6 home cooks take on Thanksgiving traditions

CELEBRATORY CHICKEN AND RICE, ROAST PHEASANTS, RICH POTATO GRATIN AND APPLE GALETTE PERSONALIZE A HOLIDAY TABLE.

WHEN THANKSGIVING rolls around each year, some things are certain: Turkeys will be roasted, potatoes will be mashed, and so many pumpkin pies will be baked on the big day. And while the tried-and-true classics are wonderful, not everyone’s holiday table looks so Rockwell-ian. In kitchens across L.A., cooks adapt the holiday’s credo of “gather together with loved ones over fabulous food” to make dishes that speak to their own family heritage. Or someone brought an oddball dish one year, and now it has a forever place at the Thanksgiving table. It’s a dish that makes the holiday feel even more like home. ¶ I spoke with six cooks in Los Angeles to get their essential holiday recipes — and the stories that inspired them. Some are classics — a bubbling, cheesy potato gratin or a browned, fragrant and elegant apple galette — while others are passed-down celebration dishes that fit the season, like an elaborate Palestinian upside-down chicken and rice dish or bronzed pheasants roasted under bacon. Others are updates on nostalgic favorites, like a nutty and addictive salad dressing from college days or a beautiful tart made with seasonal fruit and a rich custard that evokes desserts in the grocery store sweets case. ¶ These dishes are expressions of each cook, showing their conviviality at the holiday while also honoring past traditions that got them to where they are now. Without them, Thanksgiving just wouldn’t be the same.