As the holiday season approaches, the delicious aroma of comforting spices and warmth wafts from kitchens across the city. At a school as diverse as NYCMS, student’s families are celebrating a wide range of holidays and cooking an even wider range of foods.
Senior Jennifer Panama’s family celebrates Christmas by preparing homemade quimbolitos, a traditional Ecuadorian steamed pastry. Quimbolito batter typically consists of corn flour, eggs, butter, and sugar. Ingredients such as raisins or cheese are sometimes incorporated in addition for a delightful surprise inside. The cakes are traditionally steamed in achira, or banana leaves–this process is essential, as the banana leaves impart a subtle, earthy aroma to the Quimbolito.
Nyla Peart, another senior here at NYCMS enjoys Jamaican stew chicken during the holiday season. Stew chicken is the epitome of a Caribbean braised chicken dish–it’s delightfully juicy, fall-off-the-bone-tender, and marinated in heaps of aromatics such as cloves and allspice. And, of course, it wouldn’t be a true Caribbean meal without the signature, mouth-numbing heat from scotch bonnet peppers. The key to succulent and finger-licking-juicy stew chicken is to marinate the meat for as long as possible; it may be time-consuming, but it’s absolutely a worthwhile endeavor.
Senior Elio Mancinelli celebrates the New Year’s with a unique Spanish tradition called The Twelve Grapes. The goal of the challenge is to stuff one grape in your mouth for each chime of the Puerta Del Sol clock tower and swallow them before the clock strikes 12:01. Funnily enough, the tradition calls for participants to eat their grapes underneath a table, which is said to bring good luck for the coming year.
Senior Ruby Feuerstein enjoys pillowly, sugary sufganiyot during the holiday season. Sufganiyot are round, jelly-filled donuts often enjoyed during the eight nights of Hanukkah. Sufganiyot are fruity, filling, and unavoidably messy–part of the fun is licking the globs of jelly off your hands and chin! During Hanukkah, Jewish people consume plenty of fried or oily foods. This commemorates the miracle of oil that sustained the Temple’s lamp for eight consecutive nights. Some other Hanukkah favorites include latkes (potato hash pancakes), matzah ball soup, and kugel (a baked potato and egg noodle casserole).
From seniors stuffing grapes in their mouths to those patiently awaiting the tender braised chicken in the oven, our students celebrate the holiday season with a fascinating mix of traditions. Though the dishes and traditions differ, food will always serve as a universal unifier. Holiday dinners represent a moment where we can put aside our differences to enjoy a warm, comforting, and nostalgic meal while bonding with those we love.
