The sights and sounds of the holiday season evoke memories of bygone days for some, while others are transported back in time by the scents of foods steeped in holiday traditions passed down from generation to generation. With the arrival of the final two months of 2022, there is no shortage of traditional foods associated with holidays from Chanukah and Christmas to Kwanzaa and the New Year.
Hanukkah: Jewish holidays follow the lunar calendar so Hanukkah can fall as early as Thanksgiving or even on Christmas, said Rose Valentine, vice president of the Jewish Community Center of Long Beach Island. This year, the first candle of Hanukkah will be lit on Dec. 18 and the last on Dec. 26, she said.
The eight-day holiday commemorates the second-century B.C. rebellion of the Maccabees, a small army of Jews, against religious persecution to regain control over the temple. There was only enough oil to keep the temple’s menorah, one of the most important ritual objects, burning for one day. The flame remained alight for eight days until a new supply of oil could be produced, according to Valentine.
“Since oil is key to the story, fried foods take center stage, particularly latkes (potato pancakes) and sufaniot (doughnuts),” she said.
Latkes are served with either apple sauce or sour cream, Valentine said, adding that most meals served during the eight-day holiday are prepared with regular, everyday food.
“But when family and friends get together to celebrate, latkes are expected on the menu,” she added, sharing a recipe from Best Kitchens of LBI, published and available through the JCC.
What you need: five large potatoes, peeled; one large onion; three eggs; ½ cup flour; 1 tsp. salt; ¼ tsp. pepper; ¾ cup oil for frying.
The potatoes and onion can be grated on the fine side of a grater, or in a food processor or blender with a little water. Next, the potatoes and onion are strained through a colander, pressing out any excess water. Eggs, flour and seasonings are added to the potatoes and onions and mixed together well. Heat ½ cup of oil in a skillet before lowering the flame and placing one large tablespoon of batter at a time into the sizzling oil. Fry on one side for about five minutes, or until golden brown. Flip the latke and fry on the other side for two to three minutes. Remove from pan and place on paper towels to drain off excess oil.
Continue the process until all the batter is used, adding oil as needed. This recipe serves four to six people, and the recommended accompaniment is apple sauce.
Christmas: One of the most well-known and documented food traditions is the Feast of Seven Fishes, an Italian American Christmas Eve celebration observed by this writer, who learned the custom from her parents and grandparents.
The origin for the feast is in southern Italy, where the celebration is simply known as La Vigilia, or the Eve. It takes place on Christmas Eve, a day of fasting. This writer’s family observes abstinence from meat until Christmas Day, a tradition that dates back to the Roman Catholic observance of abstaining from meat on the eve of a feast day.
While the tradition of eating seafood on Christmas Eve originated in southern Italy, Italian Americans are credited with setting the number of fishes consumed and naming the celebration. The first written reference to the Feast of the Seven Fishes in the United States wasn’t until the 1980s, according to some, but this writer’s family has observed the tradition of a meatless Christmas Eve since before they arrived in America.
There is no set menu for the Feast of Seven Fishes, although certain dishes, such as baccalà, dried and salted cod, were customarily served in underserved areas of southern Italy. For traditional Italian observance of seafood on Christmas Eve, the menu reflects seasonal availability of fish, such as smelts and calamari.
Among other components of the Christmas Eve meal are anchovies, clams, mussels and scungilli (conch).
The Feast of the Seven Fishes is as much about family and memories as it is about the food on the table. This author remembers her parents and grandparents killing fresh eel before it was prepared as part of the main meal.
Kwanzaa: The holiday began in the 1960s as a celebration of the cultural affirmation influenced by sub-Saharan African harvest festivals. Kwanzaa falls between Dec. 26 and New Year’s Day.
“The colors of Kwanzaa are black, red and green; black for the people, red for their struggle and green for the future and hope that comes from their struggle,” according to the official Kwanzaa website.
The table is set with seven candles; one black, three red and three green. They represent the seven principles: black candle, unity; three red candles, self-determination, cooperative economics and creativity; and the green candles, collective work and responsibility, purpose and faith.
“Kwanzaa food, at its simplest, is any dish people cook for Kwanzaa,” according to an article written by Rupa Bhattacharya for the Food Network. “There are no rules to it. The vast majority of what we see is some combination of sub-Saharan African (east and west), soul food and coastal dishes of the Atlantic rim with clearly traceable roots to Africa or African Americans.”
Among some of the foods served is a one-pot stew, such as Ghanaian groundnut stew, West Indian or South African curry, Philadelphia pepper pot stew or Senegalese thieboudienne, Bhattacharya wrote.
“Starches range as well and can include rice or couscous, candied yams, buttermilk biscuits and spoonbread, plantains, fritters, hoppin’ John and injera,” according to Bhattacharya. “The most-important thing is that the meal is shared, as Kwanzaa is at its heart a holiday about community.”
The New Year: Worldwide, there is no shortage of foods that bring luck and fortune to a culture for the new year. In Turkey, eating pomegranates on New Year’s is said to bring abundance and fertility in the new year. For German Americans, eating a pretzel on Jan. 1 is a good luck custom. Those pretzels are sweet, often glazed and can be laden with nuts and candied fruit.
In the end, whatever holiday is celebrated, the most important ingredient to any celebration is those gathered around the table and the memories of those who are no longer physically present but are so much a part of how celebrations are observed.
— Gina G. Scala
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Traditional Holiday Foods Unite Past, Present - The SandPaper
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