To some, the sound of garlic and oil sizzling reminds them of family. For others, it’s the texture of spring roll wrappers, the smell of fried food or an image of the family’s matriarch cooking dinner. Regardless of background, families have rich culinary traditions that are shared generationally. Distraction asked students to document their culinary traditions and the memories that bring them back to their roots.
Classic Hamantaschen
My mother and I work hard every year to make hamantaschen cookies to celebrate Purim, a Jewish holiday. She has lovingly taught me the techniques to form hamantaschen into the shape of a perfect triangle cookie, which resembles the hat worn by Haman, the antagonist in the story of Purim. While traditional hamantaschen cookies are filled with poppy seeds, dried fruit or fruit preserves, my mother and I sometimes give them a modern twist by filling ours with Nutella and chocolate sauce.
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup oil
- 1 ¼ cup sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. salt
- 4 ½ cups flour
Method
- In a large bowl, beat four eggs.
- Beat in oil, sugar, vanilla, baking powder and salt.
- Add flour gradually and mix all ingredients together thoroughly.
- Knead until the mixture is smooth enough to roll on a floured board or pastry cloth.
- Roll the dough out into four portions, about ¼ inch thick each.Use the rim of a cup to cut 3 to 4-inch circles out of the dough.
- Place the desired filling by the tsp. in each circle. Make a triangle shape by pinching together three sides of the circle.
- Place cookies on a lightly greased baking sheet and bake for 20 to25 minutes at 375 degrees. This yields about 72 hamantaschen.
words_emma goodstein.
Great-Grandma Van De Putte’s Pumpkin Torte
Pumpkin torte has been a Thanksgiving staple in my family for three generations—it’s like pumpkin pie with a cheesecake and graham cracker twist. My great-grandmother, Margaret Van De Putte, made it every year, and my grandmother has done the same after her. Last year, I made it myself for the first time. “My earliest memory of it must’ve been when I was nine or 10 years old,” my grandmother, Carolyn Brownstein, recalled. “My brother and I used to argue over who would get the crusty corner piece. I started making it myself in the 70s or 80s, and everyone I’ve ever made it for has loved it. It’s definitely a unique recipe.”
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 1 2/3 cup graham cracker crumbs
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 stick of butter, melted
Layer 1:
- one 8-ounce package of cream cheese, softened
- 2 eggs, beaten
- ¾ cup sugar
Layer 2:
- one 16-ounce can pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
- 3 eggs, separated
- ½ cup sugar, divided
- ½ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
- ¼ cup cold water
Method
To make the crust:
- Mix together the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter and pat into the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch pan.
To make the bottom layer:
- Beat together the cream cheese, eggs and sugar. Spoon over theprepared crust. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cool.
To make the top layer:
- Place the pumpkin, egg yolks, ¼ cup of the sugar, milk, cinnamon and salt in a heavy saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring until the mixture comes to a boil.
- Remove from heat. In a separate bowl, stir the gelatin and water together and let sit about two minutes to soften.
- Then stir into the pumpkin mixture and let cool completely.
- Beat the egg whites with the remaining ¼ cup of sugar until stiff peaks form. Then fold lightly into the cooled pumpkin mixture.
- Pour over cream cheese layer and refrigerate for two hours.
words_emmalyse brownstein.
Grandma Candida’s Puerto Rican Red Rice & Beans
Upon first glance, you wouldn’t guess that I am of Puerto Rican descent. Sometimes, I question the origins of my heritage myself—I look more Polish than Puerto Rican, don’t speak a lick of Spanish and lack the rhythm of my ancestors. There are a few memories that remind me of who I am, like those of grandma Candy crouched over the kitchen sink, picking through grains of white rice. She would make sure only the most perfect morsels got into her dish. There was never a weekend that Grandma didn’t work at the stove from dawn to dusk, cooking enough rice, beans, plantains and chicken to last the following week. When she passed, my father continued to cook her rice and beans weekly—a delicious legacy that I will carry on.
Pink Beans Ingredients
- two cans of pink beans, drained
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 large potato, peeled and chopped
- two 8-ounce cans of tomato sauce
- 2 packets Sazón
- 1 tbsp. Recaito
- 1 tbsp. Sofrito
Red Rice Ingredients
- 3 cups medium-grain white rice
- 2 packets Sazón
- 1 tbsp. Recaito
- 1 tablespoon Sofrito
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 tbsp. salt
- 1 jar Spanish pitted olives
Method
To make the beans:
- Add all the ingredients to a pot and cover them completely with water.
- Cook on high heat until potatoes are soft when poked with a fork, stirring continuously.
- Reduce heat after potatoes soften and mix frequently until the mixture boils.
- Serve and inevitably save some for later.
To make the rice:
- Put rice in a large bowl and rinse until the water runs clear (may take several rinses).
- Cover the bottom of a large pot with olive oil. Add rice to the pot and combine with oil on high heat.
- Cover rice completely with water and stir in the remaining ingredients.
- Boil for 10 minutes while stirring frequently.
- Reduce to low heat.
- Take a dish towel and place between the lid and the pot and press down to seal.
- Steam rice for an additional 20 to 30 minutes, turning rice frequently with a wooden spoon.
- Serve and enjoy.
words_olivia ginsberg.
Pasta Fagioli
My great-grandmother, Mary Yates, traveled from Sicily to the United States at 14 years old. She traveled with no money and no papers, just the belongings she could carry. To her, cooking was an art form—she made everything—pasta, sausage and sauces—from scratch, and even had her own vegetable garden. The very first time my father brought my mother to meet his family, my grandmother made pasta fagioli. It was so delicious that my mother immediately asked for the recipe, and now, every time she makes it, we think of the one and only Mary Yates.
Ingredients
- 1 box of small elbow noodles
- 3 cups marrow beans
- 1 jar tomato sauce
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 stalk of celery, finely chopped
- 1 medium white onion, finely chopped
- 1 large fresh tomato, finely chopped
- Capricola ham, diced
- Pepperoni or bacon, diced
Method
- Wash the marrow beans and bring them to a boil in a large pot, leaving about 1 inch of water above the beans.
- Skim off the top of the beans several times.
- Add more water into the pot, boil and let simmer for 30 minutes.
- Add in celery and onion. Let sit for several hours.
- In a separate pot, heat spaghetti sauce, tomatoes and meat.
- Add this mixture to the marrow beans. Keep adding water, if beans recede, and cook until the mixture is smooth.
- Add salt and black pepper to taste.
- Cook the box of small elbow noodles separately and drain.
- Add cooked pasta to the mixture and serve.
words_savannah yates.
Arepas Venezolanas
Sunday morning breakfasts with the Milan family are synonymous with sizzling golden eggs and the oven-baked aroma of a dozen piping-hot “arepas”. Arepas are Venezuela’s signature sandwiched delicacy that my mother, Maria Talamo-Milan, first discovered as a child in Caracas. “I learned how to make arepas and most of my cooking from watching my abuela,“ she said. Despite never having visited our mom’s native country, my brother and I taste, savor and recreate the flavors of her rich upbringing by tapping into her childhood tradition weekend after weekend.
Ingredients
- 1lb P.A.N. Pre-cooked White Corn Meal
- 2 cups warm water
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. corn oil
Filling:
- Breakfast: “Perico” = scrambled eggs + minced onions + tomatoes
- Meat Lover: “Pabellón” = pulled beef + black beans + “maduros” (fried sweet plantains) + grated white cheese
- Vegetarian: “Dominó” = black beans + shredded white cheese
- Snack Time: “Queso” = butter + Venezuelan white cheese (try “guayanés,” “paisa” or “queso de mano”)
Method
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, add wet and dry ingredients.
- Combine the contents with a spatula until the dough is thoroughly kneaded.
- Shape and roll dough into fist-sized balls.
- Flatten balls into smooth circular discs about1-inch thick. Place in a cast iron pan.
- Grill for five minutes over medium-heat on a stovetop. Flip and repeat.
- Transfer hot arepas to the oven immediately and bake for seven minutes at 350 degrees.
- Slice arepas with a sharp knife and remove crumb.
- Stuff with desired fillings and serve immediately.
words_gianna milan.
Maman Joon’s Koresh-e Karafs
In Persian culture, people are brought together by food. My grandma, or as I call her, Maman Joon, gathers her family every Friday night for Shabbat dinner with the special recipes from her life in Iran. All 13 grandchildren and our parents gather around the long wooden table that holds of Maman Joon’s dishes. We replace the words of Shalom Aleichem, a common prayer sung on Shabbat evening, with Maman Joon’s unique rendition that includes the simple sound of nai, nai, nai. After we all sing together, with arms wrapped around one another and the aroma of the food in the air, we indulge in multiple plates of our favorite Persian dishes.
Among the many dishes she makes, Khoresh-e karafs, or celery stew, is one of my favorites. Khoresh is translated as stew in English, and is a complicated and delicate process. Each khoresh has its own flavor and ingredients, making them all so unique. Khoresh is always served with rice and tahdig or “crunchy rice”—the rice that collects all the oil and crisps at the bottom of the pot. While it is time consuming, lots of care goes into making koresh and it is worth it. It is always full of flavor, warms my stomach and makes me feel at home.
Ingredients
- 2 large white onions, peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 lemons
- 1 pound stew meat (lamb, veal or beef )
- 1/3 cup oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ tsp. turmeric
- 5 stalks celery, washed and chopped
- 3 cups chopped fresh parsley
- 2 cups of water
- ½ cup chopped fresh mint
Method
- Place oil in a large pot and warm on medium heat.
- Cut onions thinly and put in pot with oil, fry for five minutes.
- Add meat and turmeric to pot, cook for another five minutes.
- Pour water into pot and cover for 30 minutes on medium heat.
- Chop fresh parsley and mint and add to pot, cover and cook for an hour and a half on low heat.
- Cut celery and add to pot, cover for 30 minutes on low heat.
- Season with salt and add fresh lemon juice.
- Cook for another 10 minutes on low heat.
- Serve with white rice or on its own. Nooshen Jaan!
words_lauren mokhtarzadeh.
Pate Kode: Fried Patties
Pate Kode is a traditional dish prepared by the Haitian community, most often as a part of a “fritay,” a meal consisting of different fried foods. On the island of Haiti, this is a common street food sold to tourists, visitors and islanders. On my summer vacations to Haiti as a young girl, my grandmother would take me into the kitchen and have me watch as she made pate kode for a midday meal. Returning home to West Palm Beach, I’ve been able to remake this dish with friends and enjoy the savory taste of the crispy, filled dough
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. salt
- ½ cup + 2 tbsp. cold water
- ½ tsp. bouillon base or half crushed bouillon cube
Hotdogs & Eggs Filling:
- 1 hotdog, sliced into 4 strips and diced
- 1 hard boiled egg, diced
- 1 tbsp. oil
- 1 tbsp. epis
- ¼ cup onions, sliced
- ½ hot pepper, diced (optional)
- ⅛ tsp. garlic powder
- ⅛ tsp. onion powder
- ⅛ tsp. dried thyme
- Pinch of black pepper
Chicken, Cabbage & Eggs Filling:
- 1 chicken thigh
- ½ a lime or lemon, juice reserved
- 1 tbsp. epis
- 1 tbsp. reserved liquid from chicken
- ¼ tsp. salt
- ⅛ tsp. garlic powder
- ⅛ tsp. onion powder
- ⅛ tsp.dried thyme
- Pinch of black pepper
- 1 clove
- 1 cup shredded cabbage
- 1 hard boiled egg, diced
- 1 tbsp. oil
- ¼ cup onions, sliced
- ½ hot pepper, diced (optional)
Method
- Prepare the meat the night before by cleaning, boiling and seasoning with epis. Then, shred the meat into small, thin pieces.
- Hard boil 10 eggs and cut each into four pieces.
- Dice onions and green peppers. Add any other veggies you may want.
- Sauté the vegetables and mix them in with the chicken prepared the night before. Add any extra seasoning and lime.
- Next, pour flour into a big bowl, add an ample amount of baking soda and butter and mix until it reaches a tender consistency.
- Add sauce made of water, epis, salt and seasonings of your choice into the flour and continue to mix. Knead the flour until it becomes a dough.
- Separate the dough into small balls and roll them into flat circles using a roller.
- Add the prepared meat you want into the middle of the dough.
- Fold the dough over the meat and press around the edges to close. Press a fork down around the edge of the dough to add a design.
- Heat vegetable oil in a pan and let it warm for five minutes.
- Place the uncooked pate in the pan and fry until the crust is a crisp, tan color.
- Let cool, add pikliz (pickled salad) and enjoy!
words_laura francois.
Lumpiang ‘Lumpia’ Shanghai
Every Filipino family has a twist or special ingredient that makes their lumpiang shanghai (commonly known as “lumpia”) unique, so there isn’t one exact recipe. When I first learned how to make lumpia, it was from my grandma. We sat in the kitchen for three hours just talking and rolling each lumpia by hand. She would make me redo any that were not up to her standards. Since then, I’ve spent hours making Lumpia with my grandma and have taken her recipe to school to make it with friends. That’s what I love about making lumpia: it’s a time consuming dish, so you can talk and connect to the people you’re making it with.
Ingredients
- 30 lumpia or spring roll wrappers
- 1 small bowl of water
- 1 cup vegetable oil, for frying
- sweet chili sauce (dipping sauce to serve with lumpia)
Lumpiang Shanghai Filling
- 2 lbs ground pork, ground chicken or ground turkey
- ½ cup carrots, minced
- ½ cup yellow onion, minced
- ½ cup green onion, chopped
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. ground black pepper
Method
- If wrappers are frozen, take out of freezer and thaw before separating and filling.
- In a large bowl, combine ground meat with minced carrots, yellow onion, green onion and garlic. Mix well and add garlic powder, salt and pepper.
- Place a spoonful of the filling on your lumpia wrapper and spread out in a long, thin line. Begin to roll the wrapper around the filling tightly, making sure the wrapper rolls evenly.
- At about ½ inch of lumpia wrapper left, dip fingers into a bowl of water and line the edge of the wrapper. Seal lumpia roll and set aside. Before frying, cut lumpia rolls into 1-inch pieces.
- After rolling all your lumpia, fill a pot with 1 cup vegetable oil over medium to medium-low heat. You’ll know if the oil is ready for frying if you take a small piece of the lumpia wrapper and drop it into the oil and bubbles begin to form around it.
- Place lumpia in oil and fry for four minutes per side, or until the wrapper is golden brown.
- Once cooked, place lumpia on a plate lined with a paper towel to remove excess oil. Serve with sweet chili sauce and enjoy!
words_emilie villaverde.
photo_sydney burnett & teagan polizzi. design_giovanni aprigliano & jess morgan.
This article was published in Distraction’s fall 2020 print issue.
