EDITOR’S NOTE: This story is part of a holiday series that will run through Dec. 25 in the Grand Forks Herald.
GRAND FORKS – Christmas often is a time for sharing more than just presents, especially for those with roots in other cultures and countries. It also can be a time for sharing the recipes that have been passed down through generations or brought to Grand Forks from their home countries.
Eller Bonifacio, a Filipino American, makes traditional Filipino dishes for his family in Grand Forks to help keep those traditions alive and pass them on to his daughters.
“The further you are in a generation, those cultures and whatnot can fade,” he said. “So I’m trying my best to instill what I know in them so eventually, when they have children of their own, they still have some of that.”
Two of those dishes eaten around Christmastime are lumpia, which is a type of deep-fried spring roll made with ground pork and vegetables, and pancit, a stir-fry with noodles, vegetables and sometimes pork or shrimp. Bonifacio said those two dishes are often served together during holidays.
Another holiday staple in the Philippines is sticky rice for dessert, which has a few different variations like biko, one of the more traditional versions, according to Bonifacio.
“It’s made with coconut milk and rice, essentially, and then brown sugar,” he said, and added the dessert is shared not only during Christmas but also other holidays, birthdays, festivals and other celebrations. “It’s a very nostalgic flavor.”
Some Filipino dishes, Bonifacio said, are even more comforting in the North Dakota cold, like sinigang, a sour soup made with tamarind, pork and vegetables.
Bonifacio said he didn’t do much cooking with his family when he was a kid, yet eventually learned many of his family’s recipes when he was a young adult by watching his aunt and mom cook.
Terry Mertz, another Grand Forks resident, also carries on his heritage by making traditional recipes that were brought over by Germans from Russia. Terry and his wife Nell are members of the local Deutsche Kinder chapter, a group for people whose families were Germans who migrated to and lived in Russia before eventually coming to the United States.
Nell Mertz said she and Terry both grew up in Goodrich, North Dakota, where many people followed various German traditions during Christmas, like celebrating Saint Nicholas Day on the first Friday of December. She said Terry’s family would celebrate Christmas Eve at his grandmother’s house.
“After the (Christmas Eve) service, the entire family went to Grandma Mertz’s house to open presents and share a German meal,” she said.
Nell Mertz
Some of the recipes she would prepare – and that have been passed on to Terry and the rest of his family – include a sauerkraut, knoephla and sausage casserole; hot German potato salad with bacon and hamburger; and kuchen made with a potato-based dough and different fruit fillings like peaches.
Mertz said that, along with the simple fact that these recipes taste good, sharing them also brings a feeling of nostalgia for her hometown of Goodrich and the foods that she and Terry would have eaten growing up there.
“They bring back memories of childhood – times spent with aunts, uncles and cousins,” she said. “Our now-grown children are learning how to make them. I’m still learning. Terry’s sisters have these recipes and more.”
The recipes also help bring the Mertz family together outside of Christmas; Mertz said Terry’s family will often get together over Labor Day weekend, when his sisters make a meal with German recipes.
Nell Mertz
There are also some in Grand Forks who share recipes that, while not necessarily for Christmas, are certainly popular when the weather turns cold.
Elias Dean, owner of Chino Latino on South Washington Street, said while his home country of Somalia doesn’t experience winter, he does serve some different Somali soups at his restaurant that are good for cold weather.
“Sometimes we also have a really good ginger tea that is also really good for the winter season,” he said.
He added that some Grand Forks residents can be hesitant about trying new foods and recipes, but most are quick to fall in love with those dishes once they have the chance to taste them.
“A lot of my clientele that I’ve had for the last nine years, it is sometimes difficult for somebody to come and try our food,” he said, “but the moment they do, they always come back.”
And for some, like Bonifacio, being able to share recipes — or anything else — reflecting one’s heritage or culture is what keeps those traditions and cultures alive.
“Whether it’s a Filipino community or a diverse international community, I think that makes a community diverse and more open to ideas, hopefully,” he said, “whether it’s through your cooking or whatever you might want to share.”