The highly popular Cocoa Butter show "Taste Wars" tackled the holiday dinner table with "Black vs White: We Try Each Other's Turkey Plates," where four contestants—AJ, Louis, Rob, and Lai—submitted their distinctive Thanksgiving dishes to be judged on seasoning, technique, and overall flavor. The central premise acknowledged a key culinary divide, summarized by one participant as: "The main difference between a white turkey plate and a black turkey plate it's the seasoning sweetie totally different". This difference is rooted in "cultural differences".
One plate, which tasters largely identified as being from a white chef, featured a turkey named Tanya that was bathed, oiled, and had garlic cloves placed under the skin. It was seasoned with a "bunch of spices" including salt, pepper, garlic salt, onion salt, and paprika. The turkey was cooked at 420 degrees, then lowered to 350 for several hours. The accompanying stuffing was made with sautéed onion, celery, and mushroom. The cranberry sauce was a major giveaway, as it had "little fun things that make it a little bit more exotic and different", giving some tasters a "white feel". While the turkey was praised as "tender" and "seasoned really well", the stuffing was criticized for tasting like it "came from like a box or something". The overall rating for this plate ranged from a six to an eight and a half.
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A second plate, presented by Louis, was a traditional white American dinner featuring turkey, stovetop stuffing, green bean casserole, Gouda mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie. The turkey was basted with vegetable oil, salt, and pepper, and cooked for about two and a half hours. The green bean casserole used the standard crunchy onions and mushroom soup recipe, but with a "new twist" of soy sauce. The mashed potatoes were rich, made with milk, butter, and Gouda cheese, which tasters found "really good" and praised as "excellent". However, the green bean casserole was the dish that confirmed suspicions of a white chef, with one taster stating they would "plead to fifth" rather than comment on it. The pumpkin pie, which had a store-bought crust, was nonetheless called "really delicious".
In contrast, a plate designed by Lai, which tasters immediately recognized as the Black plate, was "very different". It included turkey marinated for two nights with onions, bell peppers, and jalapeños, alongside greens cooked all night in a slow cooker with a turkey neck. The plate also included black-eyed peas, which Lai prepared using bullion, and yams oiled with butter and baked. Lai explained the yams’ inclusion as connecting to "slavery" and "the fabric of who we are as a people". The turkey was described as "perfection", "excellent but different," and having a unique "salsa taste". The black-eyed peas were deemed "so good I could cry", and the collard greens were praised for having a flavor that "pops on the vegetable", though one taster noted they were "new food for me". This plate received the highest praise, with one taster wishing they could give it an eleven because it was "amazing".
Another traditionally Black plate included homemade stuffing and candy yams that reminded one taster of their mother. The turkey was massaged and rubbed with garlic all over the skin and inside, and seasoned with salt, pepper, and "few other things". The stuffing was homemade bread with onions, celery, garlic, salt, pepper, and "a lot of butter," cooked in a pan before stuffing the bird. The yams were peeled, cut, layered with cinnamon, salt, and a "bunch of sugar". The stuffing was highly praised as "not stove top homemade" and "moist, fantastic", leading one taster to correctly guess it was a black chef. While the turkey was "very good" and tender, the gravy was criticized as being "a little bland". The overall rating for this plate was a six to a nine. The experience emphasized the value of trying different things and learning from all cultures.
