Festive food

We take a look at some of the dishes that reflect the backgrounds of the editorial team at Europeana.

The Thirteen Desserts - a tradition from Provence, France

In Provence (home of Sabine, Europeana’s Audience Engagement team manager), it is traditional to set out 13 desserts on 24 December, and have a taste of each one by 27 December. The 13 dishes represent Jesus and the 12 apostles and having a bit of each brings you good luck for the coming year.

The spread should include four different types of dried fruits which represent the ‘quatre mendiants’ (four beggars) and symbolise religious orders - raisins for Dominicans, walnuts or hazelnuts for Augustinians, almonds for Carmelites and figs for Franciscans. Then there are dates to represent the country where Jesus lived and died, black and white nougat symbolising good and evil, a range of fresh fruits, and other sweet treats like Calissons d’Aix (almond and melon sweets) and Pompe à l'huile made with orange blossom water (which you must tear by hand, not cut with a knife for risk of bringing bad luck). You might also find candied fruits, bugnes (fried dough a bit like a doughnut) or oreillettes (crispy pastry fritters), or more modern additions like a bûche de Noël.

Riz cantonais à la sénégalaise, holiday food from Senegal

Our Campaigns Coordinator Marijke was born to Ghanaian and Dutch parents, and grew up in Senegal and Italy. Her Christmas isn’t the same without riz cantonais à la sénégalaise served alongside turkey, nems (spring rolls), and salade chinoise. This dish takes a traditional Cantonese fried rice and enriches it with flavours and ingredients from Senegal, like nokoss - a blend of onion, garlic, herbs and chilli. It usually also involves a longer cooking process, with a period of simmering to enhance the flavours.

Mince pies, Christmas treats from the United Kingdom

Mince pies have been a solid part of British festive tradition for at least 400 years. For Beth, (Europeana’s Editorial Adviser) the festive period hasn’t begun until she’s eaten this crisp pastry case filled with mincemeat - a mix of dried fruit, brandy, spices and suet. Despite the name, it’s got nothing to do with meat, although the original recipe did when the Crusaders introduced spices from the Middle East to Britain in the 12th century. Mince pies became sweetened in the 18th century. The spices of nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon are thought to be symbolic of the gifts given by the three wise men, while the pastry case represents swaddling Jesus in the manger. There’s a myth that Oliver Cromwell tried to ban mince pies in the 1650s, and it’s certainly true that Parliament did try to put an end to Christmas celebrations in 1647 but that didn’t last long - and neither do the mince pies in Beth’s house!

Beetroot soup with dumplings, festive food from Poland

Barszcz z uszkami - a beetroot soup with small dumplings - is what Maggy, our Content & Exhibitions Coordinator, needs to make Christmas Christmas. The name ‘uszka’ means ‘little ears’ and the dumplings are filled with forest mushrooms.

Borscht is a Polish favourite, but this variation for Christmas Eve is a little different. Maggy’s recipe uses vegetable broth and water from cooking/soaking mushrooms for the dumplings. The rest of the flavour comes from making a sour beetroot juice in a similar way that you would make a sourdough. The mushrooms used to flavour the broth are then put to use in the dumplings.

Maggy has also adopted some Italian traditions, via her husband, and now includes panettone in her festive rituals. Some people eat panettone with mascarpone or crema di pistacchio but Maggy opts for something lighter and has it served slightly warmed but not toasted. She recommends putting it in a warm but turned-off oven after baking perhaps a Christmas lasagna! If the oven has not been in use, you can even put it on a radiator for 10-15 mins. Then eat it sliced (like a regular cake) with a glass of spumante (sparkling wine).

Spiced beef, a Christmas classic from Ireland

For Adrian, our Collections Manager from Ireland, spiced beef (mairteoil spíosraithe) is the dish that conjures up the spirit of Christmas. It is a form of salt beef, cured with spices (perhaps pepper, all spice and juniper, or cinnamon, cloves, ginger, mace and nutmeg) and braised or boiled. It is a traditional Christmas or New Year dish in Ireland.

James Joyce mentions the tradition of eating salt beef at Christmas in his short story, 'The Dead'.

‘A fat brown goose lay at one end of the table and at the other end, on a bed of creased paper strewn with sprigs of parsley, lay a great ham, stripped of its outer skin and peppered over with crust crumbs, a neat paper frill round its shin and beside this was a round of spiced beef.'

Adrian doesn’t have spiced beef as part of the Christmas Day meal - which already has its fair share of meat on offer as you can see from Joyce’s story - but will partake at some point throughout the holiday.