I will squeeze this post in whilst it is still relevant...
Moving around means the little things we associated with Christmas growing up are not always around us anymore.
Gone are the mounds of sugar dusted mince pies, dense plump puddings wrapped in cellophane, and marzipan and icing slathered slabs of dark, rich fruitcake. The once full diary of Christmas parties and get-togethers – lunches catching up with long-distance friends and relatives, the swapping of presents is now empty. The robin doesn’t feature, neither does the red post box.
Moving around means the little things we associated with Christmas growing up are not always around us anymore.
Gone are the mounds of sugar dusted mince pies, dense plump puddings wrapped in cellophane, and marzipan and icing slathered slabs of dark, rich fruitcake. The once full diary of Christmas parties and get-togethers – lunches catching up with long-distance friends and relatives, the swapping of presents is now empty. The robin doesn’t feature, neither does the red post box.
For the past four Christmases, Father Christmas has been no more; he has morphed into Weihnachtsmann and then Papa Noel, and been overshadowed in children’s minds by St. Nicholas’ appearance in Germany on Dec 5th and then by the Three Kings in Spain on January 6th (Epiphany). I think he has returned over here in Canada, but goes under the guise of Santa Claus or Pere Noel here in Quebec.
Munich felt very festive in December and the Christmas markets definitely got me in the festive spirit; the streets and local neighbourhood squares lined with small wooden huts full of wares, the fir trees covered with twinkling lights, and mugs of gluhwein (their version of mulled wine – very strong stuff!) drunk stood around fires, the smell of roasted chestnuts and hot sugar-cinnamon coated almonds (‘Gebrannte Mandeln’) lingering in the air.
Munich felt very festive in December and the Christmas markets definitely got me in the festive spirit; the streets and local neighbourhood squares lined with small wooden huts full of wares, the fir trees covered with twinkling lights, and mugs of gluhwein (their version of mulled wine – very strong stuff!) drunk stood around fires, the smell of roasted chestnuts and hot sugar-cinnamon coated almonds (‘Gebrannte Mandeln’) lingering in the air.
Christmas was a deeply religious time in Sevilla. The nativity scene seemed to be an important thing for them, and most shops had a nativity scene in their windows. It was nice to see the event not being overshadowed by commercialism for a change I have to admit, although the lack of fir trees was very strange. There were vendors selling roasted chestnuts in the streets, but although there was many excuses to party, it was less about the tinsel and more about the celebration of the birth of Jesus.
Here, the lit up trees and decorated sparkly shops are back. Even the local police station has two trees with lights on (blue lights, naturally). Some are extremely delicate, others are loud and quite brash – a 10 foot inflatable snowman anyone? Most houses seem to have gone in with the odd string of lights outside, and a wreath hung on the door. It looks very festive in the white glowing snow of dusk.
One thing that has always featured wherever we have been for the Christmas period is celebration. And it has always come hand in hand with big feasts and seasonal dishes and delights.
Being something of a cook (well, I like to think so), I could not go on without mentioning the food.
There seems to be a basic spice mix for this time of year, one that when used fills the house with it’s pungent aroma and wraps you up in a cozy blanket.
Mixed spice - the smell of an English Christmas to me - used abundantly in cakes, mincemeat and puddings - is based around cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, ginger. The pumpkin spice mix found out here seems to be similar. In Munich there was packets of Lebkuchen spice mix, based around cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, ginger, but with the additions of anise seed, coriander, cardamom, fennel seed. As the name says, it was meant for baking the gingerbread biscuits, but I used it in other baking for a hit of Christmas-spice sparkle.
Marzipan has featured heavily in every country – from the layer on the English Christmas cake, to the centre of stolen, made to look like little potatoes and many other guises in Germany, to glazed figures in Spain. It was quite hard to find it here to decorate the cake with, overshadowed by other baking ingredients such as chocolate drops and graham cracker piecrusts, and hidden on the shelf. Hopefully it will not be like chocolate; and will taste the same as it does in Europe.
Being something of a cook (well, I like to think so), I could not go on without mentioning the food.
There seems to be a basic spice mix for this time of year, one that when used fills the house with it’s pungent aroma and wraps you up in a cozy blanket.
Mixed spice - the smell of an English Christmas to me - used abundantly in cakes, mincemeat and puddings - is based around cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, ginger. The pumpkin spice mix found out here seems to be similar. In Munich there was packets of Lebkuchen spice mix, based around cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, ginger, but with the additions of anise seed, coriander, cardamom, fennel seed. As the name says, it was meant for baking the gingerbread biscuits, but I used it in other baking for a hit of Christmas-spice sparkle.
Marzipan has featured heavily in every country – from the layer on the English Christmas cake, to the centre of stolen, made to look like little potatoes and many other guises in Germany, to glazed figures in Spain. It was quite hard to find it here to decorate the cake with, overshadowed by other baking ingredients such as chocolate drops and graham cracker piecrusts, and hidden on the shelf. Hopefully it will not be like chocolate; and will taste the same as it does in Europe.
Living in the Commonwealth, there are bits and pieces that we are delighted to see return: decorated fruit cake, plum pudding, and crackers (these weren’t in the shops for a while and I was getting worried there would be no crackers at our table this year – last year we ordered them from Debenhams, but this year items like that cannot be brought in England and posted.) It’s weird, being surrounded with more English traditions, but very definitely not being in England. One significant omission here is the lack of mince pies for sale at every cafe decorated with pastry stars or dusted with icing sugar. Bit gutted about that really.
In Munich we had Lebkuchen (which I have spoken of before, but are so delicious are well worthy of a second mention). They appeared around October-time, and then suddenly vanished straight after Christmas, with no warning whatsoever. There are so many varieties, personal preference is the only thing to go by, but T and I found these monsters only available in one supermarket chain – huge discs of moist, spiced deliciousness. These ones were so jammed with nuts it kept them really moist, more so than other brands. The ones exported outside of Germany don’t seem to taste the same at all – they must keep the best for themselves, and I can’t blame them!
Aside from that, there was also Stollen, with its marzipan centre, which was another highlight from this time of year with us, as were the crisp spiced cookies, ‘Spekulatius’.
In Munich we had Lebkuchen (which I have spoken of before, but are so delicious are well worthy of a second mention). They appeared around October-time, and then suddenly vanished straight after Christmas, with no warning whatsoever. There are so many varieties, personal preference is the only thing to go by, but T and I found these monsters only available in one supermarket chain – huge discs of moist, spiced deliciousness. These ones were so jammed with nuts it kept them really moist, more so than other brands. The ones exported outside of Germany don’t seem to taste the same at all – they must keep the best for themselves, and I can’t blame them!
Aside from that, there was also Stollen, with its marzipan centre, which was another highlight from this time of year with us, as were the crisp spiced cookies, ‘Spekulatius’.
I remember the big festive treat in Sevilla was ‘Polvoron’: A Spanish shortbread - mostly found in Andalusia I think - made from fat, flour, sugar, milk and nuts. Traditionally wrapped in paper wrappers, it was incredibly crumbly and turned to dust, coating your mouth in a layer of biscuit. It was one of those things I wasn’t sure if I liked or not.
The other popular sweet item there was Turron (a type of nougat). The huge number of varieties available lined the supermarket aisles.
The 5th-6th January (Epiphany) was the traditional day for the ‘Roscon de Navidad’ or ‘Roscon de Reyes’ (Wise Men/King Cake – I had to use the internet to help with the name, and typically, there seem to be two options, not sure which is the true one - sorry) a doughy round cake - similar to brioche if my memory serves me correctly - with a hole in the middle, flavoured with orange and lemon, topped with candied fruit and filled with cream or chocolate. A little figure was hidden inside and whoever found it would be king of the party and have good luck.
So, although the comfort blanket of home delights are not necessarily with us anymore, we have found other dishes and traditions whose tastes we can reminisce, and memories we will take with us forever, wherever we are.
The other popular sweet item there was Turron (a type of nougat). The huge number of varieties available lined the supermarket aisles.
The 5th-6th January (Epiphany) was the traditional day for the ‘Roscon de Navidad’ or ‘Roscon de Reyes’ (Wise Men/King Cake – I had to use the internet to help with the name, and typically, there seem to be two options, not sure which is the true one - sorry) a doughy round cake - similar to brioche if my memory serves me correctly - with a hole in the middle, flavoured with orange and lemon, topped with candied fruit and filled with cream or chocolate. A little figure was hidden inside and whoever found it would be king of the party and have good luck.
So, although the comfort blanket of home delights are not necessarily with us anymore, we have found other dishes and traditions whose tastes we can reminisce, and memories we will take with us forever, wherever we are.