2017 Home for the Holidays

Page 40 2017 Home for the Holidays LINCOLN DAILY NEWS November 22, 2017 One American tradition is oyster stew on Christmas Eve. This grew out of the Catholic tradition of refraining from meat on this day. The Irish potato famine led to mass immigration of Irish Catholics to the United States. In their home country, ling fish was used in the stew. With the United States not having ling, oysters were found to be a great substitute, and oysters were very plentiful as well. Along the lines of the oyster stew, Southern Italians follow the “Feast of the Seven Fishes.” As the name suggests, seven courses of different fish centered around an extended family party. Turkey has become the traditional Christmas Day dinner, especially for those of British descent. King Henry VII was probably the person most responsible for the turkey tradition, but turkeys didn’t keep well without refrigeration. This means unless you raised them, or had a farmer you knew, turkey didn’t really become popular until the 1950’s. More traditional was some sort of fowl roasted, with goose being most popular. My mother-in-law recalls having goose or duck most often, and this fit right in with butchering these between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Dad’s family usually had guinea. Other reports of the main fare include pheasant and even peacock. All the trimmings also create family traditions. Favorites include sweet potatoes, carrots, mashed potatoes and gravy, turnips, and CONTINUED ===