Eater’s vacation banquet celebrates the meals traditions we return to in reminiscence, time and time once more

Attend any random potluck between November and February and it turns into instantly clear: There isn’t a one method to eat across the holidays. Whether or not it’s chickpea fritters and brightly coloured sweets for Diwali, latkes and gelt for Hanukkah, Christmas tamales or Chinese language apples, or black eyed peas for the New Yr — the vary in our celebratory foodstuffs is actually planetary in scope. And but, regardless of the variations in taste and kind (casseroles, fritters, and dumplings, oh my!) what unites these dishes is their skill to transcend mealtimes, seeping into our deepest feelings and recollections like a pat of butter on a pile of mashed potatoes. This week, by way of a group of reported essays, we study the various, motley methods we people have come to hyperlink meals with which means all through these northern winter months. As a result of regardless of how chilly and darkish it would get, you’ll be able to all the time discover some mild on the desk.