Dec 16, 2015 5 min read

Sometimes cooking local means something totally different, especially when you have international guests. That is; when you are cooking their local cuisine.

Christmas has always been a special time in the Carei household. One would think it was due to the fact that the stoves are running non-stop since Thanksgiving. Or, the fact that so many kids are eager for Santa to arrive. This is true. But over the past years, our Christmas has been heavily influenced by the outside world. We have hosted exchange students and some of our children have been hosted by families in other countries. Because of this, our Christmas menu has evolved as we experience other cultures Christmas, holiday foods and traditions.

Our first exchange student that we had was, Klaus Juhl -which is the ultimate Christmas name. He was from Denmark and introduced us to risengrod, caramel potatoes, smoked herring, liver pate and of course our favorite, Julebryg, Christmas beer. Risengrod is rice pudding and one almond is put in the batch and the person who gets the almond will have luck for the year. I was fortunate to become an exchange student in Denmark and really experienced the magic of Christmas in the land of Hans Christian Anderson. I was plied with smoked salmon, flaeskekod and Christmas Snapps. And the sweets, Marzipan, crystalized fruits, you get the idea.

Later, we got a taste of the German experience with Stephan. The Germans are not far behind the Danes in their celebrating. Long before Christmas started, the Germans started Yuletide; a mid-winter celebration. Pairing with Christmas just ramped up the celebration. Popular dishes include kartofflesalat(potato salad), Bratopfel(baked apples). Fondue is popular on Christmas Eve, gingerbread cookies and gluhwein(mulled wine) is at every home.

Our French influence came from Lisa, who hailed from the culinary capital of the world; Lyon, France. That Christmas she re-introduced us to foie gras, gougeres(cheese puffs), and coquilles St. Jacques(scallops in cream). They follow Gros Souper: a meal of up to seven meatless meals, served early Christmas Eve with “Le Reveillon”, meaning “awakening”,which is the late feast right after midnight mass. Caviar, oysters, escargots, duck, chestnuts, minimum 13 desserts and champagne., Lisa helped us learn what a feast really was.

After several more students, who have helped our evolution, we now have Max from China. He is Max #2, as we had Max from Germany, also. His family is Buddhist and has never celebrated Christmas. We look forward to showing him our ‘local’ Christmas celebration. We will certainly try to encourage him to add to our culinary table. Maybe we will make radish fritters, which are local to him and unique to us and quite tasty.

Caileigh, Braden and Austin who represented our families for Christmas’ in Brazil, Italy and Taiwan have helped transform our holiday table even more. We hope that your Christmas table has been influenced by local cuisine no matter where ‘local’ may be.

Gougeres: Cheesepuffs (Lisa — France)

1/2 cup water

½ cup milk

Stick of cold butter cut into pieces

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

5 eggs

1 ½ cups Gruyere(Swiss) cheese, shredded

3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

¼ teaspoon black pepper

Bring milk, water, salt and butter to a boil in sauce pan. Vigoursly whisk in flour and heat on medium heat until dough pulls away from pan. Let dough sit for a couple of minutes. Using mixer or very strong arms, beat in eggs one at a time until fully incorporated(dough should be shiny). Beat in cheeses and spices. Immediately spoon drop like cookies onto sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Bake in pre-heated 375 degree oven for around 15 minutes. Initially this will be hard to make, but after a few times it will be a piece of cake.

Radish Fritters (Max II — China)

Cup of shredded radishes

1 egg

¼ cup flour

¼ cup chopped green onions

1 teaspoon ginger minced or ½ tsp. dry ground

Splash of soy sauce

Salt and pepper

Cornstarch

Oil for frying.

If radishes are very watery, then drain a little. Shredding with a large hole box shredder works best. Mix all ingredients except for cornstarch. Form into balls and roll in cornstarch and deep fry or fry like a Latke (potato pancake) in a skillet. Serve with Asian dipping sauce.

Stuffed Apple: Bratopfel (Stephan — Germany)

4 apples cores removed Leave about 1 inch from bottom intact.

½ cup cream cheese room temperature

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ cup chopped pecans

¼ cup raisins

¼ cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon butter cut in four pieces

Mix together cream cheese, cinnamon, pecans and raisins. Stuff filling into apples. Top with brown sugar and butter. Bake in pre-heated 375 degree oven fort 35-40 minutes.

Caramel potatoes: Karamel Kartofler (Klaus — Denmark)

2 pounds small potatoes

salt

½ cup sugar

4 tablespoons butter

Boil potatoes in salted water, do not overcook. Cool and peel, Heat sugar in saucepan on stove. When melted, stir in butter and then potatoes. Slowly and carefully stir potatoes until fully coated. May take some time. Serve as is or salt them a little.

Gluhwein (Max 1 — Germany)

Bottle dry red wine like cabernet sauvignon or Beaujolais

Rind of orange and lemon

1 tablespoon whole clovesn

2 cinnamon stix

½ cup sugar

½ cup water

Bring water and sugar to boil, reduce to simmer. Add rest of ingredients. Put cloves in tea ball infuser or wrap in cheesecloth and hang in wine. Drop in cinnamon stix.

You can substitute 1 teaspoon of all spice for cloves and cinnamon. Keep warm in a crockpot or sterno dish to have ready for your guest and to create a Christmas fragrance in the home.

Chef Joe Carei has been an award-winning chef in Fayette County nearly half of his life. The former PA Restaurateur of the Year now operates Ellie Mae’s Catering and Food Clubs. He can be reached at joe@elliemaescatering.com.