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The holidays have hit Time Out Market Boston—and while our talented culinary professionals are serving up cheer to everyone frequenting our Fenway space, they also have their own ways to celebrate at home. We sat down with a few of the wonderful folks who head the kitchens at 401 Park Drive, and they shared some of their Christmas food traditions, revealing which nostalgic dishes are always a centerpiece in their families’ festive feasts. Gelato & Chill’s Vincent Turco, Cusser’s Jason Ulak and Union Square Donuts’ Sarah Belisle all opened up about which seasonal specialties hold the most meaning for them during the holidays and how those foods bring their loved ones together this time of year.
Vincent Turco: Italian stuffed squid
Turco, owner of Gelato & Chill, shares that his fondest memories of the holidays have always centered around Christmas Eve, when his whole family would gather for the Feast of the Seven Fishes
“To me, the Italian traditional Feast of the Fishes is always the warmest thing in my heart,” he says. “Making all of those fish dishes, having pasta and getting together, with the family running around, and Santa showing up and all of the kids opening their presents—to me, that speaks to tradition around the holidays.”
Turco says that his grandmother and aunts would prepare a spread of typical, tasty seafood dishes, all of which he loves. However, he did say he has a favorite, calamari, which his father used to call “cannonballs” because of their torpedo shape.
“I love calamari,” Turco says. “Calamari is stuffed squid… Put a light tomato sauce over it with onions and maybe shallots and stuff, and it’s just awesome.”
While loved ones from the older generation, who used to occupy the kitchen on Christmas Eve, have passed, Turco says that his family has managed to keep the tradition alive by serving some of the same feel-good fare.
“A lot of those recipes are gone now with my grandmother and aunts,” he adds. “We try to reproduce them, and they come out pretty good.”
Jason Ulak: All of the filled foods
Ulak, culinary director for Cusser’s Roast Beef and Seafood, shares that his family also stays true to all of its cultural roots for the holidays.
“I’m of Polish descent, and my father makes pierogies and gołąbkis, which is a delicacy,” he says.
He explains that pierogi are a type of dumpling, which usually boast a potato and cheese filling, while gołąbki is stuffed cabbage leaves that are crammed with meat and rice, rolled and covered in a tomato sauce. While these hearty dishes could comprise a whole holiday feast alone, the Ulak family always includes another hefty dish, as a nod to even more heritage.
“My mother’s side of the family is French-Canadian, so my grandmother used to make Canadian meat pie, which then evolved to just taking the stuffing of the pie and baking it into a pumpkin and serving it on Thanksgiving and for Christmas.”
Ulak says that this take on tourtiere, a Quebecois pork pie usually served over the winter holidays, has been a longstanding tradition. In fact, when he was a kid, he used to refer to it as “Little Meats.”
“35, 40 years later, I still call them ‘Little Meats,’” he says. “We still have ‘Little Meats’ in my family.”
Sarah Belisle: Christmas morning pastries
Belisle, head of culinary productions for Union Square Donuts, says that her family always starts Christmas morning on a sweet note.
“My Aunt Annie always sends us frozen croissants and frozen pains au chocolat,” she says. “We proof them overnight and then in the morning, we have fresh baked croissants while we open presents, and it’s the best.”
While undoubtedly delicious, these flaky pastries also serve a serious purpose: fueling the Belisle bunch as they have a gift exchange marathon.
“My family goes all out for Christmas,” she says. “We’re a very, very Christmas-centric family, so every Christmas morning, we love to have everyone open their presents one at a time so we can all watch and feel that anticipation of, ‘Oh my gosh, are they going to love my gift?’
“It ends up being quite long. Our Christmases tend to last a couple of hours, which is insane.”
