Baton Rouge chefs and restaurant owners talk holiday dinner traditions

We all have it; that one unique dish that only your family enjoys around the holidays. Nobody really ever questions why it makes an annual appearance at dinner or how it became a tradition, but nobody seems to complain about it either. To us, these holiday traditions represent what the holiday season is all about—spending time with loved ones and cherishing what makes each family unique.

We talked to some chefs around Baton Rouge about their own traditional dishes, in hopes that we might be inspired to bring something new to our own tables.

Stephen Hightower, managing partner of City Pork Hospitality

Favorite holiday dinner tradition: I think it would have to be my mom’s cornbread rice dressing.

How did it start and why? Well, my mom used to make regular cornbread dressing and my sister hated it. She said it reminded her of a popcorn ceiling? I have no idea. So anyway, she would always eat just plain white rice for dinner. I guess in an attempt to make everyone happy, my mother combined the two, and from then on it has been a dish the entire family enjoys every year.

If you could start a new tradition, what would it be? I actually recently tried Oysters Rockefeller Bread Pudding (Editor’s note: check out this recipe here), and it just reminded me of the holiday season, so I will definitely be making that for Christmas!

Paul Dupré, chef and owner of Elsie’s Plate and Pie

Favorite holiday dinner tradition: My family has a pretty traditional family Christmas with a ham or a roast with all the Southern fixings. But at my wife’s family meal, we always have crawfish bisque.

How did it start and why? I’m not sure how it started. But for the ‘why,’ I assume because it’s Louisiana! Also, I think it’s really something that everyone enjoys, and since we all just had the same kind of food during Thanksgiving, the crawfish bisque is something different.

If you could start a new tradition, what would it be? I am a pretty traditional guy, so it’s a bit hard to break tradition for me. I guess if I had to I would start having a smoked brisket. Honestly, I just really like smoked meats, and I think it would be a different but great addition to the table.

Frank Dedman III, chef and owner of Frank’s Restaurant

Favorite holiday dinner tradition: Smoking hams and glazing them with a special homemade glaze and making homemade sweet potato casserole.

How did it start and why? It started with customer demand back in the early ’80s when people did not want to tend to curing and smoking their own anymore.

If you could start a new tradition, what would it be? A new tradition for us is smoking whole prime ribeyes. Nothing beats a seared, pecan-smoked prime rib. It’s out of the norm for holiday feasts, a little pricey, but when you show up with this, you’ll be the life of the party!

Jamie Brown and Sydney Harkins, chefs and co-owners of BouillaBabes Catering

Favorite holiday dinner tradition:

Jamie: An unusually large turkey, like, 22 pounder. It just isn’t Christmas if the turkey is under 20 pounds. There also must be no less than 2 bags of marshmallows on the sweet potato casserole. We also always have a birthday cake for Jesus.

Sydney: Our holiday menu is always as follows: a smorgasbord of homemade dips and finger foods, a charcuterie board loaded with amazing meats from our favorite local Cajun meat shops, my mom’s giant lemony feta salad, and French onion soup for my grandma whose birthday is around Christmas. Every now and again, we’ll spring for a roast of some sorts, but for the most part, we just like foods we can graze on while sipping wine and laughing the night away.

How did it start and why?

Jamie: We’ve got a big ol’ Italian family, would you expect anything less? The birthday cake for Jesus started when my nephew was 3, and he’s insisted upon doing it every year since.

Sydney: We simply spend too much time talking, so a formal sit-down dinner has never been a priority. We are all just glad we have each other to spend the time with.

If you could start a new tradition with a new dish what would it be?:

Jamie: A Magnalite full of meatballs!

Sydney: Maple butternut pie. It’s lighter and creamier than pumpkin or sweet potato pie, and twice as delicious.