From 1937
From Punch in the 1890s
Author: gerryadmin
Get Ready for Christmas
The picture above is a bonad, which sounds like a naughty word but means a Swedish wall hanging. This one depicts the Nativity. I have posted it as a reminder for all of us to start thinking about Christmas.
Christmas is the biggest annual phenomenon in our lives, dominating at least 10% of our calendar and demanding so much of us: planning, buying, baking, wrapping, cooking, singing, inviting, giving, worshipping, visiting, travelling, writing, mailing, waiting, recovering, and paying. It can be magic and fulfilling; it can be stressful or sad.
A good way to reduce the anxiety, rush, and expense of the “holiday season” is to have all the myriad details of Christmas settled in advance. Buy your presents early according to a budget. Make sure the list of people to whom you will send greetings is up to date. Agree about where you will go for Christmas or whom you will be inviting. Get the ingredients for your special foods before they run out in December. Consider how you will be intentionally hospitable and charitable this year. Whom might be forgotten that you could bring some happiness to? Have you got enough wrapping? (Remember that cheap wrapping paper is the Devil’s way of making you hate Christmas.)
Christmas is a feast, a festival, a celebration. Prepare for it by getting a jump on Advent and may all your Christmases be bright.
Pope Leo and the Nativity
Leo was Bishop of Rome from 440 to 461. He is the only pope, aside from St Gregory, to be called the Great. He was an able administrator, diplomat, and preacher – among the many sermons of his that have survived are several that deal with the theology of Christmas. Here are some excerpts from these orations.
Let us be glad in the Lord, dearly beloved, and make merry with spiritual joy. For there has dawned for us the day of new redemption, of ancient preparation, and of eternal bliss. In this annual feast there is renewed for us the sacrament of our salvation, which was promised from the beginning, was accomplished in the fulness of time, and will endure for all eternity. (Homily 2,1.)
In assuming our nature, Christ became for us a ladder, so that through Him we can now ascend even unto Himself. (Homily 5,3.)
Let Catholic faith recognize the glory of the Lord in His humility; and let the Church, which is the body of Christ, exult in the sacraments of her salvation. For unless the Word of God had become flesh and had dwelt amongst us, unless the Creator Himself had descended to enter into communion with His creature and in His birth had restored the old man by a new beginning, death would have reigned from Adam even unto the end (Rom. 5:14), Irrevocable condemnation would have been all men’s lot, and the very fact of birth would have been unto all cause of perdition But He became a man of our race, that we might become partake of the divine nature. The birth that was His from the virginal womb, He made available to us in the baptismal font. He gave to water the same power that He gave to His mother. For the power of the Most High and the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35) which made Mary give birth to the Savior, likewise effect that water gives new life to the believer. (Homily 5,5.).
Although the infancy which the majesty of God’s Son did not disdain passed into the maturity of manhood, and although all the acts of humility undertaken for us ceased once the triumph of the passion and resurrection had been attained, yet today’s festival renews for us the sacred infancy of Jesus born of the Virgin Mary; and while we adore the birth of our Savior, we find that we are celebrating too the commencement of our own life. For the birth of Christ is the origin of the Christian race, since the birthday of the Head is the birthday of the body. (Homily 6.2)
Clear Toy Candy
Another Gastro Obscura posting about unique Christmas foods around the world.
In the 18th century, children in Pennsylvania would inevitably find a two-for-one gift in their Christmas stockings. Each piece of clear toy candy, a sweet pioneered by German immigrants, lives up to its name. As the treats were shaped like trains, ships, or animals, children could play with them before eating. Once also called barley candy because some recipes were said to include sweet barley sugar, the candies appeared in the region as early as 1772. Made of colorful, boiled sugar syrup, clear toy candy is carefully made in cold kitchens to preserve its glassy look. Often, the sweets come in Christmas red or green, or the natural yellow of the lightly-caramelized syrup.
These sweets are decidedly vintage, both in shape and in taste (traditional clear-toy candy is unflavored). Collectors gather the molds from long-gone candy companies, and only a few confectioners still make the treats. Nevertheless, they’re still a must for many families celebrating Christmas in Pennsylvania.
Gata Cakes
More obscure Christmas food from Gastro Obscura. This is one of a small number of treats associated with Candlemas, the end of the Christmas season.
In the rugged Upper Azat Valley in Armenia, around the entrance to the rock-carved Geghard Monastery, you’ll notice elderly ladies clustered around roadside stalls leading to the site, selling round Gata cakes inscribed with patterns and intricate Armenian script.
The glazed pastry has a crusty texture that’s soft once you bite into it, and is stuffed with a sweet filling (khoriz) made from a fluffy mixture of flour, butter, and sugar, with a consistency of baked custard. Though styles will vary between regions and villages —with variants including matsuni (Armenian yogurt), walnuts, or dried fruit in the filling—the most famous version comes from the villages around Geghard and Garni, where locals will decorate these round pastries with tree-like motifs, diamond shapes, hearts, or words (such as “Geghard”).
These delicious cakes, which are actually more like a sweetened kind of bread, have their roots in religious tradition. Armenia adopted Christianity in the fourth century after the religious leader Gregory the Illuminator baptized the royal family. Shortly thereafter, Gregory identified a sacred spring in a cave at Geghard and the first chapel was built inside. In the centuries that followed, monks built more formal structures, including the most prominent chapel in 1215, using rocks from surrounding cliffs.
While it’s unclear when vendors started selling Gata cakes at the site, the treats have been linked to Christian traditions for some time. They’re particularly prevalent during the Christian holiday of Candlemas (Tiarn’ndaraj). According to the Armenian Apostolic Church’s calendar, the celebration occurs 40 days after Christmas and commemorates when the baby Jesus was presented at the temple in Jerusalem. Armenian women knead their love and warmth for their family into the dough, so that each cake bestows peace and success upon their household. In addition to love and flour, a coin is often hidden inside the bread. The person to get the coin will enjoy good luck all year.
Bebinca
Portugal occupied the present-day Indian state of Goa from 1510 until 1961, but elements of its culinary influence never left. Bebinca, also called “the queen of Goan desserts,” is a seven- to sixteen-layer pudding cake made from incrementally-baked sheets. Bakers combine lots of egg yolks (there’s that Portuguese influence) with maida, an Indian cake flour, as well as coconut milk, sugar, and a bit of ghee. Some opt to add nutmeg or slivered almonds, but the ingredient list remains simple.
Then, one must set aside four hours for the complicated part of the recipe: Layer batter, melt ghee on top, bake, and repeat. Until the designated number of layers is achieved, patience becomes an additional essential ingredient. Because bebinca is particularly popular on Christmas and during special occasions, many families rely on bakeries that specialize in the art. Dedicated cooks who endeavor to prepare the sweet at home often prepare bebinca in an “OTG oven” (a redundantly-named oven, toaster, and griller), or on a grill, which imparts a light smokiness to the treat. And if 16 layers seems a little lacking, there’s always the 30-layer, Dutch-Indonesian lapis legit.
Chocolate Letters
Another post about Christmas foods from Gastro Obscura. I’m happy to say that my daughter’s Dutch mother-in-law gives us some of these each December.
One of the biggest holidays in the Netherlands is December 5, the day that Sinterklaas (the Dutch version of Santa Claus) rewards all the good children with various candies and presents. Sinterklaas will ride on his horse over the rooftops, followed by his helpers and put the gifts into children’s shoes (while also removing the carrot that they left inside for his horse).
Among these candies are chocolate letters. They will usually be the first initial of the child, but can also be an S for Sinterklaas, an M for Mama, and so on. The letters are traditionally available in white, dark, and milk chocolate variants, but these days many alternatives have popped up. M and W are among the most popular letters because people think that they’re bigger, even if all the pieces have the same weight to them. (smaller letters are typically thicker to compensate). The font used is typically Egyptienne, although there have been some experiments with more modern typefaces.
Feast of the Seven Fishes
On the night before Christmas, some people are preparing and decorating Christmas cookies, while others are readying a “roast beast” for the oven. But for Italian- Americans, cooking up the right supper can be a bit fishy. While the precise origins of the tradition are not clear, the Feast of the Seven Fishes, also referred to as La Vigilia, honors Italian-Catholic traditions of eating lean, or magro, in preparation for Christmas holiday feasting. Still, it’s difficult to say that this hours-long meal is anything but indulgent.
Though connected with various Christmas Eve celebrations across Italy, the Feast of the Seven Fishes is decidedly an Italian-American invention that stems from the early 20th century. During these peak years of Italian immigration into the United States, most people came from Southern Italy, where seafood is an important part of the diet. Many Italian-Americans wouldn’t recognize the feast without dishes such
as baccalà (fried salted codfish) with a spicy caper-flecked sauce and grilled or fried eel (capitone). Other typical preparations include calamari, linguine with anchovies, seafood salad, and shrimp. To make the meal into a real sumptuous affair, oysters and lobster might join a baked whole fish.
The number seven holds a variety of possible, mostly religious, associations, including the number of days it took god to create the Earth in the Bible, the seven cardinal sins, and the number of holy sacraments. While most families will have at least seven types of seafood on the table, many cooks play by their own rules, featuring additional dishes that include everything from meat to pasta. According to food scholars, despite being a relatively new (and somewhat lawless) tradition, the feast is a way for Italian-Americans to remember, revitalize, or introduce their culture to others (especially in cases of in-laws). And while dinners tend to be hosted at home, Italian restaurants across the country have been known to offer the celebration throughout December. Seven or 17, land or marine, turning down an invite to this fine feast would be seriously sinful.
Hriatô
Continuing our Gastro Obscura look at remarkable Christmas dining.
If you are trying hriatô for the first time, your Slovak host will likely advise you to look past its appearance. The second thing they will suggest is that you drink it quickly. Pronounced hree-AH-two-oh, hriatô is a mouthful even before the pork fat hits your lips. But this honey-infused, bacon-dappled hot brandy cocktail graces the upper echelons of winter warmers in Slovakia.
Traditionally served around Christmas, hriatô is relatively straightforward to make. Home cooks begin by frying up bacon in a healthy dollop of lard. Once it’s crisp, they drizzle in honey, allowing the sweet and salty blend to mingle. Finally, they add a stream of potent fruit brandy to the mix.
Hriatô can indeed look a bit unappetizing on first glance. As the cloudy, orangish liquid begins to cool, the fat separates, initially forming glistening droplets on the drink’s surface, then a layer of settled fat. But when enjoyed fresh, the fried bacon bobs 1n the boozy brew, balancing the honeyed liquid with a savory umami pork flavor. Slovaks know a thing or two about hogs. Pork is central to Slovakian cuisine, and even the national dish, bryndzové halusky, a rich meal of gnocchi-like dumplings and sheep’s milk cheese, receives a healthy smattering of bacon.
Hriatô’s base brandy, often the plum-based slivovka, is a potent distillate (usually more than 50 percent alcohol by volume). With such hard-hitting hooch, it’s probably helpful to have a little pork in your pot before toasting with this toddy.
