Thanksgiving is fast approaching. And while I wouldn’t consider myself a big fan of traditional Thanksgiving foods (here’s looking at you turkey!), it’s still a good excuse for family to get together.

The holiday is “celebrated in Canada and the United States as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year“, according to Wikipedia.

A few years back we had a not so typical Thanksgiving and a couple of years back we took a quick trip over the holiday.

Did you know that you could have a Thanksgiving feast at other destinations around the world? According to Conde Naste Traveler, “these eight harvest celebrations around the world also involve giving thanks—the only difference is there’s no turkey“.

Since I can’t say that I love turkey, maybe there’s a similar Thanksgiving feast out there for me to start joining in.

Listed below is the holiday, country & popular food eaten at feasts around the world:

1. Chuseok- Korea: Songpyeon, a stuffed rice cake steamed on a bed of pine needles.
2. Makar Sankranti- India, Nepal: In southern India- Pongal, rice boiled in milk with cashews, brown sugar & raisins. In Maharashtra- Tilgul Laadoos, sweets made from sesame seeds and jaggery (a traditional cane sugar)”.
3. Erntedankfest- Germany: “Autumnal crops with a centerpiece of roast goose“.
4. Mid-Autumn Festival- China: Mooncakes which are “round, golden pastries filled with red bean or lutus seed paste” and they drink cassia wine.
5. New Yam Festival- Nigeria, Ghana: Yam dishes like foofoo, similiar to a dumpling made from ground yams and a stew made from palm oil and chicken.
6. Maras Taun- Indonesia: Lepat, “a steamed rice cake filled with meat or fish and wrapped in coconut leaves“.
7. Mehregan- Iran: No food was mentioned but they drink sherbet.
8. Dozhinki- Russia, Poland, Belarus & Ukraine:  No specific foods were mentioned. I read in the SC Times that a typical meal roast pork, dumplings and sauerkraut.

If I had to pick a dish from one of these other Thanksgiving celebrations, I think that I’d go with lepat which is eaten in Indonesia during Maras Taun. What would be your pick?

Find out more about each of these 8 Thanksgiving feasts around the world here.