Merry Christmas Everybody!
What have you been up to so far? When are you reading this? Today, Christmas Day? Or Boxing Day? It matters not. I scratched my head, literally, wondering what to write about this week when I realised that the column will be published on Christmas Day.
As I sit writing this column on Wednesday night (December 21), the Pepperpot is bubbling gently on the stove, reheating. The aroma is travelling from the kitchen to the room I am in. I made the Pepperpot earlier than usual this year, on Saturday last (December 17), knowing that by this time it would be good and ready for eating. The sauce has thickened nicely. The taste is that perfect balance of sweet and savoury. The meats are soft, jiggling gently as the pot bubbles, barely clinging to the bones they surround. I can’t wait for my first taste of Pepperpot for the season, which brings me to my musings on eating at Christmas.
At Christmas, I look forward to my first taste of Pepperpot and will only have it with homemade bread. It’s exciting – the warmth and smell of fresh bread mingling with the spiced, flavourful aroma of Pepperpot; the two will soon be together, in my mouth, filling my belly, my eyes closed, my upper body swaying from left to right as I chew happily.
Another thing I look forward to at Christmas is my first taste of ham. I like to eat it just so, on its own, sliced thinly. I want to taste the savoury meat kissed with cloves and dressed with a fruity sweet glaze. With Pepperpot and Ham, once I have the first taste of each, I am good, if I don’t have any for the rest of the season, not a problem.
I quickly get filled by the aromas of all that is cooking and being made around the holidays, before taking a bite or sip of anything. My senses are saturated. As a result, I am usually the last to make a plate and eat, opting usually for vegetables or salad. It doesn’t help that you would be eating the same food in various combinations over the next few days.
Visiting family and friends often means eating the same food you are avoiding at home because we’ve invariably made the same things in various versions.
I enjoy the highly aromatic flavour of garlic pork – garlic and thyme. I especially like to smell it as it is being cooked, however, the dish itself, not so much. Even though I have worked out a way to make the brine without it being overly acidic, it is not a holiday dish that I usually make. Because I like the flavour (garlic and thyme), I would make a dish of twice-cooked pork in the style of Haitian Griot, where the pork is seasoned and left to marinate overnight, cooked by boiling or pressuring to get it soft, air dried, and then crisped in a pan with a little oil. The tender pieces of meat get all crusty on the outside and downright delicious with that one-of-a-kind flavour combination of garlic and thyme.
My favourite dish at Christmas is one we make all year round, but there is something very special about eating it very late Christmas Eve night. Perhaps it’s the nostalgia in which it is wrapped. I’m talking about Cook-up rice. Christmas Eve Cook-up is extra special because apart from the usual meats, it also has chopped bits of the ham rind. The onions and herbs that set the foundation of the dish have been sautéed in the rendered fat from the ham and some of the drippings from the baked ham are added to the pot along with the fresh-squeezed coconut milk to further boost the taste of the Cook-up.
I am a tea drinker but on Christmas morning, I drink coffee. Why? Because it was the only time, as young children, and teenagers, that my late Mother would let us have coffee. On a few occasions I have tried drinking tea on Christmas morning with my breakfast. Nope. Did not like it. It did not work or go well with anything. On each of those occasions, I ditched the tea and made coffee.
During the Christmas season, I like to taste homemade Sorrel drinks from family and friends. Each has their particular way of making it and I am always interested in the spice combinations they use and how much of it they use. Some Sorrel drinks are very clove forward in flavour, while for others it is cinnamon. Ginger and star anise are other spices some use too. The drinks usually vary in the degrees of sweetness and strength (the quantity, ratio of fruit to water used to make the drinks). I don’t mind what the sweet or spice flavour(s) are but I abhor watered down/weak Sorrel drink.
In the evenings, I like sitting in a darkened room, lit only by the multicoloured Christmas lights, feet tucked under, sipping chilled, sweet, boozy Ponche Crème.
I dread having to find space in the refrigerator to put away leftovers. There is never enough room, but somehow, with careful arranging and rearranging you manage to get everything to fit. The next day, you groan having to unpack to get to certain things to reheat the leftovers. You remove a couple of containers, take out what you want and return to the fridge; somehow, suddenly, they no longer fit.
You swear that next year you are not going to be making so many dishes and cooking so much food. And then, without fail, you do the exact thing – make a lot of dishes and plenty of each. It’s the holidays. It’s what we do.
By Boxing Day, I am yearning for a hot fish curry!
So, this is me at Christmas. What’s it like at your end?
Cynthia
