When you think of traditional Christmas food, what do you think of? Most people from the UK will probably be thinking of pigs in blankets, brussels sprouts, Christmas pudding… maybe even a nut roast?
If so, have you ever wondered about what people from around the world might think of when thinking about a traditional Christmas? Better yet, have you ever wanted to TASTE what a traditional Christmas might be like for those people?
Well thanks to our brilliant cooks – you can!
Arriving first in Spain, we will be delving in to the story of “Roscón de Reyes” or “King’s cake”, and then over to Chile, to indulge in “Pan de Pascua”, both of which are made by our brilliant cook Ximena.
Then, finally, we will be stopping off in Germany to learn a bit more about “Stollen bread”, lovingly baked by Priscilla in Clifton.
Roscón de Reyes, which roughly translates to “Kings cake” in English, is an oval-shaped cake (shaped roughly like a crown).
Topped with sweet treats, such as candied fruit and dates, the sweet bread is not typically eaten on 25th December, a date that people from the UK understand to be THE day for Christmas.
Instead, it is more often consumed on the 6th January – otherwise known as “el día de los Reyes Magos” or “Three Kings Day”.
The sweet treats are typically eaten plain or filled with cream, and sometimes little toys of Christ are hidden in the bread (It is considered to be lucky to find the toy in your slice!).
You can rest assured that you won’t be finding small figurines in Ximena’s Roscón de Reyes! Have a look at her Roscón de Reyes here!
Next, we are taking our tastebuds to South America for another of Ximena’s festive bakes. This time, we are in Chile, to explore the Pan de Pascua – which translates to “Easter bread”.
That might seem confusing to someone from the UK, as Easter is considered a different time to Christmas. However in Chile, both Navidad and Pascua are used when talking about Christmas.
The bake is also not technically a “pan” or “bread”. Despite its name, Pan de Pascua is actually a spiced fruit cake, made from batter with raisins, candied fruits and nuts.
Supposedly, Pan de Pascua was introduced to Chile by German immigrants in the 19th century, which is why you might have seen some similarities between it and “Stollen Bread” – which is next on our list of traditional festive food from around the world!
Ximena’s “Pan de Pascua” is flavoured with spices such as cinnamon, clove, ginger and coffee and can be found here!
Stollen bread, unlike its South American cousin, is a cake-like bread – as opposed to a bread-like cake!
Made with yeast, flour and water, zest is often added to the dough, along with an assortment of different spices, fruits and nuts – such as cardamom, cinnamon, raisin and almonds.
Original Stollen bread, from before the 16th century, is said to have been tasteless and hard, owing to the ban on using butter because of fasting during the Advent season.
When a letter, known as the “Butter-Letter” was written by the Pope, the ban on butter was lifted and Stollen Bread was free to become sweeter and richer with the use of ingredients such as marzipan – an ingredient that Priscilla’s Stollen Bread uses.
Now you know how lucky we are that butter is not being banned by the pope, why not try Priscilla’s Stollen bread?
We are very proud of the Christmas Collection that our cooks have put together this month, partly because they have made so many different festive options for you to choose from. On top of that, we are donating 100% of our commission earned in December to the MAZI project.
So, if you want to have a look at what else is available as part of our Christmas collection and support local cooks and communities this Christmas, then click the button below, or visit: allaboutthecooks.co.uk/festive-season
I found out that All About The Cooks is looking for talented cooks all over the UK to make money cooking from home. I think you’d be great at this!
You can find out more here: allaboutthecooks.co.uk/become-a-cook/
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