Eating Rhody (Holiday Edition)

Chowder in the pot was ready when we arrived at an early Christmas party in Bristol, a clammy concoction that began with a base from Blount Seafood in Warren, accentuated by clams, potatoes and seasonings from the homeowner’s kitchen. The buffet included blade meat and chourico and peppers, fortified with port wine, served in grinder rolls, a nod to the Portuguese heritage on the East Bay. Italian influences on the menu included strip pizza, homemade calzones and antipastos.

The story of Rhode Island could be told through its food. This is especially true during the holidays, when cooking and eating traditions are cultural, regional and personal. French-Canadians settling in Woonsocket brought the tourtiere, a pie made of ground pork (and sometimes beef), onions, mashed potatoes and seasonings to the region, where it is a staple in the local luncheonette culture. As John Larrabee points out in an appetizing article in this week’s Providence Phoenix, every recipe is different, with seasonings that “can include clove, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg or sage,” and the merits of individual pies are debated at counters from Castle Luncheonette to Barbara’s Place to Paul’s Family Restaurant. To many Rhode Islanders from the northwestern part of the state, the pies taste and smell of Christmas.

On the other side of the world, down in southwestern Rhody, families in the villages of Westerly engage in their own Christmas holiday tradition – making soupy. The spiced pork sausage more formally known as sopressata is the product of its own distinct ritual. Clan members of Italian American families and their closest friends will gather in homes and social clubs to fill the casings during the yuletide season. The sausages then hang overwinter (usually in somebody’s basement) before they are ready to eat sometime around St. Patrick’s Day.

What the tourtiere and the soupy have in common, aside from pork fillings and their uber-local Rhode Island pedigree, is that each depends upon the all-important “secret recipe” to distinguish one family’s dish from another. Some are scrawled on index cards and locked away in safety deposit boxes. Others exist only in the cook’s head (and maybe the head of whomever the cook has entrusted with the recipe down the line). Like parking spaces in Boston or watering holes in New Hampshire, these secrets are revealed upon penalty of death or exile. Sometimes it’s worth the risk. Anyone who has ever eaten a stuffy to die for will know what I’m talking about.

What special foods do you associate with the holidays in Rhode Island?