Holy Family Parish dishing up diversity

GALVESTON — In most places, St. Patrick’s Day is the time for everyone to be Irish for a day. When Galveston’s new Catholic community, Holy Family Parish, celebrates St. Patrick’s Day, ethnic groups from around the world will share the spotlight.

“This is our first festival since the Catholic churches from Galveston and Bolivar have been combined into one parish,” festival spokeswoman Joyce Ann Daniel said.

Holy Family Parish was created in 2009 by combining Galveston churches St. Patrick’s, Mary Star of the Sea, Holy Rosary, Reina de la Paz, Sacred Heart, St. Peter the Apostle and Bolivar’s St. Theresa de Lisieux.

The Holy Family Parish Festival is the successor to the annual festival that St. Patrick’s Church hosted every March for decades. Now that St. Patrick’s is part of the larger parish, its event incorporates the food and fun of its diverse parishioners.

“We’re trying to include all the churches and all the ethnic groups,” Daniel said. “So we’re going to have Cajun red beans and rice, Mexican fajitas and nachos, and Filipino egg rolls as well as barbecue and chicken dinners.”

The Filipino egg rolls are making their first appearance at St. Patrick’s, carrying on a tradition that began at Sacred Heart.

“We’ve made these at Sacred Heart for many special occasions,” Edith Careno said. “For St. Patrick’s Day, our group of eight will make about a thousand.”

Filipino egg rolls, called lumpia, are similar to the more familiar Chinese egg rolls. The biggest differences are that the Filipino egg rolls don’t contain bean sprouts or other Oriental vegetables, and the wrappers are made from rice flour instead of wheat flour like the Chinese-restaurant version, making them thinner and crispier.

Careno and fellow parishioner Betty Gounah demonstrated their rolling technique, starting with a square wrapper and a spoonful of filling. After folding in the ends and rolling quickly, they moisten the ends, envelope-style, to seal the roll.

“Sealing the end keeps the filling from falling out when we fry them,” Gounah said.

In addition to the ethnic specialties that will be served from booths on the St. Patrick’s Church grounds, the Lighthouse Cooking Team will be serving chicken dinners in the church hall.

The festival also includes train rides for children, games of chance, and both Texas and Mexican bingo.

The Holy Family Parish Festival celebrates St. Patrick’s Day from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday on the grounds of St. Patrick’s Church, 34th Street and Broadway.

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Filipino Egg Rolls (lumpia)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 pound ground pork or beef 2 cloves garlic, crushed 1/2 cup chopped onion 1/2 cup minced carrots 1/2 cup chopped green onions 1/2 cup thinly sliced green cabbage 1 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon soy sauce 30 lumpia wrappers or egg roll wrappers 2 cups vegetable oil for frying

Place a wok or large skillet over high heat, and pour in 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. Cook pork, stirring frequently, until no pink is showing.

Remove pork from pan and set aside. Drain grease from pan, leaving a thin coating.

Cook garlic and onion in the same pan for 2 minutes. Stir in the cooked pork, carrots, green onions and cabbage.

Season with pepper, salt, garlic powder and soy sauce.

Remove from heat, and set aside until cool enough to handle.

Place three heaping tablespoons of the filling diagonally near one corner of each wrapper, leaving a 1 1/2 inch space at both ends.

Fold the side along the length of the filling over the filling, tuck in both ends and roll neatly. Keep the roll tight as you assemble.

Moisten the other side of the wrapper with water to seal the edge.

Cover the rolls with plastic wrap to retain moisture.

Heat a heavy skillet over medium heat, add oil to 1/2 inch depth and heat for 5 minutes.

Slide three or four lumpia into the oil. Fry the rolls for 1 to 2 minutes, until all sides are golden brown.

Drain on paper towels. Serve immediately. Makes 30.