Every day is a holiday for someone somewhere in this world—did you know, for instance, that Aug. 12, the day this issue hits newsstands and the Internet, is simultaneously the Glorious Twelfth in the United Kingdom (meant to commemorate the start of grouse-hunting season), International Youth Day and the Catholic Feast Day of Saint Euplius, who was beheaded after reading the Bible in Sicily? Fun times today!
Hugh D'Andrade
Hugh D'Andrade
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No matter the commemoration, mankind universally celebrates with food. And here in Orange County, our many tribes celebrate special days throughout the year. We can easily fill up a calendar with our culinary recommendations for each day, so we’ve decided to limit ourselves to 24 of the most important holidays—listed in chronological order—to county residents, along with the restaurant where you can best enjoy the day’s particular meaning. Don’t like our choices? Visit our Stick a Fork In It blog, where we’ll have five more choices for you to ponder, as well as give you the opportunity to bitch. Happy eating!
NEW YEAR’S DAY
Jan. 1
It’s noon on New Year’s Day, and the house is a mess. Uncle Edward is comatose on the couch, lampshade still on his head; there’s a beer bottle upturned in a bowl of confiscated car keys; and the creaking of a floorboard causes knifing pain to run through hung-over heads. What to do? Every culture has its own ways of dealing with the effects of overindulgence, but El Cabrito may serve the tastiest. As its name (“The Kid Goat”) implies, it specializes in birria de chivo, a thick, chile- and cumin-rich stew made with goat meat. A plate of the stringy stuff—the perfect mix of lean and fat, with a stack of homemade tortillas, some griddled onions and a heap of El Cabrito’s amazing, sludgy, rich, smoky salsa de aceite—and even the most uninhibited imbiber will be well on the road to recovery. And don’t forget the steaming cup of goat drippings on the side for dunking or hair-of-the-dog purposes. 1604 W. First St., Santa Ana, (714) 543-8461.
TET
The first day of the first month of the lunar calendar, usually late January or early February
Though smaller sizes are always available year-round, the Tet holiday brings in the behemoth versions of bánh tét, which is to the Vietnamese New Year what fruitcake is to Christmas. But unlike the dried-fruit-encrusted pastry, people willingly consume bánh tét and look forward to it as part of the annual Tet tradition. Each holiday log—a glutinous rice roll filled with a savory-sweet mung-bean paste mixed with pork fat, onions and pepper, then wrapped in a banana leaf and bound with twine—is large enough to use as mooring for a ship or as a barbell during Pilates. They’re sliced into wheels and either eaten as is or pan-fried to a golden crisp after a good dousing of fish sauce. Van’s Bakery won’t be the only place to have them, but they also offer bánh tét chay, a vegetarian version. Either way, it’s better than fruitcake. 14346 Brookhurst St., Garden Grove, (714) 839-1666.
CHINESE NEW YEAR
The second new moon after the winter solstice, usually between Jan. 21 and Feb. 20
Holidays are more fun when you’re surrounded by people celebrating them, right? Well, the busiest days at any dim-sum purveyor are on Chinese New Year weekend, and Irvine’s branch of the Capital Seafood chain packs them in like a Shanghai train. Families drive immense distances to reunite over plates of shu mai, nai wong bao and griddled turnip (actually daikon radish) cake. Don’t skip the excellent dou fu faa, fresh housemade tofu pudding with sweet ginger syrup, or lean pork and preserved egg congee with savory Chinese doughnuts. For an extra-festive touch, order a plate of seafood from the tanks as the centerpiece of the meal—house special crab or lobster, if you’re really trying to impress your guests. Whatever you order, go as early as you can because between the parking lot (which seems to have been designed while looking through the bottom of a tequila bottle) and the crowds, the wait can be considerable and frustrating—but the food will make it worth the hair-pulling. 2700 Alton Pkwy., Irvine, (949) 252-8188; www.capital-seafood.com/irvine.
PRESIDENT’S DAY
The third Monday of February
The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Birthplace—the only presidential library within our county’s borders—would be the ideal place to visit on President’s Day. Most years, admission is free, and in 2010, they gave out slices of cherry pie for the first 100 guests. But for something a bit more bipartisan, visit The Anaheim White House, a restaurant housed inside a vaguely Jeffersonian building that takes the idea of honoring our commander in chiefs a little more lightly. Presidential-looking plates of Italian-inspired cuisine are served in themed rooms named after select POTUSes from the past and present. Barack Obama has a room, much to the consternation of our county’s Know Nothings, but like his administration, it hasn’t proven to be more than a pleasant, indistinguishable room worth only a brief visit. Everything is decked out in white linen and gold sashes. Chandeliers and fine china never looked as regal as they do here, except maybe at the real White House. And for those who just came from Yorba Linda after paying their respects to our 37th president, there’s a room dedicated to Tricky Dick himself. 887 S. Anaheim Blvd., Anaheim, (714) 772-1381; anaheimwhitehouse.com.
