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Gourmet Secrets: Christmas in the Tropics
A look at how Christmas dinners have morphed into lunches in the garden centering around a barbecue and much more in the way of salads and veggies than you’d see on any British Christmas table
It’s the festive season again. Well, it has been for the past couple of months well before Diwali and through this year’s bout of “wedding mania”. Somehow, Christmas is when the real fun begins and when it suddenly dawns on me that another year has gone! This is when I throw caution, deadlines and all other work commitments to the wind and decide to have a good time myself (which usually involves large amounts of cooking) and share the spirit with friends.
It is the perfect time for a sit down dinner with turkey as a centre piece and Christmas pudding to end. At this time of the year, I usually hand out my famous turkey with sage recipe. I have found that although a lot of people enthusiastically ask for it, many actually don’t cook it. This could be because they don’t know where to buy a turkey in India, they simply don’t have an oven big enough to cook one or they are vegetarian.
I usually also do honey roast ham for Christmas lunch. These are not Virginia or Kentucky hams but the whiff of warm, smoked ham, which has been cooked in a liquid of herbs spices and beer can be quite irresistible. And of course, we have to have Christmas pudding, even in the afternoon, even if we’re sweating away in the sun!
The English way
If you have ever been to England around at this time of the year, you will know that Christmas dinner is as full of idiosyncrasies as are other British traits: the mystery surrounding the chipolatas and the turkey; the Cubist theory behind the uneven potatoes; and where do the Brussels sprouts and the bread sauce fit in? And the only conclusion I came to was that tradition, in this case, is somewhat inexplicable.
Let’s just put it down to British eccentricity, which is at its best during Christmas. This is when all those little quirks can be let out of the closet shamelessly. The British are proud of Christmas and so they should be. This is about the only time of year when they are allowed to show off their great gastronomic delights for all to ogle at. And anyone who has suffered at the hands of British cooks will tell you that this is the one time of year when you’ll find anything half way edible on a British table.
Tropical touch
In recent years, my Christmas dinners have morphed into lunches in the garden centering around a barbecue and much more in the way of salads and vegetables than you would see on any British Christmas table. This is my answer to Christmas in the Tropics.
Interesting veggie recipes and a Christmas pudding, which only needs a few days of advance prep and thought. Neesha Grover (of the Grover wine family) generously shared her family recipe with me many years ago and I thank her for it every Christmas!
Christmas pudding
Serves 16 (makes 4 large puddings)
Ingredients
100 g (1cup) almonds
120 g (1 cup) sultanas (yellow)
120 g (1 cup) currants (black)
300 g (2 cups) raisins (brown)
100 g (3/4 cup) Karen Anand’s chunky orange marmalde
250 g fine breadcrumbs
180 g (1¼ cups) butter
2 tbsp cocoa
180 g (2 cups) plain flour
3 tsp baking powder and a pinch of salt
2 tsp mixed spice (mace, cardamom, cloves, all spice) (ground to powder)
2 tsp grated nutmeg,
1 tsp cinnamon, powdered
400 g (2 cups) brown sugar
Juice and rind of 2 limes
6 eggs
½ cup milk
½ bottle brandy
¼ bottle rum
Method
•Wash all the dry fruit. Dry thoroughly. Remove seeds, if necessary, and chop in a food processor. Any other way is simply too time consuming and you are likely to lose interest in the recipe at this stage. Soak overnight with rum and half the brandy.
•Blanch and chop almonds (also in the mixer). Grate butter from the fridge. Sieve the flour, cocoa and spices. Add brown sugar, juice and rind of limes, butter, almonds, breadcrumbs, marmalade and dried fruit. Stir well.
•Stir in the eggs, milk, and remaining brandy. Leave for two hours.
•Put the mixture into a greased pudding moulds (preferably glass or ceramic). Leave one-inch from the top to expand. Tie with greaseproof paper or foil and then a muslin cloth.
•Place all the puddings in a large vessel (handi). Pour in enough water to come 2 /3 of the way up the puddings. Let the water come to a rolling boil and then reduce the heat slightly. Cover with a lid and steam for four to five hours. You may need to top up with water during cooking, since the bowls must always be 2/3 submerged in water. When cooked, remove from the water and store in a cool place (not a fridge).
•The puddings should last at least three months.
•They can be re-heated by steaming once more or in a microwave on high for three minutes.
•Serve warm with cream or brandy butter.
Tip
Most Christmas pudding needs to be made months in advance. I have neither the time nor the organisational skills to plan my life nor my kitchen that much in advance. This recipe can be made three days in advance and tastes amazingly good except that it comes out brown and not black.
Broccoli and cheese gratin with hazlenuts
Serves 4
Ingredients
500 g broccoli cut into small florets
½ cup hazelnuts, chopped
3 tbsp fresh breadcrumbs
¼ cup grated cheddar
Cheese sauce
3 tbsp butter
4 tbsp plain flour
1½ cups warm milk
1 tsp dijon mustard
½ cup grated cheddar
½ cup Parmesan cheese
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp white pepper
Method
Lightly grease an oven-proof dish. Cook the broccoli in a saucepan with lightly salted boiling water for five minutes or until just tender. Drain thoroughly, then transfer to the prepared dish and keep warm. Sprinkle with the hazelnuts.
For the cheese sauce, melt the butter in a pan over low heat. Stir in the flour and cook for one minute, or until pale and foaming. Remove from heat and gradually stir in milk and mustard. Return to the heat and stir constantly until the sauce boils and thickens. Reduce the heat and simmer for two minutes, then remove the pan from the heat. Add half the cheddar and Parmesan and stir till melted. Do not reheat or the oil will come out of the cheese. Season with salt and white pepper and pour over the broccoli and nuts.
Combine the bread crumbs with the remaining cheddar and Parmesan and sprinkle over the sauce. Grill under medium heat until the top is brown and bubbling. Serve immediately.
Culinary expert and explorer Karen Anand has been writing extensively on the subject of food and wine for 30 years. Apart from having her own brand of gourmet food products, she has anchored top rated TV shows, run a successful chain of food stores, founded the hugely successful Farmers Markets, and worked as restaurant consultant for international projects, among other things. Her latest passion is food tours, a totally curated experience which Karen herself accompanies, the first of which was to Italy.
From HT Brunch, December 23, 2018
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