Welcome to the first edition of Sunday Sobremesa, a bimonthly thread to discuss food and culture while sipping on a cafe con leche (or pacharán1, if that’s more your style!).
Earlier in the week I read this excellent piece from Anne Byrn about the history of Jell-O salad and was reminded of my own childhood family reunions glistening and jiggling with various versions (always sweet, never savory, though!). It made me think a lot about celebrations and food traditions, and I’d love to hear your thoughts.
We all associate turkey with Thanksgiving, but what are some of your favorite lesser-known food traditions from your family or culture? Have you made any new traditions over the years as you’ve gone through life changes, such as moving or combining families? Excited to chat with you in the comments!
A Spanish liquor made from blackthorn berries, often served after a meal as a digestif liquer. It’s similar to sloe gin, but with a slight licorice flavor due to anise. I will always choose the cafe con leche (de avena).
What a wonderful theme for a thread! I often think about this very subject, especially because I come from a family where there were no culinary traditions at all. I've created my own while living abroad and now that I've settled down (or so it seems) and I'm experimenting with baking and cooking, I'm also enjoying testing recipes to add to my little repertoire. Some of those recipes: a wonderful walnut cake by Mimi Thorisson that I made endless times last autumn and winter, a savoury pumpkin & almond pie for lazy Sunday snacking, fig cookies as Christmas presents, and lemon curd tart to celebrate the beginning of spring... It warms my heart thinking I will be making them over and over again from now on. (Never heard of pacharan, thanks for sharing about it)
Thanks so much for your comment, Sinù! I love the idea of creating your own traditions. I think there’s something special about being the one to establish something new and have it either passed down to future generations or spread within a group of friends. Or even just to mark certain occasions, like your lemon curd tart for the beginning of spring. All of those recipes sound amazing, and I’m pretty sure I’ll be dreaming of those fig cookies tonight (figs are my favorite fruit and I’m counting down the days until they’re in season again)!
I imagine many of our childhood experiences revolving around food were similar given we are from the same family (LOL) but since I have moved to NY and married into a large Italian American family, I have been exposed to many new and interesting food traditions. One that fascinates me is “The Feast of the Seven Fishes” on Christmas Eve. It is a Catholic tradition that likely applies to more than just Italian Americans but this has been my only experience with it. It is so different from my childhood and experiences around Christmas but also so interesting to me!
Haha yeah I think we definitely have a lot of the same childhood food memories! One of my favorites is Mamaw’s banana pudding; I have to try to make a dairy-free version of it because I haven’t had it in years! And her “greasy green beans”... Mom and I tried to make them when I was visiting for Christmas this year but they just weren’t the same.
I love that we’re both part of Mediterranean families now and we get to add in new traditions. With David’s family we do eat some seafood for Christmas, but the main dish is usually roast lamb, which I’m slowly learning to appreciate although it’s admittedly not my favorite. I’ve actually never heard of The Feast of the Seven Fishes! What is it?
I have done ok replicating Mamaw’s banana pudding but I have never been able to do her green beans! She must have had a secret we don’t know.
The Feast of the Seven Fishes occurs on Christmas Eve and is an Italian Catholic tradition. They don’t eat meat on Christmas Eve as a vigil to God but fish do not count as meat so that’s what all the main dishes are. In Bobby’s family they don’t really count the number of fish dishes even though this last Christmas we did have seven fishes (haha). It’s very interesting because it is so different from our celebrations. The only seafood I remember was the shrimp tray that Mamaw always had Jimmy get from Food City (LOL).
Ha, yes, the shrimp tray!! I was actually telling David about it recently. I hadn’t thought about it in years!
That’s so interesting about the feast. Somehow when I was younger I got the impression that “meat” meant any type of animal that you eat (I think a lot of people use it that way? Maybe I’m wrong...) so I was really confused when David kept talking about eating “carne” (which literally means “meat” in Spanish). I kept asking him, “What kind of meat?” And he would be like, “Meat.” But then I realized that he was talking about steak! I guess technically “carne” usually refers to everything except fish and seafood, so it would also include pork and chicken (I just looked it up in the Real Academia Española website, which is the authority on all things Spanish language haha). I think it’s used to mean steak more colloquially, though, at least here in Madrid.
I love this thread! We didn't have a ton of food traditions in our family. I've enjoyed making my own as an adult. Also, my mom and I were able to make some traditions together later in life. Every fall, we met at a cider mill where we started the day with hot cider and donuts. Then we picked pumpkins for our porches. We made Christmas cookies together every year. We made pierogies from scratch.
Pierogies! I had never had them until I moved to Chicago, but I liked them a lot. I’m sure they’re even better made from scratch! Did you make the kind with potato and cheese (I think those are the only ones I’ve ever had) or with a different type of filling?
What a wonderful theme for a thread! I often think about this very subject, especially because I come from a family where there were no culinary traditions at all. I've created my own while living abroad and now that I've settled down (or so it seems) and I'm experimenting with baking and cooking, I'm also enjoying testing recipes to add to my little repertoire. Some of those recipes: a wonderful walnut cake by Mimi Thorisson that I made endless times last autumn and winter, a savoury pumpkin & almond pie for lazy Sunday snacking, fig cookies as Christmas presents, and lemon curd tart to celebrate the beginning of spring... It warms my heart thinking I will be making them over and over again from now on. (Never heard of pacharan, thanks for sharing about it)
Thanks so much for your comment, Sinù! I love the idea of creating your own traditions. I think there’s something special about being the one to establish something new and have it either passed down to future generations or spread within a group of friends. Or even just to mark certain occasions, like your lemon curd tart for the beginning of spring. All of those recipes sound amazing, and I’m pretty sure I’ll be dreaming of those fig cookies tonight (figs are my favorite fruit and I’m counting down the days until they’re in season again)!
Exactly, it's fantastic to be at the receiving end of family traditions, and it's equally great to be the ones starting them, too. Here's the link to the fig cookies (the recipe uses dry figs so it's perfect for those - like me - who always end up missing that tiny window of time where fresh ones are on the market 😅) https://susanality.substack.com/p/figgy-cornmeal-cookies?r=asx0t&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=direct&s=r
Ohh those cookies look great and good to know that I can make them year-round. Thanks so much for sharing!
They're amazing ;) have a good day!
I imagine many of our childhood experiences revolving around food were similar given we are from the same family (LOL) but since I have moved to NY and married into a large Italian American family, I have been exposed to many new and interesting food traditions. One that fascinates me is “The Feast of the Seven Fishes” on Christmas Eve. It is a Catholic tradition that likely applies to more than just Italian Americans but this has been my only experience with it. It is so different from my childhood and experiences around Christmas but also so interesting to me!
Haha yeah I think we definitely have a lot of the same childhood food memories! One of my favorites is Mamaw’s banana pudding; I have to try to make a dairy-free version of it because I haven’t had it in years! And her “greasy green beans”... Mom and I tried to make them when I was visiting for Christmas this year but they just weren’t the same.
I love that we’re both part of Mediterranean families now and we get to add in new traditions. With David’s family we do eat some seafood for Christmas, but the main dish is usually roast lamb, which I’m slowly learning to appreciate although it’s admittedly not my favorite. I’ve actually never heard of The Feast of the Seven Fishes! What is it?
I have done ok replicating Mamaw’s banana pudding but I have never been able to do her green beans! She must have had a secret we don’t know.
The Feast of the Seven Fishes occurs on Christmas Eve and is an Italian Catholic tradition. They don’t eat meat on Christmas Eve as a vigil to God but fish do not count as meat so that’s what all the main dishes are. In Bobby’s family they don’t really count the number of fish dishes even though this last Christmas we did have seven fishes (haha). It’s very interesting because it is so different from our celebrations. The only seafood I remember was the shrimp tray that Mamaw always had Jimmy get from Food City (LOL).
Ha, yes, the shrimp tray!! I was actually telling David about it recently. I hadn’t thought about it in years!
That’s so interesting about the feast. Somehow when I was younger I got the impression that “meat” meant any type of animal that you eat (I think a lot of people use it that way? Maybe I’m wrong...) so I was really confused when David kept talking about eating “carne” (which literally means “meat” in Spanish). I kept asking him, “What kind of meat?” And he would be like, “Meat.” But then I realized that he was talking about steak! I guess technically “carne” usually refers to everything except fish and seafood, so it would also include pork and chicken (I just looked it up in the Real Academia Española website, which is the authority on all things Spanish language haha). I think it’s used to mean steak more colloquially, though, at least here in Madrid.
I love this thread! We didn't have a ton of food traditions in our family. I've enjoyed making my own as an adult. Also, my mom and I were able to make some traditions together later in life. Every fall, we met at a cider mill where we started the day with hot cider and donuts. Then we picked pumpkins for our porches. We made Christmas cookies together every year. We made pierogies from scratch.
Pierogies! I had never had them until I moved to Chicago, but I liked them a lot. I’m sure they’re even better made from scratch! Did you make the kind with potato and cheese (I think those are the only ones I’ve ever had) or with a different type of filling?
We were strictly potato cheese people!