en-us Copyright 2008 - All Rights Reserved. Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:26:38 GMT 15 By Austin Shiner
Last year it struck me while devouring a burrito. This year it came during physics class. The setting for my annual epiphany is unimportant - what does matter is the meat, the drive, the heart of that moment when I check my watch, see the date, and in an enormous wave of ecstasy realize... It’s December! In case the importance of this revelation isn’t obvious, answering a few questions might aide in your understanding. How many days of school are there in December? What month is Christmas in? What good things happen during Christmas? Yeah, now you’re getting it. December signals the approaching respite from work which we all need so badly. Christmas, however, isn’t about presents, or time off, or putting a giant plant in the middle of the living room. You guessed it, it’s about food. Christmas food in America bears remarkable resemblance to that of Thanksgiving, with roast meats, starches, vegetables, and pies of various descriptions taking the stage. But just as Italians might prefer a pizza to a hamburger, so might Swedes prefer meatballs to a Christmas roast. So my culinary quest there began: to discover the Christmas foods of the world. Here is a little taste. Australians - you’ve gotta love ‘em. Where else does Santa Claus cruise in on a surfboard and run as great a risk of meeting a kangaroo as he does a human? Pavlova, a meringue-based dessert, is quite popular, as is a BBQ turkey (or turkey on the barbie, as the locals call it). It’s cold, everyone’s blond, and people are eating meatballs - that’s right, it’s Christmas in Sweden! Swedes dine on many a scandinavian speciality, including lutefisk (cod cured in lye), potato flatbread known as lefse, and their trademark meatballs. Also popular are pepper cookies, a traditional Christmas recipe that fortunately, and ironically, contains no pepper. They may sound congested and oppose American wars, but the French do make mighty fine desserts, including the Christmas favorite Buche de Noël. Better known state-side as a Yule log, this cylindrical cake is filled with frosting and then covered in chocolate and sugar, making it look like a tree branch. Foie gras, or duck liver, is also commonly served as an opening to the dinner. Nothing starts off the day better than a couple of bratwrust covered in mustard and saurkraut - if you’re German, that is. Makers of fine automobiles and coffee machines, Germans are also credited with the invention of Lebkuchen, or gingerbread, which quickly became a Christmas favorite. Although gingerbread men first became popular with the court of Queen Elizabeth I, gingerbread houses were originally fashioned by German bakers, supposedly resembling the witch’s house in “Hansel and Gretel”. Famous for fashion and hospitality, Italians take culinary sex appeal to a whole new level, serving such trendy and unorthodox dishes as salt cod, eel, and octopus to their yuletide guests. Let us all say olé, olé, olé, and give holiday thanks to our Mexican neighbors who have influenced American cuisine in the profoundest of ways. Tamales are a favorite Christmas item, not only in Mexico but in many parts of Texas and the Southwest, and smashing open the Christmas pinata filled with candy might just be the ultimate celebratory experience. And what self-respecting Christmas celebration could be complete without revisiting Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” and dining on the food of our nation’s forebearers, the British. Plum pudding, ranging in texture from very liquidy to cake-like, is a thoroughly British invention, and is often inserted with small charms which bring good luck to their discoverers. Fruitcake, legendary for its longevity, and mincemeat pie, which does indeed contain beef along with fruit and sugar, are also English holiday staples that, from a small-scale personal poll, most Americans could well live without. As it may seem that Christmas spirit is universal, Christmas foods are anything but. So next time it’s Dec. 24, think about putting out some lebkuchen or lutefisk for old Saint Nick - I’m sure melted cookies gets pretty old. ]]> Thu, 15 Dec 2005 22:23:00 GMT