Christmas Cooking and Baking

Sometimes, when I think of Christmas, the first thing that comes to mind is the food. Not because I am inherently greedy, but because the sight, smell and taste of Christmas food can evoke memories like few other things can. My relationship with Christmas food began in earnest the first Christmas after my wife and I got married. I asked her if there was anything she really didn’t like doing, and she said that she hated cooking on Christmas Day. I told her that she would never have to cook on Christmas Day again, and I kept my word – Christmas Dinner Number 32 of our married life on the horizon and I have cooked every one.

I can’t deny that I don’t occasionally have Gordon Ramsay style meltdowns on December 25th (!) but those have become less and less common over the years! After a while you learn shortcuts. On that first Christmas together I cooked enough food to feed the proverbial army! Now, my Christmas Dinners lean towards the much more frugal end of the festive scale. When I was over in Australia I discovered the delights of a Christmas Dinner with salads, now very much my favourite style of festive feast because you can prepare most of the dishes in advance. Also, in recent years, I have moved from full turkeys to turkey crowns, which are much easier to cook, and give me more free time. Woe betide anyone who tries to interfere with menus or cooking though, as I have become very protective of my territory! Our children have grown up seeing me cooking every Christmas, so I am sure that they will not see the kitchen as a place to avoid, apart from when I am swearing at the oven!

In return for Christmas Day away from the kitchen, Janet decided to take care of the baking of everything sweet! Each year she spends hours in the kitchen in October and November in particular, to make sure we have homemade Christmas Cake, Christmas Pudding and Mincemeat. Her home baking is so good, that I genuinely can’t have any shop bought alternatives. All three recipes that she uses come from Delia Smith’s Christmas, which to this day is the best festive recipe book of the lot. I always tell her that the extra ingredient she puts in there that makes everything taste so good is love, and I genuinely wonder if that affects my perception of the taste. As well as baking a fruit cake with large amounts of alcohol for Christmas, she makes a second for my birthday in March!

In common with many people, food is very much a centrepiece of our day, and it means a lot to me that everything we put on our table, with just a few exceptions, is prepared and cooked by us. Yes, we have chocolates – even me and I’m not a fan! – and lots of sweets of various kinds, but they are kept outside of the main meals as a treat. I am not a big drinker at any time of the year, so I don’t tend to have alcohol except in my cakes, puddings and mince pies! My one exception is New Year’s Eve when Janet makes mulled wine, another Delia Smith recipe. When she made it with red wine I would end up having a glass or two at the most, as it was a bit strong for me in terms of the taste, but she hit upon the idea of making it with rose rather than red and I started having three or four glasses very happily. The great thing about the mulled wine is that you can get a very cheap bottle because it tastes just the same once the cinnamon sticks and other spices are added! It is a great example of the way that our festive food and drink has evolved over the years to suit our changing tastes, family size and budget.

Festive food is, and will remain, central to the season, but far more important than what is on the table is who is round the table. A poor meal can be as good as the richest feast when you are sitting with those you love, as the Cratchits demonstrated in their Christmas Day celebration in A Christmas Carol.

May your own Christmas Dinners be tasty, and made and eaten with love.