edible gifts; homemade gianduja, red wine truffles et al.

edible gifts for my family

this past christmas was all about edible gifts. they were inspired by m and m’s gifts to us two years running. in twenty-eleven m gave us a bottle of rosemary infused olive oil from her grand father’s olive groves. it was grassy in colour with a strong aroma and sharp taste. along with it came a jar of homemade muffin mix. m had layered the ingredients and then added a christmas tag with handwritten instructions. on christmas twenty-twelve we got bee wilson’s consider the fork along with a bottle of homemade mulled wine syrup. these were such perfect ideas for food lovers that it got me inspired to make some of my own. some of these were for londoners and others were bubble wrapped for international carriage.

christmas eve dinner at babcia's and a recipe for christmas cake

the anatomy of a slice

it is christmas eve and we are gathered around babcia and daddy’s dining table in lahore. there is crisp linen on the table and the pretty china that is usually resident in the glass fronted cabinets has been laid out for dinner. our first course is always barszcz. this eastern european staple is a traditional polish first course for christmas eve dinner. babcia ladles the soup and passes it around the table. sometimes she will finish it with a squiggle of cream that is edged a vivid crimson where it meets the soup. warm dinner rolls in the shape of a knot are served on the side.

badam ka sharbat (almond cordial)

edible gift for christmas: badam ka sharbat

fruity and syrup like sweet sharbat’s are a staple refreshment in pakistan. from the mid-80s commercial companies like mitchell’s brought forth a range of fruit squashes the most popular flavours of which are mango, guava and mixed fruit. when guests would come mama would leave me in charge of making a ice-cold jug of squash with plenty of ice and a pinch of salt. a more traditional sharbat was rooh afza and jam-e-shirin. both of these are pink-red syrups that are made from a combination of fruits, herbs and flower essences believed to refresh and cool in the deepest days of summer. a hint of lemon and a generous pinch of salt really do make a refreshing drink.

m and o's christmas lunch

christmas presents under the tree

my maternal grandmother is polish and it is to her that my family owes its celebration of christmas. my early memories of this holiday are of eating minted mitchell’s butterscotch toffees whilst waiting impatiently for babcia, daddy and mama to wake up so that i could open the presents under the christmas tree. i did not care much for minted butterscotch but it was the only way to distract my attention from the impatience. christmas presents were exciting because they almost always included books. i also loved the delicate glass baubles and the multicoloured fairy lights on our tree. 

boxing day tea-time mackerel toasts

tea-time mackerel toasts

breakfast on christmas day was a wedge of white stilton with apricots on crisp toasted slices of gail's apricot and hazelnut bread accompanied by glasses of duval-leroy fluer de champagne. i love the citrus notes of this particular bubbly. we had this whilst watching nigel slater's simple christmas. my past two christmas' have featured a nigel slater recipe and this christmas is no exception. his tea-time mackerel toast recipe came handy on boxing day when o and i couldn't face eating any of our left-overs. i dialled back the richness of recipe by substituting creme fraiche for the cream. nigel recommends this as supper on christmas eve to precede the big christmas lunch. o and i had it the day after to help alleviate a twenty-four hour food coma. i was more generous with the pile of mackerel on my toasts so we got three helpings instead of four as in nigel's recipe.

mulled wine, poicamole and christmas drinks

our little christmas tree

it was mulled wine and mince pies at thirty-two on saturday seventeenth of december, as kbt and i hosted our first ever christmas drinks. i have always loved entertaining and it's because my parents have always loved it too. mama and i used to love hosting tea and as a family we hosted lots of lunches and dinners. it was a time when our family of four would pitch in and do things together. i've also been very lucky to learn the ropes of entertaining in pakistan and abroad and yes, there is a difference. domestic help in pakistan means that you'll have helping hands for washing and cleaning-up afterwards. in places like the uk you're left to clean-up yourself which is why it's much easier to get party plates, napkins and disposable glasses. fortunately, john lewis had really nice disposable/reusable wine and champagne glasses as i don't relish the idea of drinking wine out of plastic cups. i bought some recycled napkins with a holly pattern to add a little brightness, and got kbt to bring home a long branch of winterholly with clusters of berries to use as a centre piece for the table.

christmas with a dishoom

love the stick-on christmas hats on this picture

o's birthday was gluttony personified. after our grand breakfast at hawksmoor guildhall we were due at dishoom in the evening for a christmas tweet-up. we therefore imposed a period of fasting upon ourselves for the remainder of the day, drinking copious amounts of cardamom laced jasmine tea to create space. 

the moolilicious rudolph

a half eaten rudolph

santa and his trusty four legged companion have delivered a truly delicious mooli for christmas. when christmas meets india and sits down at a table it brings us the flaming turkey raan complete with two vegetables at dishoom. the potatoes have had a make-over in bombay and long green beans have been jazzed up with masala. but one doesn't always have time on a weekday for a leisurely lunch, and it is quite possible that by this point most of us have exhausted our craving for the christmas sandwich lunch. so you will be pleased to know that the work day christmas lunch now has a new contender and for me it takes the number one spot on a quick even desk friendly christmas lunch. 

christmas twenty ten

a christmas collage

i had a wonderful christmas surrounded by my parents and sibling, my other half, my grand parents and my god mother (of sorts). it was also princess zubeida's first christmas made merry with welcome scraps of roast beef and chicken bones. we had a sit down dinner for eight and here is what we ate

a cream of mushroom soup (with porcini that had travelled from turin, italy).

a salad of mixed greens, capsicum and apple with a blue cheese and honey dressing.

roast chicken whose cavity had been stuffed with citrus. 

a pan roasted beef tenderloin.

red cabbage seasoned with bruised juniper berries, sugar, orange zest and fruit vinegar.

potatoes dauphinoise.

red and white wine.

for dessert there was christmas pudding that had travelled from london with custard and mama's home made bread and butter pudding.

it was a very special christmas because it was the first time babcia and daddy had come to be with us. usually, we celebrate christmas in lahore with my grand parents. mama had been anxious thinking that they might not like the tree (after all it was very modern) and that something would happen to the food but it all went very well. 

a very contemporary christmas tree

in fact disaster didn't strike until two days later when after making two rather successful 'makowiec' (pronounced mah-koh-viets), mama succeeded in burning the poppy seed mixture to a crisp and made the whole house smell. polish 'makowiec' is a christmas tradition in my mother's household. my grand dad makes it every christmas and i love both versions - the soft moist almond one as well as the dark crunchy poppy seed one. 

mum also made a fantastic and very boozy christmas cake. it was very dark and full of dark fruits and bright red maraschino cherries. she had fed it with a homemade orange liquer. as per tradition my grand parents had brought mrs cross' christmas cake. i much preferred mum's as it is moist and boozy and more fruit to cake. cross' is lighter, crumblier and less fruity. 

what i love about christmas is that you can indulge at whatever time you please so on christmas day i had cake for breakfast and makoweic for tea. i'll think about counting calories in the new year. for now, bring on the champagne truffles that o and i brought back for the family from la maison du chocolat. 

christmas diaries: christmas day lunch

this was o and m's first christmas. this was also the first christmas that m cooked a full roast lunch. there was roast chicken with sage and onion stuffing, thyme and bay leaves. for veg there was red cabbage braised with a combination of tart and bright citrusy notes of orange, lemon and red wine vinegar and the slightly piney crushed juniper berry, roasted parsnips and potatoes and boiled carrots and florets of broccoli. there was also cranberry and apple sauce.

the slater recipes were taken from two different cookbooks. the red cabbage from his kitchen diaries which my mum sent to me earlier this year and the roast from real cooking which o got bought for me i love slater's recipes. they are easy to follow and bring together very simple flavours. plus there isn't too much fuss. for dessert we decided to go for a pear upside down cake. i paired it with a dark chocolate sauce to make it richer and more festive.

lunch on christmas day

breakfast on christmas morning was a glass of bubbly after which i threw together a fruit salad (a guilt free alternative dessert with melon that was honey sweet, segments of orange, a handful of blueberries and a kiwi. i dressed it with honey, the juice of a lemon and lime and a grating of zest to add a citrusy kick).

lunch started off with hare pate for the family and smoked salmon with a side of leafy greens for me. this was followed by a turkey, just roasted and hot out of the oven with a medley of vegetables – broccoli that was steamed lightly, carrot batons that were a fresh bright orange, parsnips that were roasted to bring out their natural sweetness and potatoes mashed to fluffy and velvet smoothness. there was classic bistro gravy with the addition of some whole cranberries for the festive season and cranberry port sauce with bruised whole berries in it. aunt i’s ruby pink-red cabbage had the bite of apple and a hint of cinnamon that matched perfectly with the turkey. uncle g served an amber colored white wine that had a dark honey-ish flavor recalling that of stringy bark honey. 

the consequence of eating such an extensive lunch is that none of us had space for pudding…