above: A colorful crudité platter and Asian pears from LaRocca’s Country Market.
Photography: Kotobuki and Crudite by Garvin Burke; Soul Tasty’s contributed
A calendar of culinary courses this holiday season
The fall harvest sees us through increasingly shorter days and longer nights to a month of fetes and observances. From pagan times to the present, major religions honor light during the darkest time of the year. These holidays celebrate abundance while reminding us about gratitude and giving. They also happen to be delicious opportunities to dive into our nation’s many gastronomic heritages.
Nov 28
Thanksgiving
Get help on the biggest food holiday of the year. Start by ordering your turkey ahead of time. Best of the Gold Coast Deli Winner A&S Fine Food Market (asstamfordct.com) offers ready-to-roast turkeys, whole or breast. From their catering menu, we love the roasted Brussels sprouts with pancetta, dried cranberries, pine nuts and caramelized red onion. Best of Stamford gourmet grocery winner LaRocca’s Country Market (lcountrymarket.com) helps us take full advantage of fall’s bounty with a colorful crudité platter, endive and radicchio salad with Asian pears and goat cheese, roasted vegetables and green bean almandine.
Dec 14
Annapurna Jayanti
The Hindu celebration of the goddess of food and nourishment reminds us to not be wasteful, especially of food, and to offer nourishment to others. After a fast, worshippers eat a vegetarian meal at home, which usually includes rice. South Indian vegetarian standout Saravanaa Bhavan (saravanaabhavan.com) is at the ready with takeout and delivery.
Dec 15
Dhanu Sakranti
Another food favorite celebration from south Asia, this Hindu festival celebrates the transition of the sun into Sagittarius by making offerings to Lord Surya, the sun god, and Lord Jagannath, lord of earth, heaven and the netherworld. Traditions include giving to the those in need—and enjoying dhanu muan, a crisp cake of caramelized puffed rice, coconut and nuts. Aapnar Bazar (203-324-7100) in Stamford, and Patel Brothers (patelbros.com) in Norwalk are sources for ingredients and packaged dhanu muan.
Dec 21
Winter Solstice
It’s the longest night of the year, and cultures throughout history have celebrated the coming return of the sun. Inspiration on how to worship abounds. Scandinavian-Americans honor St. Lucia with young girls wearing wreaths of candles. Skip the candles—and potential fire hazards—and, instead, order saffron buns and Swedish meatballs from Scandinavian Butik in Norwalk (scandinavianbutik.com).
Dec 24
Feast of the Seven Fishes
As we learned in that award-winning episode of “The Bear,” there’s no agreement on or set menu to this Italian-American Christmas Eve celebration, but making Baccala alla Napoletana, salted cod simmered with tomato sauce, olives, capers and flecked with pine nuts, is old-school. Traditions evolve, and today, along with baked clams, squid salad and seafood stew, you might find sushi rolls on the table. The sushi chefs at High Ridge Fish Market (203-658-8756) create platters that are works of art. New Wave Seafood (newwaveseafood.com) also offers fresh seafood and prepared foods. The shrimp platter is always a hit.
Dec 25-Jan 1
Kwanzaa
Members of the African diaspora observe this seven-day holiday, which culminates in a Karamu Feast honoring remembrance, recommitting and rejoicing. The spread includes dishes from the American south, Africa and the Caribbean. Soul Tasty’s (soultastyct.com) catering menu includes trays of baked chicken, ribs, smothered pork chops, and sides of greens, yams and cornbread. A crowd food favorite at Stamford’s Best Bartender contest this summer, Jerkyz (eatjerkyz.com) offers fusion Caribbean. We love the spicy jerk chicken, rice and peas and sweet plantains—and their rum bar.
Dec 25-Jan 2
Chanukkah
Restaurant 613 (613restaurant.com) offers full-service catering kosher dishes and plated meals for the festival of light, with latkes, apple sauce and sour cream, and smoked or French onion brisket with gravy (oh, yes!). Greenwich & Delancey Delicatessen (greenwichanddelancey.com) is the Cos Cob outpost of the popular NYC eatery by chef David Teyf, who puts a healthy spin on kosher food. That doesn’t stop him from offering “Old World Bakery” goods like doughnuts with seasonal housemade jam, poppy seed strudel and chocolate babka.
Dec 26
Boxing Day
A United Kingdom holiday, Boxing Day was traditionally the “help’s day off,” and a time set aside for giving to those in need. You can donate nonperishable food and gently used clothing to or volunteer at Person to Person (p2phelps.org), which provides food, clothing and emergency financial assistance to people in lower Fairfield County. Coffee for Good (coffeeforgood.org) trains young people with developmental disabilities to work in this Greenwich coffee shop that serves everything from drip to espresso to nitro, and muffins, quiches and salads for breakfast and lunch. Enjoy a meal or volunteer. Pacific House (pacifichouse.org), whose mission is to prevent and end homelessness, offers many opportunities to volunteer or make donations.
Dec 31
Omisoka
Eating a bowl of soba, thin buckwheat noodles, or udon, thick wheat noodles, noodles is the Japanese tradition to transition to the new year. Kotobuki (kotobukijapaneserestaurant.com) is known for sushi, but we also enjoy slurping bowls of udon and soba in broth with a side of shrimp and vegetable tempura there.
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