Christmas Cooking
Luke Honey 5:43pm
I’m fascinated by the history and mythology of Christmas. Up until the 1890’s, most English families if they were lucky, ate goose; turkey was a luxury only enjoyed by the few. The Anglo-American Christmas, as we know and love it today, is really a Victorian invention: influenced by the sentiment of Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol, Prince Albert’s cosy family celebrations at Windsor; and in the last century, the schmaltz of Hollywood movies such as Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life.
One of the most appealing things about the traditional British Christmas is an old-fashioned York Ham- dry cured with salt, saltpetre, juniper berries and pepper, and then matured for about six weeks. I have to admit to preferring it to the ubiquitous turkey. Almost. And when it’s on your plate in impossibly thin slices topped with a tangy Cumberland sauce, the world suddenly becomes an exceedingly good place.
Do you remember when there was a run on cranberries a few years back? What on earth was all that about? In my own unbiased opinion, English Cumberland Sauce is infinitely preferable to Cranberry Sauce. If you want to try it out this year, I’m going to let the readers of The Coffee House into the secret:
Cut up some orange peel into thin strips, and then boil them to remove the bitterness. In another small pan, melt four heaped tablespoons of redcurrant jelly, along with a teaspoon of ground ginger. Next, pour in a decent slug of port, the juice of one orange, and half a lemon. Stir well, and add the blanched orange strips. Cumberland sauce should be served cold, and the sauce should be thin.
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Comments
Dominic
December 20th, 2007 7:02pmToday 32% eat Tesco and the other 50% eat from the other supermarkets. Presents are from China and China is buying our Banks- Isnt it great.
Tiberius
December 21st, 2007 9:39amIt's the humble sprout that makes Christmas lunch what it is. The kids don't agree, of course...
dave, surrey
December 21st, 2007 10:11amMy dad always insisted on mushy peas with Christmas dinner. Up until the age of about 22 I thought they were a normal part of the Christmas meal..
Bah Humbug
December 21st, 2007 11:03amSanta's red outfit is entirely the fault of C*ca C*la, who still use it in their adverts. I blame the US. They invent this entimental crap and then deny Christ by saying "Happy Holidays". Who was it who said that Christmas is a time when we give useless presents to people we don't like, paid for with money we don't have?
Philip Hurst
December 26th, 2007 10:58amThe cranberry phenomenon to which Mr Honey (?) refers was prompted by a television season of cookery programmes by Blessed Delia Smith. She used cranberries in several of her recipes, provoking a rush for cranberries in stores. Similar phenomena were observed when she used capers, praised a particular brand of omelette skillet, or even unusual cuts of meat. Her ability, conscious or otherwise, to influence the buying habits of Britain's cooks is such that supermarkets stock up on certain items that will be mentioned or used in her television programmes in anticipation of the inevitable rush for them once the programmes are shown. Delia's Christmas cookery programmes have been showing on UKTV Food over the last week or so -- they look as old as footage of the Queen's 1957 Christmas Message -- and of course they are deeply traditional when it comes to Christmas Day fare. Much more interesting and varied is "Delia's Winter Collection", which ranges beyond Christmas into some wonderful cold weather recipes, including a Cumberland sauce to outshine Mr Honey's; it may also be the origin of the cranberry rush.