Mmmmm, Holiday food! I need a tradition replacement.

[SmileDocHill]

I'm from Clinton Indiana (home of the Little Italy festival) and a holiday cornerstone form my family has always been a big pot of Bagna càuda. In general it is a simple dish...equal parts butter, garlic, tuna and anchovies. It is eaten by dipping celery, cabbage, green peppers, or about anything into it and using these veggies as a spoon to be eaten along with what it dips out. Many claim it to be an acquired taste, I can respect that but if you live near real Italians you likely have had it and love it.
Sadly, my wife is deathly allergic to it. A couple years ago we were at a family gathering and she had trouble breathing. Come to find out someone had just started to warm some up several rooms away! Needless to say she cannot be in a house where it is being served or has been served in the last several days. Goes without saying that I've not been able to partake in this tradition for years now because of it.

I did a google image search To be fair, the Bagna I've always eaten looks more like this:

I don't know what that spoon is doing in there though , it has no place in the Bagna consumption process.

Any INGO members have dishes they associate with the holidays? I need to replace this tradition with something else in hopes of missing it a little less. HELP!

 

[KittySlayer]

Sadly, my wife is deathly allergic to it. A couple years ago we were at a family gathering and she had trouble breathing.

Are you sure it's the bagna and not your family?

 

[SmileDocHill]

Sadly, my wife is deathly allergic to it. A couple years ago we were at a family gathering and she had trouble breathing.

Are you sure it's the bagna and not your family?

LOL, short answer....NO.

 

[Cldedhnds]

WOW! Been over thirty years since I've had that and most of those that I've even thought of it. My grandmother used to make it and I hate anchovies but cabbage rolled and scooped in that is the best. A good Italian bread dipped is also incredible...

 

[Bigtanker]

They only thing I make every holiday time is chocolate covered cotton balls. I also make peanut butter balls and give a mix of each to new co-workers and friends. Always good for a laugh.

 

[CindyE]

I wonder what ingredient she is allergic to? If you know what it is, maybe you could make it without it, or substitute something.

 

[smokingman]

Moving from Indiana to Northern Minnesota involved a shock and awe campaign to our diet.

In Northern Minnesota is it not uncommon to hear Finnish or Swedish spoken in public.

Some parts of the diet I will never adopt,such as Lutefisk.Other parts NUMMMM.

Best bread I have ever had.Lussekatt - Swedish Santa Lucia Saffron buns | The Fresh Loaf
*Note you may need to purchase imported butter to make this.I know the local groceries here sell it and I am sure Kroger would most likely have some.The difference is the butter contains live cultures vs American pasteurized butter that does not.Here that imported butter is located with all the regular butter brands.
Jansson's Temptation (Janssons Frestelse) Recipe - Allrecipes.com *We have had this multiple times,and I like it better with Salmon vs Anchovies.

Speaking of Salmon I had never had fresh smoked salmon until moving here.Caught out of lake Superior and smoked for 24 hours.It melts in your mouth,is great warmed up or cold even on a salad!
The sausages you can get up this way fresh are also amazing.

 

[1911ly]

My BIL used to have a smoker and use to do salmon. It was awesome!

A holiday treat around here is pig hocks & sauerkraut. If the hocks bother you use ribs instead. OMG!! It's awsome. When my wife was alive it was a New Years tradition. She make a small amount of it for Christmas dinner to go with the turkey and ham. I haven't had it since she past way(5 years). I think we will have some this year.

 

[Tyler-The-Piker]

Sweet & Spicy Roasted Pecans

2 cups raw Pecans (halved or whole)
3 TBSP melted Butter
3 TBSP Sugar
1 tsp Chili Powder
1 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp Ground Habanero or Cayenne

Stir ingredients thoroughly and place in an Iron Skillet or on a cookie sheet
Roast in a 350 degree oven for 12-15min


addictive and easy (those help a dish to become a tradition).

enjoy.

Merry Christmas!

 

[ScouT6a]

Some people I used to work with would make this and bring it in to work. It would stink the whole place up. I complained for a couple of years and then I brought in two cans of Nine Lives Tuna cat food and dumped in when no one was around. They ate it up like alley cats and refused to believe me when I told them what I had done. Too funny.

 

[riverman67]

Doc I'll make a batch just for you

No one else in the house will eat it with me

 

[CountryBoy19]

LOL, short answer....NO.

With such a short ingredients list certainly you could narrow it down to what she is allergic to? I doubt she is allergic to the butter... unlikely she is allergic to the garlic... which leaves the seafood (quite common for people to have allergic reactions to seafood)... Is there any way to substitute the flavor of those things into the dish with something else??

Just a thought... I've personally never had the dish so I don't really know...

 

[ScouT6a]

seafood)... Is there any way to substitute the flavor of those things into the dish with something else??

Yeah, Nine Lives cat food.

 

[Clay]

I tell ya what, just come over to my house, make all the bagna you want, and you can eat it all here, and leave what you can't eat. Deal?

 

[smokingman]

Some people I used to work with would make this and bring it in to work. It would stink the whole place up. I complained for a couple of years and then I brought in two cans of Nine Lives Tuna cat food and dumped in when no one was around. They ate it up like alley cats and refused to believe me when I told them what I had done. Too funny.

What is wrong with you?

 

[ScouT6a]

Smokingman, You ever smell this crap heating in a confined space? It is absolutely disgusting. Will turn your stomach. I politely asked the few who brought it to refrain from bringing it. The majority had to suffer. So a little prank was in order.
Nothing wrong with me. You want to play hardball, be prepared to get hit by a pitch every now and again.
This was actually pretty mild, if you have never hung out with 11 Bravos.

 

[smokingman]

Smokingman, You ever smell this crap heating in a confined space? It is absolutely disgusting. Will turn your stomach. I politely asked the few who brought it to refrain from bringing it. The majority had to suffer. So a little prank was in order.
Nothing wrong with me. You want to play hardball, be prepared to get hit by a pitch every now and again.
This was actually pretty mild, if you have never hung out with 11 Bravos.

I served 6 years,not that it matters.I would still consider a stunt like that something my daughter would have done to her sister when she was 5..."but dad she annoyed me."
Did it solve your problem or add to it?I am sure hot cat food smelt great.

 

[Tyler-The-Piker]

 

[ScouT6a]

Like I said, they refused to believe in but miraculously they didn't bring it the following year.
Thank you for your service, smokingman. As anyone who has been in as an 11B any length of time can tell you, it's a whole different world than every other MOS. They fight hard and they play hard. The level of discipline is higher, well because people die more readily if not. And before you say that a prank like that doesn't support that theory, most grunts have a very different sense of humor. You have to when there is chaos all around you or you would curl up in a ball an cry.
-Climbing down off my soapbox now. Carry on.

 

[ScouT6a]

And I served 22 years, 6 months and 9 days, every day of that in combat arms.