Food is used to help celebrate special occasions in different cultures like Christmas

Food is used to help celebrate special occasions in different cultures like Christmas, New Year, weddings and birthdays and other festivals. Food is an important part of any celebration in all nations of the world, regardless of culture or religion.

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Food is an important part of any celebration in all nations of the world, regardless of culture or religion. It can unite and strengthen community bonds and helps to maintain a common identity among a group of people. Different countries use food in different ways to help celebrate special occasions like Christmas, New Year, weddings and birthdays.

Christmas
Many Christmas symbols, such as mistletoe and Christmas cards, spread to the world from Great Britain. This is why many countries that were once part of the old British Empire - Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, for example - have similar Christmas customs.

Most of the foods typically associated with Christmas, such as mince pies and fruit cake, also arose from British tradition. In Australia, it is becoming increasingly popular to enjoy seafood on Christmas Day, rather than roast meats and ham, due to our warmer weather.

Traditional Christmas foods differ from one social group to the next, depending on local availability and cultural significance. Some examples include:
France - black and white pudding, which is sausage containing blood
French Canada - desserts like doughnuts and sugar pie
Germany - gingerbread biscuits and liqueur chocolates
Nicaragua - chicken with a stuffing made from a range of fruits and vegetables including tomato, onion and papaya
Russia - a feast of 12 different dishes, representing Christ’s disciples.
New Year
Traditional New Year foods around the world include:
Greece - a special sweet pasty baked with a coin inside it
Japan - up to 20 dishes cooked and prepared one week earlier. Each food represents a New Year’s wish; for example, seaweed asks for happiness in the year ahead
Scotland - haggis (sheep’s stomach stuffed with oatmeal and offal), gingerbread biscuits and scones
Spain - 12 grapes, meant to be put into the mouth one at a time at each chime of the clock at midnight.
Lunar New Year
In many Asian countries, the New Year doesn’t start on January 1, but with the first full moon in the first Chinese lunar month. Traditional New Year food includes:
China - fish, chestnuts and fried foods
Korea - dumpling soup
Vietnam - meat-filled rice cakes and shark fin soup.
Weddings
Around the world, weddings share common ground. No matter what the religion or culture, the typical wedding is a joint celebration for the families that involves a wedding cake and traditional foods. Foods that feature prominently in weddings include:
China - roast suckling pig, fish, pigeon, chicken, lobster and a type of bun stuffed with lotus seeds are commonly served. It is especially important to offer both lobster and chicken: the lobster represents the dragon and the chicken the phoenix, so including both on the menu is thought to harmonise the Yin and Yang of the newly joined families.
Indonesia - foods served depend on the region and religion, but could include spicy rice dishes like nasi goreng, dim sum, sushi or even Western recipes like beef wellington.
Italy - food is a very important part of an Italian wedding. Bow tie-shaped twists of fried dough, sprinkled in sugar, represent good luck. A roast suckling pig or roast lamb is often the main dish, accompanied by pastas and fruits. The traditional Italian wedding cake is made from biscuits.
Korea - noodles are served, because they represent longevity.
Norway - the traditional wedding cake is made from bread topped with cream, cheese and syrup.
Britain - the honeymoon has been said to originate from a time when the father of the bride gave the groom a moon’s (month’s) worth of mead (alcoholic beverage made from honey) before the bride and groom left after the ceremony.
Birthdays
The custom of the birthday party originated in medieval Europe, when it was supposed that people were vulnerable to evil spirits on their birthdays. Friends, family members, festivities and presents were thought to ward off the spirits. Traditional birthday foods from around the world include:
Australia - birthdays are often celebrated by sharing a decorated birthday cake with lit candles, which the person celebrating the birthday blows out while making a wish.
England - a cake may be baked containing symbolic objects that foretell the future. If your piece of cake has a coin, for example, you will one day be wealthy.
Ghana - the child’s birthday breakfast is a fried patty made from mashed sweet potato and eggs. Traditional birthday party fare includes a dish made from fried plantain (a kind of banana).
Korea - for their first birthday, the child is dressed and sat before a range of objects including fruit, rice, calligraphy brushes and money. Whichever item the child picks up predicts their future; for example, picking up the rice indicates material wealth. After this ceremony, the guests eat rice cakes.
Mexico - a papier-mâché container in the shape of an animal (piñata) is filled with lollies and other treats. The blindfolded child hits at the piñata until it breaks. The treats are shared amongst the guests.
Western Russia - the birthday boy or girl is given a fruit pie instead of a cake.



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Fennel Scented Kale Soup

The holidays are about balance. (We all know that’s not true. The holidays are about pie.) Between all of the heavy, high-calorie holiday feasts, parties and work luncheons (with pie! yay!), it’s a good idea to stick to lighter fare at home this time of year. The following vegetarian kale soup is reminiscent of Italian wedding soup and makes for a hearty but light break between slices of… pie ([facepalm]).

Dried fennel seed gives the soup a gentle aromatic flavor. Barley adds texture and helps to thicken the soup’s liquid as it cooks.

Useful tip: If reheating for leftovers, the barley may soak up some of the liquid. Add 1/4 cup of water or so per serving to reconstitute.

Note of interest: The kale and the dried fennel seed used in this post came from a very generous neighbor’s garden. Thank you!

In YC News: December is Roast Post Month! Each week we’ll be posting a roast recipe in preparation for the holidays. Check back if you feel so inclined.

Fennel Scented Kale Soup – serves 4 – 6

1 T olive oil
4 – 6 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled, plus 1 clove, halved
1 lb kale, stems removed, chopped into 1/2 – 1 inch pieces
3 large low-starch boiling potatoes, such as Yukon gold
4 C vegetable stock
2 C tomato juice
1/2 C pearl barley
1 t dried fennel seed
shaved Parmesan or Asiago cheese (optional)

In a large stockpot, soften the 4 – 6 garlic in oil over medium heat about 1 minute. Add the kale and saute until wilted, about 2 – 4 minutes, keeping an eye to not burn the garlic.

Stir in the potatoes, stock and tomato juice, cover and bring a simmer. Reduce heat and continue to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the barley and fennel seed, cover and continue to simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. To serve, rub individual soup bowls with the cut side of the halved garlic clove before ladling in the soup. Top with shaved Parmesan or Asiago cheese.

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Standing Rib Roast au Jus

Standing Rib Roast au Jus

December is Roast Post Month at Yankee Cook. Hooray! [noisemaker sound] Each Thursday until New Years we’ll be posting a new holiday roast for your holiday inspiration. This year’s Roast Post theme is Party of Four -  each roast recipe is written to accommodate four people as opposed to the usual eight or ten, because not every holiday party has dozens of people in attendance. We’re kicking off Roast Post Month with Standing Rib Roast au Jus.

Standing rib roast is the same cut of meat as prime rib before it’s been cut into steaks. A full standing rib roast rack has seven ribs, and can weigh up to 16 lbs and yield as many servings.  A two rib roast normally weighs between 3.5 to 4.5 lbs. What’s nice about making a smaller standing rib roast is that while it’s large enough to carve at the table, it’s also small enough to sear in a pan after it roasts. Roasting at the relatively low temperature of 325 degrees gives you control over the doneness of the center and prevents the outer edges of the meat from overcooking. A quick pan-sear finishes the roast off for a crispy exterior. Another benefit to roasting small – it takes a lot less time to cook.

One thing that’s nice about standing rib roast is that it doesn’t require a roasting pan with a rack. The ribs act as a rack, so if you’re just starting out and you don’t have a roasting pan, make this and you can just use a baking dish. You could even use a brownie pan.

Carving tip: To make the roast easier to carve, remove the ribs first and tie them back on using butcher’s twine. This way the person carving will only need to make vertical slices for the steaks to come off. After dinner, save the bones to make beef stock.

Standing Rib Roast - serves 4
Special equipment: You will need a meat thermometer and butcher’s string.

3.5 – 4.5 lb standing rib roast
1 – 2 T salt
6 sprigs of sage
6 sprigs of thyme
2 t cumin
1 T olive oil
1 – 1.5 t salt
2 C beef stock
additional sage and thyme sprigs for garnish (optional)

Start off by severing the ribs from the rest of the meat. Place the roast in a cutting board with the rib side down, starting at cut side of the bone, run a knife horizontally along the bone to remove the roast from the bone. Set the ribs aside. Trim away any extra fat from the top of the roast. Generously salt the roast with one to two tablespoons of salt. Fit the roast over the ribs and use two pieces of butcher’s string to tie the two parts back together just as they had been before the ribs were removed .

Place the roast on the counter in a large plate. Allow to sit for 1 hour at room temperature. This will take away the chill from the fridge in order to allow the meat to cook more evenly in the center.

Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Finely mince 1 tablespoon of each of the sage and the thyme (about 2 or 3 sprigs) Combine the herbs, cumin olive oil, and salt in a small bowl.

Remove the salt from the rib roast using paper towels. Pat dry.

Rub the herb mixture into the roast and place the roast in a large baking dish.

Insert the meat thermometer into the center of the roast so that it’s not touching a bone. Place the roast in the center of the oven and cook until the thermometer reads 135 degrees (about 1 3/4 to 2 hours) for medium rare or 150 for medium (about 2 – 2 1/4 hours).

Remove the roast from the oven and, keeping the thermometer in place, loosely tent the roast with foil. Allow the roast to rest for at least 20 minutes or up to an hour. The temperature will continue to climb another 10 or 11 degrees.

After the roast has rested, take about a tablespoon of the rendered fat from the baking dish and heat to a shimmer over medium high heat in a large frying pan.

Sear all sides of the roast in the frying pan using tongs – at least 30 seconds per side or until a crispy, brown crust forms.  Set the roast on a serving platter or carving board with channels (to avoid spillage). Cut and remove the strings.


For the Jus:

Pour the stock into the frying pan and scrape up any bits of the meat, stirring to dissolve. Add the remaining sprigs of sage and thyme to the pan. Lower heat to medium and allow to reduce to about half the volume (about 5 minutes). Strain the jus through a mesh strainer into a gravy dish.

Carve the roast by slicing vertically to make steaks. Serve with the jus over something starchy and absorbent like mashed potatoes or a good polenta.






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