Another Christmas, and it looks like it’s going to be a ‘silent night’. The new Omicron version has created a decidedly more gloomy season, at least in much of Europe and the West. By the time you’re reading this, it’s likely that we too will face some restrictions and restrictions, at least by and large, on mass entertainment. For me, it doesn’t really matter because Christmases have always been domestic affairs with friends. The Brocha Christmas tree goes up until the first of December. Cyrus Brocha’s mom, Olivia, a true Goan Catholic, switches on her CD player at 8 a.m. and along with Jim Reeves’ baritone fogging “Feliz Nvidad” and “The First Noel” in Malabar Hill, occupied by the entire Jain There is echo. Back in the good old days, Brocha and I would host the most get-crash Christmas Eve party ever. Bottles and bottles of wine, potato wafers, peanuts and rock ‘n’ roll. Although I will recall that the late Alyque Padamsee had a Christmas Eve party at his home also known as “Christmas Eve”. A traditional beer and ‘bhel’ bash where we’d be half-sea until midnight while Ernie Flanigan plays carols on his keyboard, and the advertising greats try their hand at a jingle, and old Alik threatens to call the police. Was. Cyrus and me.
That doesn’t mean that food isn’t an important part of Christmas. It certainly was and still is. At the briocha, there will be a table laden with a salad of pork vindaloo, glazed ham, potatoes and boiled eggs, with some sali-boti and pulao dal tossed in the briocha Christmas lunch. A perfect Parsi-Goan feast. Topped with Christmas pudding and brandy sauce. Also there are marzipan, kulkul, (deep-fried, sweet, pastry bites), bath or badka, a traditional Goan coconut cake, coconut snowballs (laddoos with dried coconut) and neuros (a bit like Maharashtrian karanjis) and much more. Boxes and boxes. These are definitely very Goan sweets, but since we’re all stuck at home this season, there are a whole bunch of cakes and sweets that are time-honored Christmas classics from all over Europe and the world that we really love. This can be made at home, all it takes is an oven, a few ingredients and some enthusiasm. Let’s start with the most common. Classic Christmas cake or pudding.
Christmas Cake or Pudding
They are quite similar but different. Christmas fruit cake consists of dried fruits, nuts and spices that have been soaked in rum or brandy or wine for possibly a year and then made with butter and baked in an oven. Often Christmas cakes are covered with marzipan and royal icing. On the other hand, Christmas pudding also contains flour, sugar, dried fruits such as raisins, currants, and nuts soaked in wine. But the Christmas pudding is steamed and served with a creamy brandy sauce.
stolen
In Germany, the tradition emphasizes stölln, a flaky and moist leavened bread with dried fruit, candied citrus peel, nuts and spices, which is baked and then covered with a dense butter and sugar coating. It is then washed down with powdered sugar. In keeping with this German recipe and tradition, which is over 700 years old, Stollen has many permutations, such as Mandelstollen (made with almonds), Neuss-Stölln (with nuts), Bürstölln (with lots of butter). with), and marzipanstolen.
gingerbread
Also from Germany, Lebkuchen is a Christmas cake made from honey. Catholic monks created the Nuremberger Allisenlebkuchen in the 14th century and used whole nuts without any flour to make this traditional cake with all the goodness of almonds and hazelnuts.
mince pies
Unlike common faux pas, Christmas mince pie contains no meat or mince-meat. Mince pie consists of a sweet mixture of dried fruits, sugar, and spices that is finely chopped and dipped in brandy. This rich, sticky, sweet filling is wrapped in pastry and then baked. A part of the British Christmas heritage, mince pie has been around since the 16th century.
panetone
Panettone is a tall, Italian Christmas cake. This rather giant cake originated in Milan and may be filled with almond marzipan, ginger, orange peel, cashews, dried apricots and other lovely dried fruits and nuts. Most importantly, a panettone is light and airy in texture with a rich and buttery flavor. The origins of this recipe largely date back to the Renaissance.
Yule Log
And finally the Yule Log, also known as the Bouche de Nol in France. The Yule Log is a traditional French Christmas cake that uses a chocolate sponge roulade, or rolled cake, and Italian buttercream. The cakes are shaped like wooden stumps or logs which are burnt on the stove as a winter tradition in some parts of Europe. Dusted with sugar and decorated with green marzipan holly leaves, it represents Christmas like a second.
So go out and find a recipe that suits you, roll up your sleeves and with a song on my lips and cake in my mouth and a prayer in my heart I wish you all a great season.
Kunal Vijaykar is a food writer based in Mumbai. He tweets @kunalvijayakar and can be followed on Instagram @kunalvijayakar. What is the name of his youtube channel? The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.
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