People through history have invented a remarkable variety of celebrations and holidays, and most of these have become associated with special foods that you celebrate with. America's Thanksgiving turkey is just one example, here are a few more you might enjoy in the coming weeks.
Even non-Jews are aware of the great Hanukkah food, potato pancakes. Grating potatoes is a real pain but the result is so good.
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Christmas has developed a fascinating set of traditions, differing widely in the world's various Christian-majority countries (and even some other places). The consistent philosophy seems to be splurging on favorite things. A big meat roast is popular, whether turkey, goose, ham or suckling pig. Some kind of sweet is almost universal, including cookies, cakes, pies and gingerbread; distinctive examples are the French buche de noel and English plum pudding. (Fruitcake has morphed from a dessert into a joke in America.) Local delicacies find their way onto the menu; different fishes in the seafaring parts of Europe, Dungeness crab here in NorCal. Families adopt, or merge, or invent, their own set of traditions: my in-laws ate crab on Christmas Eve; my sister's Christmas dinner will always feature ham, scalloped potatoes, and peach cobbler, and she makes good Christmas cookies too.
The wiki of Christmas foods is entertaining; one recurring item I hadn't expected, in much of Europe and also Spanish America (though not Spain) is -- potato salad.
Somewhat off topic but also entertaining is the whole concept of Christmas as celebrated in Japan, where it's completely disconnected from any religion or any local tradition, and is a weird pastiche of American popular culture. Tokyo's favorite Christmas dinner is take-out from KFC.
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Special foods for New Year's differ around the world but pretty much all share the idea that some foods will encourage luck or prosperity for the coming year.
The six major categories of auspicious foods are grapes, greens, fish, pork, legumes, and cakes...Cooked greens, including cabbage, collards, kale, and chard, are consumed at New Year's in different countries for a simple reason — their green leaves look like folded money, and are thus symbolic of economic fortune... Legumes including beans, peas, and lentils are also symbolic of money. Their small, seedlike appearance resembles coins that swell when cooked so they are consumed with financial rewards in mind... In the Southern United States, it's traditional to eat black-eyed peas or cowpeas in a dish called hoppin' john.
The association of legumes with money is a very odd superstition given that dried beans and lentils are strictly poor people's food in most of the world, but I'll say more about that in a future diary.
I like Hoppin' John, though I'm still waiting on those financial rewards. I'd like to see sales figures on black-eyed peas, I bet there's a huge peak at the end of the year compared to the other 51 weeks. A couple years ago I went shopping on New Year's Eve and found the store sold out of dried black-eyed peas, it was the only empty space in the dried bean section. So get yours ahead of time, here's my recipe (from Joy of Cooking, 1997 edition):
about 8 servings
1/2 lb dried black-eyed peas
3 cups water
1-1/2 cups chopped onion
1 tb minced garlic (optional)
1/4 lb smoked ham, diced
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 bay leaves
salt and black pepper to taste
~1 cup chicken stock
2 tb butter
2 to 4 slices bacon, diced
1-1/2 cups long grain rice
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley (or more to taste)
Ideally you have a heavy 3 or 4-quart ovensafe pot or stovetop-safe casserole, so you can use that one pot for all the steps.
Rinse peas, put in a heavy pot, add water to cover by 1 inch. Bring to a boil, boil for 2 minutes, remove from heat, cover, let stand for 1-1/2 hours.
Drain and rinse peas and return to the pot. Add 3 cups water, onion, garlic, jam, thyme, red pepper and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, simmer until peas are just tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Drain, reserving the liquid. Season the peas and ham mixture with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and set aside.
Let the pea liquid settle for 5 minutes, then pour into a 4-cup measure, discarding the residue at the bottom. Add enough chicken stock to make 2-3/4 cups. Preheat oven to 325F.
Heat the pot over medium heat, add the butter and bacon. Cook until the bacon fat is mostly rendered and the bacon is starting to crisp. Add the rice and 1 tsp salt and stir 1 minute to coat the grains with fat. Add the pea liquid and bring to a simmer; stir once with a fork, cover, and bake until the rice has absorbed all the liquid, 20 to 25 minutes. Scatter the peas and ham over the top, cover, bake 5 more minutes. Add the minced parsley and toss lightly with a fork until the rice is fluffed and all ingredients are mixed. Cover and let stand 10 to 30 minutes before serving. [I use at least twice the amount of parsley to lighten the texture of the dish.]
Hoppin' John can be made 1 day ahead, covered, and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature, then bake, covered and without stirring, in a 275F oven just until warmed through.
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What's for dinner at your place? What are your holiday food traditions? Are you baking cookies?
If you're a fan of WFD, please consider writing a diary sometime, we always need more contributors! Message ninkasi23 if you're interested.