Between bouts of holiday shopping and fits of party planning, thoughtful minds turn to the mysteries of the season. They juggle not only the timeless wonders of Earth cycles and religious revelations, but also the questions surrounding peculiar food items traditionally dished up at this time of year.
For instance, speculation abounds about mincemeat. What is it, really? It appears to be minced, but doesn’t exactly resemble meat. And what is “nog”? Why is this peculiar blend of eggs, milk, spices, and potent spirits served strictly at Yuletide?
To put inquiring minds at ease, research reveals that mincemeat was originally created to stretch a meager supply of protein by combining bits of meat (which until 1300 also referred to nuts) with dried fruit, suet, sugar, and spices. A Medieval dish related to hash, mincemeat kept so well that English bakers could dip into it all winter long to whip up a nutritious pie or special-occasion tart.
During religious observances requiring dietary restrictions, cooks replaced the animal flesh with fish and hard-boiled eggs, and when wrapped in a rich crust, both the vegetarian and carnivore-pleasing versions served as hearty entrées. By the sixteenth century, whether baked or fried, these so-called “shred” pies ranked as a favorite Christmas treat.
By the mid-1800s, shred pies contained very little meat and began to resemble the dense dessert chock-full of nuts, raisins, dried apples, citrus peels, and brandy (or rum) seen today. To distinguish between the two, food historians use mince to refer to the older, meat-filled dish, and mincemeat (for no clear reason) to signify the contemporary, sweetened pie filling.
Among the season’s most lauded beverages, eggnog resulted from an effort to preserve milk and eggs in the absence of refrigeration. During the Middle Ages, revelers began adding brandy, rum, or ale to boost the interest factor of the highly perishable dairy products, and created the creamy grog that is still equated with liquid Christmas cheer.
The word “nog” likely stems from either old British slang for strong ale used to toast to good health, or the “noggins” (wooden cups) used in taverns way back when. Whatever the origin of the name, today’s refrigerator case versions are a weak, processed excuse for the thick, highly spiced drink of yesteryear.
Sugarplums, another sweet peculiar to the season, pose a vexing culinary mystery, especially with very few fresh plums anywhere in sight. They are actually a confection or “comfit,” an archaic term describing a sweet consisting of a seed or nut covered with up to 12 layers of sugar.
The sugar coating plumped up the nuts to roughly the size and shape of plums, hence the name, and the treats were often fitted with a wire for hanging from the branches of ol’ Tannenbaum.
Plum pudding, a staple of vintage movies and Victorian-era Christmas tales, emerged at a time when many dried fruits, such as raisins, prunes, and currants, were called plums. For purposes of tradition, plum pudding should contain 13 ingredients to represent Christ and the Apostles, and be stirred counter-clockwise (east to west) to honor the Magi. According to lore, flaming the dish with brandy represents Christ’s passion, and the sprig of holly for garnish refers to his crown of thorns.
Crafted from “shingles” of pungent ginger cookies, houses built of gingerbread were made famous by the Grimm brothers, creators of the legendary, scary fairytales. By the early 1800s, the elaborate cookie-based edifices had become an integral element in Germany’s holiday festivities.
Gingerbread men (why not women?) also make an appearance about now, crunchy and redolent of exotic spices. These tasty treats date at least to the 16th century, when Queen Elizabeth I first presented them to her guests, launching a Yuletide tradition that persists, as people-shaped cookies continue to adorn Christmas trees and holiday platters.
Just in time for seasonal gatherings, one of Santa Maria’s local bakeries, Panera Bread, offers an array of gingerbread man cookies baked and ready to serve. Full of aromatic cinnamon and ginger, rather than the traditional nutmeg called for in European-style recipes, these goodies boast all-natural white icing trim, candy gem buttons, and dried currant eyes that seem to sparkle with seasonal glee.
Winter solstice and year-end celebrations call for something special, and rich, dark chocolate certainly fills the bill. Look for Panera’s Mint Crinkle cookies, made with a blend of European-style cocoa powder and dark chocolate, peppermint, and spearmint extracts. The cookies are rolled in powdered sugar prior to baking, and as they bake, they split, creating the distinctive crinkle.
While pondering time-honored mysteries, remember that getting together with friends and family lies at the heart of Christmas. So go ahead, bake, roast, or whip up those ceremonial favorites, and celebrate the wonders—both numinous and edible—of this sparkling holiday season.
K. Reka Badger will be baking, roasting and whipping up goodies this week. Contact her at rekabadger@hotmail.com.
This article appears in Dec 23-30, 2010.
