Custom Blend

Want to make the holidays more meaningful? Adopt a food tradition that's not your own.

There’s no season more loaded than the holidays, literally or figuratively speaking. The lucky among us sit down to tables crowded with traditional specialties, dishes that have been in our families for generations. We find comfort and import in cooking the same recipes and following the same rituals as our ancestors.

I cherish those time-honored edibles (and potables) as much as the next gal: the frost-thickened old-fashioneds my clan raises high to toast the onset of the holiday season; the meaty, sage-scented stuffing that makes our turkey a Thanksgiving turkey; the crispy, waffle-like Belgian cookies we bake for Christmas. Still, I treasure the seasonal foodways of other groups, too.

Take chetröl, for instance. Also called rullepølse, it means “meat roll” and is a spiced cold cut that Scandinavians serve on buttered julekake, a yeast-raised bread filled with candied cherries, citron, and raisins. I learned about chetröl when my friend Virginia persuaded me to help recreate her Norwegian-American family’s version of it. Together, we studied recipes and conferred about technique. We selected the best local ingredients we could find—grass-fed beef, onions, organic butter. We stuffed, brined, and simmered the meat. We cooked our way to a deeper level of friendship.

Now not only can I produce a mean chetröl, but each time I eat some, I re-connect with a loved one. I span time and dimension to “become Norwegian” for a moment and blend our stories to grow a new tradition.

Delicious.

This holiday season, try making some of these ethnic recipes with friends and family. More hands make a merry kitchen!

Rullepolse: Many of Wisconsin’s Norwegian-Americans crave this specialty at Christmastime; likewise, numerous descendants of Icelanders, Danes and Swedes. I’m not Scandinavian, but after learning how to make it from a friend, I crave it, too.

Mavish (Rose-Shaped Armenian Pastries): I learned how to make mavish, an Armenian rose-shaped pastry, from my late colleague Araxy Arganian, who told me the word means “nothing,” as in, the pastries are so light it’s as if you’re eating nothing. Mavish is kept on hand during the holidays to share with neighbors who stop by.

Mexican Tamales: Like many ethnic holiday specialties that require elaborate preparation, tamales encourage family and friends to gather together and share tasks, making the process as nourishing as the results.