Bulgarian Banitsa
While many American families enjoy traditional Thanksgiving desserts such as apple, pecan, and pumpkin pie, Berkeley High School junior Oleg Mironov’s family, and other Bulgarian families across the country, make a very old recipe called Banitsa. Banitsa is a pastry made with filo dough, filled with many decadent fillings including various meats, cheeses, eggs, and fruit. Mironov’s family frequently makes the dish filled only with feta cheese. “It reminds me of childhood. It also just tastes really, (really) good … it's just a comfort food,” Mironov said.
Banitsa holds great Bulgarian cultural significance because it is often served at important events like New Year's and other celebrations. The dish dates back to the 1500s in Bulgaria and has been a very popular dish throughout the country since it's creation. Mironov’s family has been making this dish for three generations now, starting with his grandmother. “We have this really handwritten notebook that was my grandma’s. We had used a bunch of Bulgarian recipes from there, including Banitsa,” Mironov said.
Ingredients
Filo dough
Butter
Feta cheese
Large eggs
Milk
Salt
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350*
Mix the salt, cheese, eggs, and milk together until homogenized in a bowl
Make five layers of filo dough and butter
Pour wet ingredients onto the dough until it is covered, repeat the process until the baking dish is full
Bake for 35 minutes, let rest and enjoy
American Sweet potato pie
Rashawd Lane-Jones is a junior at BHS who identifies as African American. His family’s signature holiday dish is sweet potato pie, although according to Lane-Jones, they enjoy it year round. Lane-Jones’ great-grandmother created the recipe herself, and passed it onto his grandmother, his mother, and now him. He loves the dish because it brings his family together and of course because of its fantastic taste.
Lane-Jones’ grandmother makes it by peeling, mashing, and pureeing sweet potatoes, followed by mixing in a variety of spices. She uses a lot of nutmeg, cinnamon, and sugar to enhance the flavor of the pie. The smooth paste is then refrigerated until fully chilled prior to being scooped into pie crust and baked. Lane-Jones likes it a lot because of his sweet tooth, and also because of the deeper meaning it holds in his family.
Ingredients
Pie Crust
Sweet potatoes
Nutmeg
Cinnamon
Sugar
Instructions.
Wash, peel, remove strings, and mash sweet potatoes until they are smooth
Mix in nutmeg, sugar, cinnamon, and spices of your liking
Chill the paste until it is more solid
Put the paste inside the pie crust and bake until crust is golden brown, serve after mild cooling and enjoy with whipped cream or marshmallows on top
El Salvadorian Pupusas
BHS freshman Luca Macquart and his family celebrate the holidays, particularly Christmas, with warm, crunchy flatbread called Pupusas. This dish is a delightful culinary commonplace in El Salvadorian households like Macquart’s, and is also served as a street food. Pupusas are made across Latin America, but they are mostly found in El Salvador.
Macquart stresses the importance of authentic masa and fresh ingredients. His grandmother introduced it as a family recipe, and they continue to make the dish very traditionally, forming the tortillas by hand and cooking everything from scratch. The dish can be best described as a thick, crispy, and cheesy flatbread. According to Macquart, his family usually fills pupusas with beans and cheese, but all types of meats can also be added. The dish is often topped with a red sauce, served alongside other holiday dishes.
Ingredients
Traditional El-Salvadoran red sauce
Homemade tortillas:
Masa flour
Water
Filling:
Cheese of your choice
Mashed beans
Meat of your choice
Instructions
Mix the masa flour with water until a dough is formed and press it down with a tortilla press or your hands
Once the tortilla is flat, fill with beans, cheese, and meat
Fry until golden brown or crispy
Serve with red sauce and enjoy
Polish Pierogi Dumpling Soup
Jarvis Jirsa is a BHS junior who celebrates Christmas with a traditional Polish holiday dish called Pierogi soup. Polish families often make the dish around the holidays, but also as a casual “pick me up” for dinner. Jirsa’s family typically fills the dumplings with cottage cheese and eggs, and makes the soup with a comforting beef broth base and other herbs. The dish is often accompanied with beef and carrots in the broth. Jirsa enjoys the dish because it fosters connection. “I really feel like it's the time that everyone can come together and be friends,” Jirsa said.
Similar to Mironov, this family recipe began with his grandmother. According to Jirsa, the original recipe was created when a Polish mother was experimenting in the kitchen. Jirsa encouraged everyone to try the dish at least once, and claimed it is his favorite Polish holiday dish for many reasons. “It's good, and it's with family, and because it tastes f---ing incredible,” Jirsa said.
Ingredients
DOUGH:
Eggs
Flour
Filling:
Cottage cheese
Eggs
Salt & Pepper
BROTH:
Beef stock
Herbs and Spices
Carrots
Water
Salt
Instructions
Simmer beef stock and spices for a few hours on low heat
Mix the eggs, flour, salt, and water together until a dough is formed
Roll out and the dough and shape into squares
Fill squares with cottage cheese, a couple eggs, salt, and pepper
Boil the dumplings until soft
Place the dumplings in the soup and enjoy