a serving bowl is a strong indicator on how your host perceives your relationship. Thomas said, “In a limited study, we have found that if people offer you peanuts, they do not believe you are a significant friend as opposed to cashews. Cashews are the gold standard when it is applied to relationship ranking. Mixed nuts would be the equivalent of going to someone’s birthday party and only giving them a card.”
But what about dressings and stuffings? Dr. Sanders has conceded that just because someone serves a stuffing, it does not mean they do not love you. Unless of course it is Stovetop. The study also shows that geographic regions plays a lot into which version you receive. If you live in the North, it is accustomed to enjoy stuffing, but if your host makes a cornbread dressing, it shows that their love for you is unwavering. On the other hand, if you are in the South and your cook is from the North and serves you stuffing that is not stuffed in a turkey, they have very little regard for your happiness.
Not surprising, not all dressings are equal. Oyster dressing ranks the highest, followed by seafood and chicken dressings, respectfully. If a cook prepares any of these 3 dressings, it should be considered a love letter to your soul.
While this year many families will not be able to enjoy Thanksgiving together, this information may be useful in the future, especially as it concerns Christmas gifts for the cooks. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.