Last week’s poll asked about what you prefer to cook with on your stove. I was pleasantly surprised to see that a majority responded that they, like me, use cast iron although I honestly believed non-stick would be the winner. Either way, I plan on expanding my collection of cast iron cookware and can’t wait till I have replaced nearly everything with it.
This week’s poll comes following the Thanksgiving weekend. Plenty of food was had by all and many of you likely had a side of ‘stuffing’ or ‘dressing’. While there has been much debate over the origin and then proper use of either term to refer to the side served with turkey, Martha and Tom have an excellent writeup showing that either word is acceptable regardless of its use (in or out of the bird).
From their post (which is well worth the read):
In examining over 100 years of American cookbooks, I found no evidence for a clear distinction between the terms “stuffing” and “dressing” when referring to the type of dish served with turkey at Thanksgiving. Instead, the terms appear to be interchangeable depending on author preference; most authors used both. This brief survey does not rule out the possibility of regional differences. My sample of books was not large or representative enough to make such a comparison. And, in limiting myself to 19th century cookbooks, I’ve ignored the possibility that the distinction might have arisen within the last century.
They go on to say that future historians may later go back over more recent discussions about the topic and decide it may in fact have been a 20th Century distinction. So let’s our part to help them out some. Which do you prefer to call ‘stuffing’ or ‘dressing’ and why do you choose one or the other? Do you like the dish or is it another one of those holiday traditions you fill your stomach with but could really pass on any other time of the year? Whatever you have to say about this one vote on the sidebar and then comment on below. After you do both of those things feel free to check out our expired polls in the archive or read through the previous posts about polls here.
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November 27th, 2011 at 8:56 am
Since “stuffing” goes inside the bird (not a good idea), and dressing is out of the bird, a dish of it’s own, I voted “dressing.” It’s always great with left-overs.
November 27th, 2011 at 9:00 am
C&V, the entire point of the linked article was to show that may not be the case.
November 27th, 2011 at 9:28 am
Yes, I know. But for years we “stuffed” the turkey – always struggled to keep the bird moist. Then we started making dressing outside of the bird and placed apples, celery and onions in the cavity to enhance the juiciness of the bird with fantastic results. So, we no longer “stuff” the bird with bread based “stuffing.” The linked article is a very interesting read, but there is a difference in my mind. (And I know “my mind” is a puzzle for many.)
November 27th, 2011 at 10:57 am
I think the two names might derive from some people being a little sqeamish about eating something cooked inside the bird. My wife and I come from large families and I love watching people. Some will say they can’t eat stuffing, but love dressing. If the stuffing has been scooped out and served in a serving vessel without the hungry diners being told either name, the finicky eaters eat the stuffing and say they love the dressing. If there is a difference I think it would be that stuffing actually is cooked in the cavity where dressing is prepared in the oven or on a burner, thus there is that product on the store shelves called ‘stove-top stuffing’. There are an infinite number of ways to do turkeys and the stuffing. Watch the food channel before next thanksgiving and no matter how good you think your turkey skills are, you will gain some great tips and ideas to improve your turkey each year.
November 27th, 2011 at 2:37 pm
Dressing is what you pour over a salad.
November 27th, 2011 at 7:33 pm
Thinking back over the years, it seems that I have evolved the question into tow things. Turkey dressing is what I make to put into the turkey, or put in a dish to place on the table. Stuffing is what’s in the turkey when it’s cooking and when I pull it out. I’m sure I picked up Dressing from my parents and grandparents who were from the western MN, eastern SD border areas, of Irish and German decent. My wife’s family is from Wisconsin, and they grew up in bloomington and I swear they I’ve never heard anything but stuffing from them.
Main difference. My grandparents used china and silver for thanksgiving dinner, and my wife’s grandparents used Corian dishes and stainless steel for thanksgiving dinner.
November 27th, 2011 at 9:13 pm
I use the word interchangeably with no preference one way or another. And I find it to be one of the grossest foods at the Thanksgiving table. When done well, it is good, but it is rarely done well by people in my family.
November 28th, 2011 at 7:35 am
If the distiction was determined totally by the use inside or outside of the bird, wouldn’t the product that we prepare in a sauce pan according to the directions on th ebox be called “Stovetop Dressing”?
November 28th, 2011 at 6:58 pm
We always called it dressing in East Texas, never stuffing. Though that could be because we never stuffed the bird. Just dropped it in the giant vat of hot oil and called it a day.
November 29th, 2011 at 8:03 am
I always call it stuffing regardless of how it is prepared.
November 29th, 2011 at 6:05 pm
honey, is the dressing ready to be stuffed?? whooops, is the stuffing ready to be dressed?
no matter sweetie, it’ll be good no matter what:)
bb
December 4th, 2011 at 7:02 am
[...] week’s poll asked whether you referred to one of the most famous Thanksgiving side dishes around as “…. While I generally call it “stuffing”, I was quite surprised at how many others chose [...]