Food for Thought
The dates for Christmas and Hanukkah celebrations overlap this year, giving everyone the opportunity to savor the joy of the season at the same time. Cooks across the world give the gift of food made with long-held traditions, each country producing its own special flavors in honor of the holidays.
In France, the traditional foods vary according to the region—with dishes including goose, chicken, capon, turkey stuffed with chestnuts, oysters, and a white pudding called boudin blanc . For dessert in the Périgord region, revelers will be munching on some bûche de Noël, a log-shaped chocolate and chestnut cake that represents the special wood log burned from Christmas Eve to New Year's Day. In the Provence region, a hearty Christmas dinner is followed by Les Treize Desserts, a collection of 13 desserts that commemorate Jesus and the 12 Apostles. Four of the desserts, called les quatre mendicants, honor monastic communities: walnuts for the Augustinians, almonds for the Carmelites, raisins for the Dominicans, and dried figs for the Franciscans; then, there are trays of fresh fruits and of course, pastries, chocolates and sweets.
In the Philippines, native Christmas feasts begin with puto bumbong, rice steamed inside a small bamboo tube. Also on the menu is rice cakes with salted eggs and fresh coconut called bibingka, and suman, steamed rice wrapped in banana leaves. Ham or roast pig is usually the main course, washed down with the popular beverages of hot chocolate, called tsokolate and ginger tea known as salabat. Of course with more than 30 ethnic groups in the country, traditions vary by region, city and even by family.
Traditional foods also vary across the world for the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, however, there is a common theme—foods that are fried in oil remind celebrants of the miracle that occurred in the Holy Temple when a cruze of oil that was supposed to last only one night allowed the menorah to burn for eight days, enough time to prepare more pure oil and supplies for the rededication of the Temple. Favorite foods are fried potato pancakes called latkes topped with apple sauce or sour cream and jelly donuts called sufganiyot.
No matter what we eat, the true gift of the holidays is the time that we get to talk and laugh with those we care about all year round. The DEXIS team extends warm wishes to our owners, friends, and colleagues for all of the blessings of the season.
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