How Phoenix chefs celebrate the holidays at home with food traditions new and old

Thanksgiving marked the start of the winter holiday season when thoughts turn to family traditions, memories of festivities past and, of course, the food around which many holiday experiences are built.

Whether celebrating Hanukkah, Christmas or New Year’s Eve, the nostalgia of what has been and will be served on the table is front and center. Festive meals are rituals that can conjure vivid images, unite palates and warm hearts. From fresh potato latkes with massive bowls of applesauce and sour cream to French-Canadian pork pie, colorful sashimi platters or Lebanese sea bass, the holidays taste different for everyone, not least of all chefs.

These seven Phoenix chefs share their personal holiday food traditions and the memories they evoke.

Josh Nylin, Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club

Raised in New England, Josh Nylin, chef of the Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club, grew up around foods with a French-Canadian influence.

“When I moved to Arizona 11 years ago from New England, I was amazed to see the cultural food differences between the Northeast and Southwest. I spent a lot of time at farmers’ markets and getting to know the local food scene,” Nylin said. ”But my wife and I spent our first Christmas Eve in the desert with her aunt and uncle, who are also New England natives, and a holiday tradition followed us 3,000 miles across the country in the form of a French-Canadian dish — the pork pie.”

Made with ground pork, potatoes and seasonings baked in a pie crust and topped with just a hint of grain mustard, Nylin feels it's ideal for holiday eating because it’s great “right out of the oven, room temp hours later or warmed up the next day with a couple of over-easy eggs. There is no wrong way to eat pork pie. Except maybe if you put ketchup on it.”

Not only has the dish become a Nylin family tradition on Christmas Eve, it’s become a competition. And it’s fierce.

“Of course, like most family gatherings there is always a disagreement. This one stemmed from an argument about whose mother made the best pork pie. Was it Uncle Al’s mother or Auntie Janet’s? And, of course, whose recipe was better? This discussion led to two pork pies being made each year,” Nylin said. “As a professional chef, naturally, I also had to add my own spin to the dish. So, there are now three pork pies made every year. This has sparked a new tradition as family members compete in an annual bake off. Who wins the competition? I do.”

And why is that?

“I get to eat pork pie in the morning, noon and night,” he said. “And, in case you are wondering, my recipe is better. Even though Al swears his mother’s recipe is the undisputed champ.”

The pork pie gauntlet has been thrown.

Dana Dumas, SugarJam The Southern Kitchen

Growing up in New York and New Jersey, SugarJam The Southern Kitchen chef and founder Dana Dumas’ memories of the beautiful fall weather remain vivid.

“I enjoyed going apple picking, getting cider doughnuts and fresh cider, as well as the crisp air and the beauty of the trees changing colors,” she recalled.

Thanksgiving is her favorite holiday because it’s not about materialism and rather about family, friends, love, life and being grateful, she explains.

“It is about knowing that all things are possible through faith and belief in God. It creates a sense of togetherness and cherished memories I have of my grandmother and other family members.”

Many of those memories involve food, like Cajun butter-roasted turkey, sage and sausage stuffing, candied yams, five cheese baked mac and cheese, smoked turkey collard greens, Coca-Cola and bourbon-braised ham, seasoned string beans, deviled eggs, fresh cranberry sauce infused with orange zest and cornbread with strawberry jam.

And, of course, desserts, like southern sweet potato pie, classic apple pie and a yellow cake with strawberry filling and chocolate buttercream offer something for everyone.

“The Thanksgiving meal I make every year stems from those memories and the robust flavors I ate from my family's cooking.”

Josh Garcia, Miracle Mile Delicatessen

When Brooklyn native Jack Grodzinsky opened Miracle Mile Delicatessen in 1949, it quickly became a beloved hub for deli fans seeking a fix for pastrami and other East Coast favorites.

And today his grandson, Miracle Mile vice president Josh Garcia, continues to share his family’s food traditions.

“Growing up in the deli business, after school and around the holiday season, I'd spend a lot of time at the restaurant helping out however I could," Garcia said. "We have some great family memories though, shared with fantastic servings of our mouthwatering brisket of beef, fresh potato latkes with massive bowls of applesauce and sour cream to top them off, Hanukkah gelt (chocolate covered coins) that we'd get after playing the dreidel.”

Garcia celebrated both Hanukkah and Christmas, which provided him the best of his parents’ respective culinary worlds.

“On my father's side of the family, my aunts would make delicious homemade tamales, chorizo burritos, rice, beans and homemade tortillas. My mouth still waters thinking about all of that food consumed in a 48-hour period sometimes ... when we'd celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas around the same time, depending on the Hanukkah dates,” Garcia said. “Great memories and fantastic traditions.”

Jorge Gomez, Humble Bistro

Growing up in Hermosillo, Mexico, Humble Bistro chef and partner Jorge Gomez learned to cook at an early age from his mother and grandparents. Everyone worked hard, so Gomez often was tasked with caring for his younger sisters and began cooking for them.

When it came to the holidays, every family member was in charge of making a dish for Christmas. When Gomez turned 13, it was his turn to contribute. While his family made tamales, Mexican cookies and pork that’s slow-braised in guajillo sauce and finished in Coca-Cola, Gomez went a different direction. His mother loves pasta so he decided to make what he calls his Christmas lasagna.

“It’s a baked dish that can stay warm and feed a lot of people," he said. "We have Christmas Eve dinner and open gifts close to midnight. But guests come by and bring you posole, menudo or tamales, you give them the food you make.”

The lasagna is made with a classic meat sauce made with bacon and sausage with a little cream and red wine that takes an hour to make. Between layers of fresh handmade pasta, Gomez places a little more cream, ricotta, provolone and fresh mozzarella.

“Since then, my mom always wants her lasagna for Christmas,” he said.

Bassel Osmani, Pita Jungle

Born in France and raised in Lebanon, Pita Jungle co-owner Bassel Osmani grew up in the seafaring community of Mina. Naturally, the holidays were celebrated with what was procured in the waters nearby.

The main dish that he craves translates into English as Sea Bass, Fisherman Style. It’s made with a sea bass native to the area that’s similar to Italian branzino, but more fragrant. It’s stuffed with lemons and glazed with olive oil before being roasted in a foil package until it’s tender and easy to pull off the bone — which is kept intact from tail to head.

“You break it apart, take the meat off, get rid of skin and reshape it on top of the bones and tail, so all you need is a spoon,” he said. “It’s the one I dream about and wish I could have it more often than Christmas.”

It’s common to cover the fish with a sauce made of tahini, coriander and spices and serve the seafood with an umami-rich rice cooked in a caramelized onion broth. A crisp radish salad on the side brings freshness and a contrast in texture.

“I was a kid and my imagination was vivid. I’m sure it still tastes the same,” he said. “When you have this dish, my memories are of many people having fun, drinking, chatting and hanging out.”

Micah Wyzlic, Phoenix City Grille

Every New Year’s Eve, Phoenix City Grille chef Micah Wyzlic’s mother would make her version of Knoephla, a German dumpling. The process took four or five hours and required hand-kneading the dough, cutting each dumpling by hand and putting them into boiling, salted water. And then, there was the overnight braising of the pork shoulder.

“She would braise pork shoulder with piles of sauerkraut and then fold in caramelized onions and crispy bacon pieces, all served over the egg dumplings. It was only made once a year and was always something my sisters and I craved the rest of the year. As mom became more frail, my sisters took over the duties of the meal as it was quite time consuming to make.”

The memory of this tradition and dish has become bittersweet.

“This was always a dish where we sat around the table as a family and ate, after watching mom working on preparing it over the course of two days," Wyzlic said. "For me today, the dish reminds me of my parents and how I wish I could have just one more meal with them as I lost them both last year.”

Lori Hashimoto, Hana Japanese Eatery

For Hana Japanese Eatery chef and co-owner Lori Hashimoto, holidays are marked by distinctive foods: ham and hunting for colored eggs at Easter, turkey at Thanksgiving, roasted meats at Christmas and New Year’s spent with extended family enjoying especially colorful dishes at her grandmother’s house.

“My aunties and uncles would drive in from California with lots of Japanese food to start preparing for New Year’s Day. It was always exciting to watch the ball drop on TV with my cousins and then go to bed dreaming about the pink manju, a sweet Japanese confection made of pounded mochi and sweet bean filling, waiting to be eaten the next day.”

The whole family got involved with preparations for the feast.

“I remember my Uncle Reynold always wearing a pair of gloves to peel the gobo (a root vegetable) for the ozoni, a traditional Japanese New Year soup. We were always told it made your hands itchy. I think they just didn’t want us touching stuff," she said. "My mom and aunties would be preparing the ingredients for futomakis (sushi rolls with egg, vegetables and pink fish powder), inaris — tofu rice pockets affectionately called 'footballs' by Japanese-Americans — and sashimi. Everything was arranged on beautiful platters my dad brought back from Japan, where he spent time while on leave serving in the Korean War for the U.S. Army.”

And her family celebrations went beyond food.

“It was always a time for our family to get together and share the good and bad of the past year, talk about our hopes and dreams for the upcoming year and enjoy each other over the food we were grateful to be able to share with each other.”

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: How Phoenix chefs celebrate the holidays at home