THE HUNT: FROM AFAR
If the seasonal standbys leave you cold, turn to other cultures for inspired dishes to serve at Christmas dinner. Your culinary horizons will grow three sizes that day.
If the seasonal standbys leave you cold, turn to other cultures for inspired dishes to serve at Christmas dinner. Your culinary horizons will grow three sizes that day.
if turkey and mashed and Brussels sprouts have gotten a bit tired in your home, you’re not alone. The problem is that as much as we might love to sustain holiday food traditions, many Canadians just didn’t have that many in the first place. But there’s an easy solution to spicing things up. Many cultures celebrate with special foods at the dawn of the northern winter, and not all are Christian or even Western. So if you’re craving something festive, tasty and novel, simply look abroad.
I’ve had the good fortune of celebrating numerous Danish Christmases, where turkey was never seen. Instead, a tandem of crispy roast pork and duck were the stars, with two kinds of potatoes, one of which was candied. There was also the sweet-tart flavour of braised red cabbage, perhaps the greatest vegetable side dish still unknown to most Canadians. And dessert was always a rice-nut pudding in which was planted one whole almond. If you got that in your bowl, you won a prize.
Roast pork is also a big deal at Christmas in the Philippines. In fact, lechon is the national dish, a whole pig basted in lemon grass, spices and coconut juice and served with a fanatical attention to cracklings, the crisped skin. Got a big crew? You can order a 35 kilogram lechon for $285 from Roc’s Grill Contemporary Filipino Cuisine (403-891-5158) that will feed up to 80 people.
In many parts of the U.S., country ham is the yuletide flesh of choice. Alas, many people under-cook (or rather, under-warm) cured, cooked ham. Take a tip from a Georgia diner chef: for maximum tenderness and moisture, tent loosely with foil and bake at 275 F for eight hours. And if you’re looking for an alternative to stale bread for fowl stuffing, try a southern favourite like cranberry cornbread.
I lived for a while in France, where the pinnacle of Noël festivity is a spread of fresh oysters on the half-shell paired with Champagne. For a fairly reasonable $140 to $200 a case (at least 100 oysters) depending on variety, you can order from seafoodonline.ca. Overnight shipping adds to the cost, but also ensures maximum freshness.
Elsewhere in Europe, the Christmas goose is not just a storytime concept. Domestic goose is a bit hard to come by around here, but you can find frozen whole birds at Urban Butchers (formerly Second to None Meats) in any of its three locations, including Granary Market. Expect to pay around $16 a kilogram.
Whether you light the menorah or not, a Hannukah custom worth cherishing is the venerable potato latke, or pancake. Shred russets, then wring out the moisture with a clean towel. Blend with onion, egg, salt and flour, and for maximum flavour fry them in schmaltz—that is, chicken or duck fat. They make a classic brunch when served with applesauce and sour cream, although I like them with gravy.
A big part of Lebanon takes Christmas seriously. Their approach to green beans—garlicky, with pine nuts—is definitely worth trying. And this season is when pomegranates are sold everywhere on the streets of Beirut. Use their bright red colour to pop in salads and vegetable dishes. If you’re feeling ambitious, boil pomegranate juice down to a thick paste. That’s your pomegranate molasses, which makes excellent glaze for meats of any kind. Better yet, because this season goes on and on, it carries a reputation for aiding digestion.
Speaking of project dishes, maybe this is the year to experiment with one of world history’s foundational foods: dried, salt cod. Lina’s sells it for a spendy $32 a kilogram, but remember, once it’s rehydrated and rinsed, it expands considerably. For many Italians, December 24 wouldn’t be the same without some form of baccalà, be it in fritters or over a bed of potatoes.