Despite its reputation, Thanksgiving dinner is not a one-size-fits-all meal, a table set in brown from coast to coast. America is too vast, too inventive and too flush with immigrants from around the globe to subscribe to a single, unified vision of the holiday feast.

The evidence is right on your table: You could argue that no other Thanksgiving staple better reflects the nation’s diversity than the side dish known as stuffing. Variations abound, and they venture well beyond the choice of breads — white, corn or Pepperidge Farm — and even beyond such decisions as whether to add oysters or giblets. Americans can’t even agree on a name or preparation: Some call it stuffing and bake it inside the turkey (except when they don’t). Others call it dressing and bake it in a casserole (except when they don’t), writes Tim Carman for the Washington Post. 

Then there are those who call it filling, as in “ potato filling ,” a Thanksgiving requirement for just about everyone in Pennsylvania Dutch country.

[How big a turkey should I buy? And other Thanksgiving FAQs, answered.]

Sally Churgai grew up on a small farm in Howard County, Md., but when she married Jim Churgai in 1972, she was introduced to potato filling via her husband’s maternal family. They’re Pennsylvania Dutch, the often-misleading term for the German immigrants who started arriving in the state in the late 18th century, their diet rich in potatoes. Pennsylvania Dutch stuffing naturally includes spuds, often mixed with bread, butter, celery and eggs for a hearty, if plain, side.

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