Best Bite: Celebrate your cultural heritage at Christmas

Roast turkey remains the quintessential Thanksgiving centerpiece, but at Christmastime, barely a month since the last turkey, many Americans yearn for something different.

Standing rib roast, leg of lamb, goose and other meats nudge the traditional bird back into November. At the same time, many families turn the holiday feast into a celebration of their heritage, recognizing that the United States is a nation of immigrants with varied religious and cultural traditions.

In my own family, we sometimes roast a leg of lamb in a nod to my wife’s Greek heritage, or fill the turkey with a classic Greek stuffing of ground beef, rice, chestnuts and currants – fragrant with cinnamon. We add dolmas, spanikopita, olives and feta cheese as appetizers to complete the spread.

In that spirit, several local residents shard their ethnic holiday traditions:

Danish, German, Swedish

“When I was growing up, we did a ‘German-esque’ feast ... roast goose or duck with apple stuffing, red cabbage, and potatoes. Delish!” said northern Whatcom County resident Sue Hamann.

Suzanne Blangsted of Sudden Valley also favors a roast goose, adding red cabbage and caramelized small potatoes and gravy. “A Danish Christmas ... is celebrated the evening of the 24th,” she said. “I have for the most part been cooking Danish Christmas dinner since leaving Denmark in 1960.”

Carol Kinnune Trower of Sudden Valley honors her Nordic ancestry with a Swedish smorgasbord. “We have potatis korv, bruna boner, cardamom bread, lutefisk, spritz, peppakakor, rispudding, gravlax and glogg. For me the holidays begin on Dec. 13 with the celebration of Santa Lucia Day or LuciaDagen.”

Mexican

Rosa Elena Palma of Sudden Valley sometimes celebrates a traditional Mexican Christmas Eve with dishes that reflect the delicious complexity of that country’s native cuisine.

“The feast includes posole (a spicy soup with beef and hominy), tamales, and mole poblano (a thick, gravy-like chili sauce over chicken or pork). We drink hot chocolate (abuelita), champurrado (warm, cornmeal-ish), and warm punch made from scratch (guava, cinnamon, piloncillo, raisins, apples, and other yummy things). For dessert, we have pan dulce (a variety of sweet breads), and buñuelos (similar to an elephant ear, but way better). We play Loteria (Mexican bingo) and dance until our gift exchange at midnight. If celebrating at my parents’ house, they make a point to place the baby Jesus on his little straw crib in the nativity set right at midnight, then we sing Happy Birthday in Spanish.”

Mexican roots also beckon Crystal Espinoza of Sudden Valley.

“Growing up in Northern New Mexico, I always had posole, empanadas, pastelitos and biscochitos. Posole is hominy with pork and red or green chile (or Christmas with both); empanadas is usually a sweet meat and piñon Danish — looks like a miniature calzone; pastelitos is a pastry layered with dough and prunes (it’s honestly to die for); and biscochitos are sugar cookies with cinnamon and anise.”

English

“We had turkey for both when I was little, but since I’m married to a Englishman, we now observe Christmas with roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, (and) Christmas ‘crackers’ — the kind with the toys and jokes in them — and plum pudding,” said Georgia Bowman Allen of Sudden Valley.

She also wears the traditional crowns at the table, saying “Sure, that’s part of the fun isn’t it?”

“We do Christmas crackers, too! My husband is Canadian,” said Sommer Cronck of Sudden Valley.

“My favorite memory of Christmas food was being woken for midnight mass at the Episcopal church. My mom would serve carrot soup with raisins and wilted spinach salad. She did this because it’s what my father’s mother did for him growing up in England,” said Emily Mizen of Sudden Valley.

“I serve a typical English Christmas — standing rib roast, Yorkshire pudding (my grandfather’s recipe), creamed onions, green vegetable and plum pudding and hard sauce for dessert. Also must have crackers,” said Leslie McRoberts of Sudden Valley.

Greek

“We usually cook up a huge Greek feast for winter solstice,” said Dannie Bollinger-Smith of Bellingham. “We’re not Greek, we just love good food.”

Native Alaskan

As a native Alaskan, we usually have salmon in our Christmas feast. Often ham, too, as that used to be easier to ship to Alaska,” said Alexandria N.W. McEldowney of Bellingham.

Tele Aadsen of Sudden Valley said king salmon is the focus of her holiday meal.

“ My partner and I are commercial fishermen in Alaska, so we’re fortunate to enjoy our own hook-and-line-caught, frozen-at-sea salmon throughout the winter. Sides are pretty traditional. No one’s willing to give up the mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce, both of which are delicious with salmon, anyway. This year will include a jar of pickled beach asparagus, foraged in (the wild).”

This story was originally published December 1, 2015 at 7:01 PM with the headline "Best Bite: Celebrate your cultural heritage at Christmas."