Christmas birds: peacocks and swans

Food historians tell us the practice of serving large, stuffed fowl for Christmas, like many other Christian holiday food traditions, was borrowed from earlier cultural practices. Peacocks, swans, geese and turkeys all fit this bill. The larger the bird, the more festive the presence. "New World" turkeys were introduced to Europe in the 16th century. For many years, these "exotic" turkey birds only graced the tables of the wealthy. Working-class English Victorian families, like the Cratchits in Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol, belonged to Goose Clubs. In America, turkey (wild and plentiful) was a natural choice for the Christmas feast. And yet? Our survey of historic newspapers reveals the goose still commanded a traditional place on the Christmas table through the 19th century. Some traditions die hard.

PEACOCKS & SWANS

"Apart from the wild and tame fowl for everyday consumption, there were a few which were outstanding as celebratory birds for feasts and festivals. These were swans and peacocks among the rich, and herons and bustards for those less well off. The pacock made a fine show on a festive occassion...More usual than peacocks at feasts of the nobiltiy were swans. The Percy Family [Medieval England] at them on the principal festivals of the church at the rate of five for Christmas Day, four for Twelfth Night, three for New Year's Day...The family consumed an enormous range of both moor and waterfowl during the year, but the swans were appointed for those special days. Swan was roasted like goose, and served with chawdron sauce...Those who were not in the swan-eating class had goose or chicken."

Candy canes

Why are some candies associated with Christmas? Hundreds of years ago sugar was very expensive. It was a food of the wealthy. For other people, it was a special treat saved for holidays (Christmas, Easter) and other special occasions (weddings, christenings). Many of these traditions remain today. About candy.

Food historians tell us that hard candies (sticks, losenges, etc.) were originally manufactured for medicinal purposes. This idea survives today in the form of cough drops. Confectioners were quick to recognize the popularity of hard candy, in its various forms. Before long, hard candies of all sorts of shapes, sizes, and flavors were produced for "recreational" purposes.

"The concept of sugar as medicine probably came from the tradition of Moslem physicians. They came from a culture which knew and used sugar...That sugar was an expensive and exotic luxury, used medicinally by the subtle and learned Arabs, probalby helped reinforce medieval European ideas of its intrinsic goodness. There were pleny of ailments in northern Europe for which sugar was considered suitable treatment--coughs, colds, chest infections, agues. The Christ allowed that sugar was medicinal (St. Thomas Aquinas himself apparently considered and pronounced on the subject), which meant it could be legitimately nibbled during Lent, probably adding to its appeal. It is no coincidence that our earliest information about pulled-sugar sweets in Britian, using the very word penides that travelled all the way from the Orient, comes from compilations of medicinal formulae, not elegant books on fine confectionery. A description of pulling sugar was written down about 1500 in the York manuscript, under the title To make penydes...The art of pulling sugar was evidently well understood 500 years ago..."

Buche de Noel

Buche de Noel is one of many traditional cakes baked at Christmas. As the name suggests, it is of French origin. The name of this recipe literally translates as "Christmas log," referring to the traditional Yule log burned centuries past. The ingedients suggest the cake is most likely a 19th century creation. That's when thinly rolled sponge cakes filled with jam or cream and covered with buttercream icing begin to show up in European cook books. Marzipan and meringue, typically employed for decorative purposes, date to the Medieval Ages and the 17th century respectively. We find no person/place/company credited for having *invented* this particular confection. This is what the food historians have to say on the topic:

"Christmas Yule Log. A log-shaped cake traditionally prepared for the Christmas festivities. It is usually made of rectangular slices of Genoese sponge, spread with butter cream and placed one on top of the other, and them shaped into a log; it is coated with chocolate butter cream, applied with a piping bag to simulate bark. The cake is decorated with holly leaves made from almond paste, meringue mushrooms and small figures. A Swiss roll (jelly roll) may be used instead of sliced Genoese cake. There are also ice cream logs, some made entirely of different flavoured ice creams and some with the inside made of parfait or a bombe mixture. This cake is a fairly recent creation (after 1870) of the Parisian pastrycooks, inspired by the real logs which used to be burned in the hearth throughout Christmas Eve. Before then, the cakes of the season were generally brioches or fruit loaves."