12 Tastes and Aromas of Christmas

Richard Paul Evans wrote in The Christmas Box that the “smells of Christmas are the smells of childhood.” Walk into Grandma’s kitchen during the holidays on a crisp, cold day and, more than likely, you will find yourself transported to a simpler yesterday that was full of mouthwatering sensory  experiences. This is not your imagination.

Research shows that a strong connection exists between smells, emotions and our past experiences, especially those from early childhood. Specific smells can bring about once-forgotten memories. These memories remind us not only of favorite places, family and friends; they remind us of favorite foods.

On the first day of Christmas baking,

Your kitchen spice rack needs

A heavy dose of cinnamon please

Conjure up fond memories with a variety of tastes in your holiday cuisine. Some of the more popular spices you may find in your kitchen (which may be obtained organically if you don’t have them) include cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger and cloves.

On the fifth day of Christmas baking,

Your kitchen spice rack needs

FIVE WHOLE CLOVES

4  teaspoons of ginger

3 pinches of  allspice

2 nutmeg sprinkles

And a heavy dose of cinnamon please!

These “warm” spices add delicious flavor to pumpkin recipes, gingerbread, carrot cake and homemade chai tea. However, chai just wouldn’t be complete without the spicy-sweet flavor of cardamom on your palette. I smash a cardamom pod to release the oils when I brew my chai. Native to Scandinavia and East India, ground cardamom can also be used in puddings and cakes, as well as chicken and vegetable recipes. Cardamom pairs well with fruit, too.

The holidays aren’t complete without delicious drinks. Several holiday beverages combine festive seasonings with apple cider, oranges and raisins. Scandinavian glögg (pronounced “glurgg”) combines many of these ingredients with wine and brandy or vodka for a delicious hot drink that will warm your spirit as well as your body. Serve your Glögg with a side of baked breads featuring cinnamon, cardamom and allspice. For me, the mouthwateringly delicious smell of banana nut bread wafting through the house may be one of the most endearing and enduring memories of the holidays.

Perhaps the most popular tastes of the holidays are chocolate and peppermint. With some extra time during the holidays, you can enjoy Alton Brown’s recipe for chocolate peppermint pinwheel cookies. These two tastes may be enjoyed in short order, too, by simply adding bits of a peppermint candy cane or peppermint schnapps to your hot cocoa. Sometimes the simplest tastes and smells – combined simply – impart the most vivid memories.

On the twelfth day of Christmas baking,

Your holiday spice rack needs:

12  peppermint canes

11 mugs of  chocolate

10 banana breads

9 cups of  raisins

8 juicy oranges

7 crispy apples

6 cardamom-infused cups of chai

FIVE WHOLE CLOVES

4  teaspoons of ginger

3 pinches of  allspice

2 nutmeg sprinkles

And a heavy dose of cinnamon please!

This holiday, I hope you will explore and experiment with these flavors to create a variety of festive foods. May your holiday season bring you flavorful food, abundant aromas and myriad happy memories for the coming years.

Until next year, eat well!

Traditional Sweets Make the Holidays Complete

Most holidays and celebrations are defined by food, made even more special by the traditions they represent. We gather around our holiday table to enjoy not only the treasured flavors, but, more importantly, the company of loved ones. The foods we enjoy year after year and share with our children and grandchildren are a powerful way to connect with our ancestors and keep our culture alive. They also represent that bond which makes us family. This is true for the hard boiled eggs at Easter and Grandpa’s barbecued chicken on Independence Day, and it is especially true at Christmas. For me, learning the deep roots of some traditional dishes enhances this meaningful connection to history and family.

The Yule log is a sensible part of our holiday traditions. It’s the comforting idea of a winter’s fire burning for hours, keeping guests warm and allowing hosts to tend to other matters (like the food!). The word “Yule” derived from a pre-Christian winter solstice festival long before it transitioned into the Christian’s Christmas lexicon. During the festival celebrants prayed that the burning log might last forever. Fast forward to the 19^th century, the French applied their mastery of all things sweet to the Yule log tradition and created the Bûche de Noël – A light sponge cake rolled with sweetened pastry cream, jam, or buttercream frosting to resemble a log. Variations include chocolate, ice cream, candied fruits, and frosting to look more log-like. Whatever your favorite version, it is perfect with a cup of coffee, sitting next to the Yule log fire, on a cold winter afternoon.

While the French were baking cakes, the Northern Europeans were dabbling in cookies. Descendants of the Germans and Dutch probably have a family gingerbread or butter cookie recipe, sugar cookies likely originated with the Brits, and the Norwegians and Swedes perfected all sorts of crisp and spicy wafer cookies that are delightful for dunking! By the eighteenth century, sugar was no longer just medicinal or for the wealthy, and with the introduction of cookie cutters by the Dutch, Americans made cookies a central part of Christmas. Americans took cookies to the next level when we masterminded the holiday cookie exchange!

The quintessential dunk for a Christmas cookie would have to be eggnog. While eggnog is a North American phenomenon, its roots are likely in jolly old England where they enjoyed posset (sweetened and/or spiced milk slightly curdled with alcohol and served warm). We enjoy the convenience of nonalcoholic eggnog in a carton these days, but consider making some from scratch with pasteurized eggs, cognac, and some freshly grated nutmeg for a lovely Christmas Eve nightcap.

Any discussion of Christmas sweets has to include the fruitcake. The brunt of many jokes, this cake was the height of decadence in the Middle Ages. Today it comes in so many variants, many families likely have their own personalized version. Check Grandma’s cookbook, and you may find a hidden gem…

Perhaps amidst the hustle and bustle of this year’s holiday, we will all find a moment to consider how our great-great-grandparents, in a simpler time, celebrated the holidays. We can build a culinary bridge across the years with a taste of something they would have found familiar and scrumptious, and it may help us appreciate all that we have to be thankful for.

Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones, and until next time, eat well!