Category Archives: Regional/Traditional

Madeline’s Elderflower Syrup Come True

Name: Elizabeth & Madeline (Mother/Daughter Team) Hansen
Class Year: 1995
Country of Residence: Switzerland

Why is this recipe great? What’s its backstory? 

My daughter, Madeline loves the local tradition in Suisse Romande of giving children home made syrup in their water as a festive drink to accompany their meals. She also loves Elderflowers. Several years ago, while recipe hunting, she realised that we could make syrup with the beautiful blooms in our neighbourhood. For some reason or another we never managed to complete the process until this contest!!! We can attest that the little effort and preparation is worth this sweet and refreshing syrup. When it is mixed into water soon after one is rewarded with a wonderful smile!

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Clafoutis (Baked cherry custard)

Name: Paula Sullivan Souloumiac
Class Year: 1980
Country of Residence: France

Why is this recipe great? What’s its backstory? 

Growing up in New Hampshire, much of our summer fruit was shipped up from warmer climates boasting shorter winters. This included cherries, which, back then, were rare, expensive, and delicious. I remember my mom coming home from the grocery store with a bag of cherries. She would divide them into three bowls: one for my brother, one for my sister and one for me. My love for cherries started there.

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Maple Syrup Sweetness Overload Pie

Name: Anita Pion Selec
Class Year: 1988
Country of Residence: Bosnia Herzegovina

Why is this recipe great? What’s its backstory? 

This pie is known as “sugar pie” to French-Canadians and it gives baklava a run for its money with sweetness!  This recipe has been in my family for over a hundred years.  There are many versions of this made in French-Canadian homes.  This is the simplest and the sweetest.

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Pork-and-Paprika Stew (Leskovaccka Muchkalica)

Name: Anita Pion Selec
Class Year: 1988
Country of Residence: Bosnia Herzegovina

Why is this recipe great? What’s its backstory? 

This is the Serbian answer to the French comfort stew of ratouille.  Like most Serbian dishes, the focus is MEAT, specifically pork.  This is the ultimate fall comfort food, traditionally eaten in the late summer or fall when peppers are in season.  Thanks to the modern food supply chain, I love it in the winter.  The prep requires some time, but don’t cut out the steps, esp. cutting the onion into thin rings, somehow this makes it work better than just dicing an onion and throwing the pieces in.  This is a specialty from the Serbian town of Leskovac. You can eat this dish anywhere, from fine restaurants to truck stops. (The name of the dish is pronounced MOOCH-kah-leet-sa.)

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Labskaus (German salted meat & potatoes)

Name: Lynn Meins
Class Year: 1970
Country of Residence: Germany

Why is this recipe great? What’s its backstory? 

This is a traditional North Germany dish.  It was supposedly created by a ship’s cook in the 19th century using what he happened to have on hand.  It is very popular and tastes better than it looks!

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Pīrāgi (Bacon Buns)

Name: Katrina Strikis
Class Year: 2010
Country of Residence: USA

Why is this recipe great? What’s its backstory? 

Pīrāgi are small bacon and onion pies which originate from the Baltic state of Latvia. They are baked in large batches and served year round, but especially at every large gathering and festival. I’m from the USA but my family on both sides emigrated from Latvia, so I grew up baking these in the kitchen alongside my grandmothers at every holiday. Each household has their own variation of the recipe so it’s able to be tweaked (one of my grandmothers included SPAM in her recipe), but however you make them, your kitchen is guaranteed to smell amazing!

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Carbonnade à la flamande

Name: Jessica Spengler
Class Year: 1995
Country of Residence: UK

Why is this recipe great? What’s its backstory? 

Belgium has beautiful scenery, amazing medieval architecture and fabulous food. Belgian waffles, chocolates and fries are the obvious examples, but my favorite Belgian recipe features one of Belgium’s other great gifts to the culinary world: beer.

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Pilau (Turkish rice with spices)

Name: Jessica Spengler
Class Year: 1995
Country of Residence: UK

Why is this recipe great? What’s its backstory? 

One-pot spiced rice dishes can be found everywhere, from Indian pulau to Turkish pilav to Spanish paella and countless others. But many people don’t know that the south-eastern United States has its own traditional spiced rice dish, often spelled pilau but pronounced “purlow” or “purloo”.

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Yiayia Effie’s Moussaka (Baked Eggplant)

Name: Sarah Poniros
Class Year: 2013
Country of Residence: USA

Why is this recipe great? What’s its backstory? 

This recipe is very near and dear to my heart.  My family is Greek-American, and we loved my yiayia’s cooking.  However, when I was 12, she began to lose her memory.  We found that most of the recipes she had written down were all incorrect—she didn’t want anyone to be able to replicate them! But even though she could not remember much, she could tell us exactly what she changed on her recipes.  She taught me all her tips and tricks and told me the proper recipe, which I make all the time now.  Everyone loves her recipe and people ask me to make it for almost every occasion!

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Engadiner Nut Pie

Name: Patricia Simon
Class Year: 1968
Country of Residence: Germany

Why is this recipe great? What’s its backstory? 

I first had this in the Engadin (Switzerland) about 40-50 years ago, and I thought I was in heaven. But it didn’t occur to me for decades to try to make it myself. A few years ago I found a recipe in a magazine and, being a MHC alum, thought “why not?”. The rest is history (and hips).

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