Feasting on Diversity This Holiday Season

Entering into the holiday season inevitably brings up feelings of nostalgia. Family, old friends, new friends, traditions, memories from the past we try to revive in some fashion. Luckily, we’re fortunate to live in a part of the country that celebrates so many different cultures and holiday traditions—some familiar, some may be new to you—but that’s the magical part of living in a city like Philadelphia.

I had the opportunity to check in with several chefs to find out what specialties grace their holiday tables—and why they’re favorites. We even got them to share some recipes. Prepare to be inspired as we go behind the kitchen door with some of your favorite Philly food folks.

A Thanksgiving that Honors the African Diaspora

with Honeysuckle Provisions’ Cybille St. Aude-Tate and Omar Tate

The magical, intimate feeling of being in someone’s home—this is precisely what Cybille St. Aude-Tate and Omar Tate from Honeysuckle Provisions are creating. What I loved about my conversation with them was hearing how they prepare meals for Thanksgiving based on exactly what they will be enjoying themselves in their own home: the turkey, the cranberry hibiscus sauce, the candied yams with honey orange syrup, the mac and cheese, the ginger greens (vegan, spicy, and delicious).

The prepared offerings for the holiday season intentionally help tell the story of Honeysuckle and showcase their personal attachment to the store and the value system that makes it what it is.

When asked which preparations for Thanksgiving stand out, they mentioned how the turkey is done differently in their house. Most people prepare and serve a whole turkey for Thanksgiving, but it is more traditional in Haitian culture, and much of the African diaspora, to prepare the bird into smaller pieces and have it cooked down into sauce.

At Honeysuckle Provisions, the whole turkey is still utilized. You’ll find the braised legs and wings, which make for a rich turkey demi-glace, while the breasts are then utilized for the deli turkey in store. Omar, born and raised in West Philly, was preparing turkeys in this way well before he and Cybille, who is Haitian-American, met.

They source their turkeys from Kyle Smith of Smith Poultry, a small farm in Williamstown, NJ, whose philosophy with food is “grow, teach, sustain,” which is certainly so much a part of the philosophy imparted through Honeysuckle Provisions.

Significantly, during the holidays—or really anytime there is the intention to gather—there is a “particular acknowledgment of the collective experience of us being here,” Tate says. The respectful and dutiful recognition and appreciation for ancestors is an important element when sharing the meal.

Having two young children, it’s important to the couple that their children are engaged with the meal-making process, whether that means taking them to the farms they source from to see the animals or even having their 2-year-old try to make a pastry or patty. Getting them involved in the cooking process—embracing the precious, personal elements at home—is something they try to fold into their everyday lives.

Honeysuckle’s holiday meal kits are available in store and are prepared for you 90 percent of the way, with clear instructions for what to do the day of so you can enjoy a beautiful, warm meal evoking all of the love and good intention they forge into each element.

A Latke Party

with Liberty Kitchen’s Matt Budenstein

Matt Budenstein of Liberty Kitchen embraces the holiday season potluck style in the form of latke parties. It’s almost exactly as it sounds. Whoever is hosting prepares a ton of latkes and everyone shows up with a smorgasbord of toppings. You can get as creative as you like here: creme fraîche, smoked salmon, caviar.

Matt believes that food culture, particularly as it relates to Judaism and Jewish heritage, is one of the most relevant holds on religious culture. Even if you aren’t a religious observer, you still want to eat the food you grew up with over the holidays. The memory association is strong.

And here’s the thing: People who don’t even really know what Hanukkah is all about still know and enjoy a good latke party.

In the spirit of sharing cherished recipes, Matt delightfully relays his method instead: “Latke party recipe: Get a food processor. Get a shitload of potatoes shredded. Mix in a bunch of flour, eggs, seasoning. As you run out of potatoes, add some more. It’s a free-flowing latke situation. Every latke is different.”

“Would you say latkes are like snowflakes, then?” I quip.

“Yes, exactly like that. No two are close to similar. You can have four pans going on at the same time. Different pans, different temps.” Different latkes.

Latke parties aren’t strictly relegated to potatoes, either. You can find all sorts of Jewish-inspired dishes, like brisket, for instance. When it comes to the details of toppings, Matt has some helpful advice for anyone looking to throw their own latke party.

Your typical, traditional condiments are sour cream and applesauce. But there is always room to make it bougie, whether that is adding caviar, salmon roe, chives, or a little creme fraîche.

If you’re keeping it classic, Matt recommends the applesauce from Three Springs Fruit Farm.

Italian Christmas Traditions

with Midnight Pasta’s Natalia Lepore Hagan

Alas, we certainly can’t get this far into an exploration about holiday tradition and nostalgia without a discussion about a Feast of the Seven Fishes Italian-style dinner. Which is exactly why Natalia Lepore Hagan of Midnight Pasta, “the youngest pasta granny in Philly,” was someone I was eager to catch up with.

Natalia’s grandfather is the one who taught her how to make pasta growing up, and she would help him do so for 20–30 people at a time. They indulge in the Christmastime tradition of the Feast of the Seven Fishes that they do in their “own kind of crazy way,” she explains.

A Broadway performer who decided to go to culinary school during the pandemic, Natalia made a distinct return to her roots and fully immersed herself in the world of handmade pasta.

Having opened Midnight Pasta back in March and partnered up with Fishtown Seafood, she takes pride (deservedly so) in the fact that she touches every single portion of pasta she sells. So when it comes to the holiday season, that special touch quite literally is felt in all of her dishes.

This year, her familial generation is fully taking over the execution of dinner while the generation that taught them the delightfully chaotic art of Christmas-time meal preparation will take on the tasks of setting the table and the decor.

According to Natalia, in her family you start learning how to make pasta as soon as you can stand and reach the table. Her pasta-mentor-grandfather learned from his mother, who came to the U.S. from Italy, and Natalia continues to use some of her original recipes. Her special contribution to the night: the homemade spaghetti with a squid and calamari red sauce.

If you’re looking to make your own version of a Seven Fishes–inspired meal, feel free to use Natalia’s recipe here as your guide, but don’t be afraid to substitute your favorite fish and seafood to suit your tastes—and there’s no reason you have to limit yourself to just seven!

Of course, I was curious how someone from New York via Ohio ended up choosing Philadelphia as a home base. Besides the logistical fact that this is her spouse’s hometown, quite simply: “Philly is warm. There are people who want to collaborate and there is not a ton of ego. It’s friends helping friends.”

She couldn’t be more right about that.

Nochebuena: A Filipino Feast

with Tabachoy’s Chance Anies

Chance Anies, chef-owner of Tabachoy in Bella Vista, embodies the sense of hospitality that is so quintessential to the Philippines. Being a Catholic country, there is a special observance around the holiday season that focuses on the Christmas tradition.

Not unlike many Latin American countries, people in the Philippines celebrate Nochebuena, the night before Christmas, when there is a special meal prepared for eating around 10pm before opening presents at midnight.

As Anies remarks, a lot of the food prepared during this time is really only eaten during those holidays. It’s not something you’re going to find on the regular Tabachoy menu because these dishes are meant to be for special holiday occasions.

A prime example being lechon, a whole roasted pig. The tradition of lechon has shifted in many ways to be like the Italian porchetta, where you’re working primarily with the pork belly, making it overall a more manageable endeavor than the whole hog. (You’ll find the occasional lechon special at Tabachoy, where it can be cherished.)

I ask Anies how, separate from the restaurant, when he is with family and friends prepping for a holiday gathering, what does he like to contribute?

His response catches me off guard, as he whimsically states he loves preparing desserts (then again, if you’ve had any of the desserts from Tabachoy, you wouldn’t be surprised by this).

Though not a pastry chef, Anies wholeheartedly believes in the beauty of his leche flan. This is a dish that his dad, who was also a chef, taught him growing up. With a smile, he tells me that Filipino flan is just way better than other flan.

He explains that so often flan comes off as sweet scrambled eggs. Filipino leche flan is more custardy and when done right, it’s perfectly creamy and bouncy. He will make it as often as he can for the holiday season. As he reminds me so simply, but poignantly: Food is honest. Technique can get you far as a chef, but when you add that layer of emotion, you are able to fully tell a whole story through a dish.

“When you cook for somebody, you get an instant reaction,” Anies explains. For better or worse, people are going to tell you what they feel when it comes to food. Being vulnerable pushes other people to be honest as well. “You are taking a skill and making it public and sharing it with someone else. Not vulnerable in a negative way—just such an opportunity for growth within relationships.” It’s simultaneously magical and intimate.

“What I love about having my [own] space is that I’m not telling any other people’s stories. This is a story that is very specific to me and you feel [and are] getting what I am giving you.”

If you want to try your hand at Anies’ Filipino Flan, head to our website to find the recipe: ediblephilly.ediblecommunities.com/recipes.