- This is totally a disaster.
Ugh (laughs)!
Hi, I'm Beryl, and this is a very special holiday episode.
We are going to be looking
at holiday/Christmas foods
from Canada, the USA,
Italy,
Argentina, and Poland.
I had only one caveat for this episode.
I begged you to make the recipes easy.
So, hopefully they are.
Let's start.
(upbeat holiday music)
- Hi, my name is Rosalie,
and I live in Quebec, Canada.
Today I'd like to share with you
a special holiday treat called bonbons aux patate,
which literally means potato candy.
They are these cute little swirly confections.
They are soft and crunchy.
They are really simple to make.
They are made with only three basic ingredients.
You have your mashed potatoes,
loads of sugar,
and crunchy peanut butter.
This dish is very typical Quebecois to me,
because we have so many traditional dishes
that are potato-based,
because it's what was widely available
a couple hundred years ago.
And then we have so many classic desserts
that are just pure sugar.
I mean, we are the maple syrup province,
so we really like our sweet stuff.
So it makes complete sense
that such a confection would come to be.
But it really stands out from these other desserts
because it has that nice balance with the peanut butter.
I really like this dessert
because it's kind of a blank canvas
that you can build up on.
You can add some flaky salt or some dark chocolate
to kind of bring out that bitterness or saltiness
to cut through that sugar.
- [Beryl] I don't have any more!
- And it's just so flavorful to me.
This dessert is also special to me
because it was kind of a rare occurrence growing up.
My sister has a peanut allergy,
so we didn't really have it at our house.
I had to go to other people's houses,
or I would have it with my grandma in her kitchen,
so it was really kind of that special little moment
just for the two of us.
For me, the holidays is really all about the family
and the food,
and so my favorite holiday tradition
is rolling the dough.
It's a moment where we just gather
all the extended family,
and half of the people are working
on the pie fillings,
and the other half working on rolling the actual dough.
And so in the end,
we just end up with dozens of savory and sweet pies.
It's a really fun moment.
- Ugh (laughs)!
This is some holiday bull (beep).
- [Rosalie] I really think you should give
bonbon aux patate a try.
It's so easy, shareable,
and it's bound to be a potluck hit.
Well then, (speaking French),
happy holidays to all, and enjoy.
(light jazz music)
- Remember when I said I wanted to do easy recipes?
(light cabaret music)
On paper, yes, simple, only three ingredients,
potato, powdered sugar, peanut butter.
In execution, what the heck (laughs)?
Also, a recipe that calls for one pound of powdered sugar,
I don't...
I'm scared for my teeth.
I hope my dentist isn't watching this.
(laughing) Oh my God!
Oh.
My teeth!
I think this name is a misnomer.
This tastes nothing like a potato.
This tastes like powdered sugar and peanut butter.
The creation of this recipe
must have been absolutely bonkers.
When you make it, the potato becomes liquid,
so you have to keep adding powdered sugar
so that you can get back to, like, a dough form,
even though that was the original form
that you started with.
The amount, like, I ran out of powdered sugar.
I had to go to the store
and buy more powdered sugar.
Shocking.
I'm really not much of a sweets person,
and this is, like, sweets times a million.
It was definitely interesting to make.
I would say this is probably not my cup of tea,
but, like,
10 outta 10 for creativity.
(light jazzy piano music)
- Hey Beryl, my name is Liv,
and I live in Oakland, California.
I am also a content creator here on YouTube
for the channel The Leopard Lodge,
where I do creative projects,
including a lot of cooking,
California Italian cuisine.
The dish I am sharing with you today
is my own twist on Italian bagna cauda.
Bagna cauda is this kind of salty, savory,
garlicky umami dip that you use
for raw or cooked vegetables
or, my personal favorite, a crusty baguette,
comprised of tinned anchovies
and garlic steeped in warm oil
and sometimes butter;
hence the translation hot bath.
I learned how to make bagna cauda
when I was working at an Italian restaurant
in my mid-20s,
and it was the first dish
that ever got me to finally like anchovies.
And now I just can't stop eating them.
Italian food and cooking
was probably the first thing
that my dad and I bonded over when I was kid,
and it definitely made its way
into plenty of holidays that we shared together.
But because my dad lives on the other side of the world,
and we lost my mom when I was teenager,
the holidays are a complicated time of year for me.
And much of my adult life
has been about creating my own traditions,
because I don't have family nearby.
I love this dish because it's comprised
of relatively inexpensive pantry staples
that I always have in my kitchen.
And it comes together pretty quickly,
but tastes intense and complex
and like it's been cooking for days.
This is also something
that I would've never touched as a kid,
so incorporating it into my holiday spread
is almost like challenging my younger self.
Well, Beryl, I know that you say
you hate tinned anchovies,
so I think you should try this dish,
and it might surprise you.
Happy holidays.
- I'm super curious.
I mean, I don't like anchovies,
and it's something that I have said before.
And so any time there's a chance
to change my mind, I'm game.
A pureed anchovy dip
feels like maybe a bold choice
to be something that converts me,
but there's a lot of butter in here and garlic.
Doesn't really smell that anchovy-ey.
Dip, dip, dip,
dippy, dippy, dippy.
(light cabaret music)
I like it (laughs).
There's definitely an anchovy aftertaste,
but it's really good, actually.
It's not that fishy.
I feel like it is more butter and garlic forward,
but at the same time,
there is, like, ode to anchovy.
So it's not fully without that flavor.
It just somehow is really balanced.
This is definitely a fun addition
to your typical dips at a table of food.
Unexpected.
Liv, I'm gonna say it.
You changed my mind about anchovies
in this one instance only.
But this was very good,
and very easy to make.
(light classic jazz music)
- Hello, everyone.
My name is Lea.
I am originally from Poland,
but currently I am living in Chicago, Illinois.
Because Christmas is coming up,
I would like to share with you
a dish near and dear to my heart,
kapusta z grochem,
or boiled sauerkraut with split peas.
A relatively easy,
at least compared to Polish standards, Christmas dish,
and a personal favorite of mine.
Kapusta z grochem is a stew-like dish
with boiled sauerkraut, caramelized onions,
split peas, and a few spices like bay leaf,
allspice, black pepper, the usual.
The sour flavor of the kraut
is really balanced well
with the sweetness of the caramelized onions,
and it creates this warm dish
that you just can't stop eating.
Most dishes eaten on Christmas eve,
which is arguably the most important meal
during Polish Christmas,
will not contain any meat.
Traditionally, families will also make sure
that there is at least 12 dishes on their table.
No one in my immediate family
knows exactly where and how this dish
came to be part of our Christmas dinner,
but it has been there for as long as I can remember,
mostly because I always request that it is made.
It's not Christmas for me without it.
After my family moved to the United States,
we seldom have the opportunity
to go back and see our family
during the Christmas season.
Instead, we would often have a potluck-style dinner
with other members of the Polish community around us
who also could not go back to see their families.
I think discussions about immigration
can often center around how hard it can be
to be away from your family, your friends,
everything that's comforting and familiar,
especially around the holidays.
And that's true, it can be hard.
But I think living abroad
has afforded me the opportunity
to meet a community of people
from parts of Poland that I'm not from
and taste dishes that my family would never make.
And so my understanding
of even what my home country is has grown so greatly
through those opportunities.
So if you're looking to venture into the world
of Eastern European kraut dishes,
or you will use any opportunity
to caramelize those onions,
I highly recommend you try kapusta z grochem.
Merry Christmas, or how we say it in Poland.
(speaking Polish)
- At first blush,
I thought that this recipe was complicated.
It seemed like there was a lot going on,
but actually, very simple to make,
and I love sauerkraut.
I love sauerkraut to the point that,
you know, like when you sometimes
will open the refrigerator
and just eat something out of the jars in there?
I do that with sauerkraut,
and sometimes with my fingers.
And mostly it's just because
I'm the only one in the house who eats it,
so I'm allowed to, but...
Also, this brand that I use, Bubbies,
very delicious.
Sour, like, good and crunchy, good sauerkraut.
(light jazz piano music)
This food is me.
This is, if I was a bowl of food,
I feel like this would be me.
It's crunchy and creamy,
it's sour, and I just love sour.
And there's like a little bit of sweetness.
The caramelized onions are giving it this sweetness,
and there's a little bit of sugar on top.
I mean,
it's perfection.
If you like sauerkraut,
if you like sauerkraut,
have I got the dish for you.
I've never thought to boil sauerkraut before.
Funky.
Okay, let's do the next dish.
(light cabaret music)
- Hi, Beryl, I'm Fiona,
and I'm from Los Angeles, California
in the United States.
The dish I'm gonna be sharing with you all today
is bacon-wrapped dates.
It is the Christmas staple in my house
and so insanely easy to make.
It is a date wrapped in bacon.
Some people stuff them with different cheeses.
I know that my family's secret ingredient
is water chestnuts.
I'm actually the one
who usually makes this at Christmastime.
But the first person in our family to make this
was my uncle,
who we all kind of joke
is obsessed with bacon.
It was an instant hit.
It is the one thing that everyone
from all over the country in our family can agree on,
is that this
friggin' rocks.
They're crunchy and
salty from the bacon
and sweet and gooey from the warm date.
There is quite frankly nothing more American
than bacon,
especially bacon-wrapped things.
It is just in our American nature
to wrap things in bacon.
Little wrap-up line,
all you gotta do,
wrap it in bacon, throw it in the oven,
bodda bing, bodda boom, bam.
It's amazing.
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year,
Feliz Navidad, enjoy!
- I put the bacon-wrapped dates
in a tiny little piggy bowl.
(upbeat classic Broadway music)
That's on good plating.
I can say that I've had bacon-wrapped dates before.
They are a staple in my household as well,
but I have never had them with water chestnuts.
I always have done blue cheese,
my favorite cheese.
So this is my first time having one
with a water chestnut.
Hot, oh my God!
I'm so sorry.
I didn't think that it would be
the temperature of a volcano inside.
(breath whooshing)
It's like a fun little crunch in there,
because the date is so soft,
especially when you heat them up,
they become really sugary,
and it kind of adds a caramelization to the bacon,
so you get this candied bacon.
And then you have this nice crunch
of the water chestnut.
It could be hot.
Ha, ha.
Okay, we made it through that date.
I think I'd kind of prefer the blue cheese
only because it adds a really contrasting flavor
that's super savory to the sweet date,
but it doesn't add any crunch,
and sometimes you need that crunch.
The problem with bacon-wrapped dates
is the same problem that I have with mozzarella sticks.
I can sit down and eat, like, six to seven of these,
but if you gave me a plate
with six to seven dates,
like, that is a lot of dates.
And the same goes for mozzarella sticks.
If you said, "Here, Beryl,
here are four string cheeses,"
I don't think I would eat that,
but give me four mozzarella sticks,
I'm gonna put them all down,
and then maybe ask for more.
It's all about presentation (laughs).
We have one last dish.
It's from Argentina.
Let's do it.
(gentle acoustic music)
- Hi, my name is Pilar,
I am from Chaco, Argentina,
but I'm living in Buenos Aires.
The dish I'm sharing with you today
is really simple and delicious.
It's called sandwichito di miga.
It's a go-to for everyone on holidays and birthdays.
It's really easy to make.
It's just a sandwich with no crust.
You can put anything you want in it.
The most common one is one layer of cheese,
one layer of ham,
two layers of bread,
and mayo in between every layer.
Some of us like to eat them with chips inside.
It gives it a lovely crunch.
I'm the designated sandwichito de miga maker in my family.
I think the best part of sandwichito de miga
is that everyone likes them.
They are not problematic at all,
and we love to gather with friends and family.
It doesn't need to be fancy.
It just need to be easy, simple,
delicious, and easy to eat while standing up or dancing.
I always make sandwichito de miga
while singing Christmas songs with my family
on Christmas Day,
and we try not to eat them as we go.
And every year, we try something different.
We really like to put homemade garlic mayo on them lately.
This time of year is for resting
and spending time with family.
My favorite thing to do
is plan what next year's Christmas tree will look like.
Next year is going to be origami.
I'm so excited.
You should try this because it's simple,
a lap towel, and it gives you room
for awesome inventions.
I hope you try it.
Feliz Navidad (speaking Spanish).
Happy Christmas and Happy New Years.
(light upbeat music)
- The last sandwich, the last dish is a sandwich.
Kind of like a really cute little tea sandwich.
Although I do have regrets
that I cut it diagonally,
I wish I had cut it down the middle as a square.
Whatever, that's neither here nor there.
The point is I love potato chips on sandwiches.
(chips crunch)
That's crunchy.
I didn't have the proper, oh man.
The bread is stuck
on all my teeth.
The bread that Pilar told me to use
was this very thin, crustless white bread,
and I couldn't find that.
So I just cut the crust off of Wonder Bread
and rolled it out,
because Wonder Bread, once you roll it out,
becomes really thin,
although it does become more dense,
and that's why it's, like,
really sticking to my teeth.
But I feel like it,
it mimics it well enough.
(chips crunch)
Tea sandwiches during Christmas
is not something I ever thought to put together,
but it also, it's like such a great holiday party food.
They're so easy to make.
Who doesn't love, like, a simple sandwich like this?
I mean, I feel like I definitely do.
This is fun and this is easy,
and you can say that it's an Argentinian classic
if you make it at your house (laughs).
With that final bite,
that completes 2021 YouTube content.
I'm gonna go take a break
and hang out with my puppy and family,
and I will see you guys in the new year.