Good Food News Archive - December 10, 2002

Article: Our Holiday Traditions
Featured this week.... RED CABBAGE, SHALLOTS
Recipes : Christmas Red Cabbage; Potato Latkes; Red Wine, Mushroom and Shallot Gravy

Article : Our Holiday Traditions

Many religions and cultural traditions celebrate a winter holiday around this time of year. FoodShare staff come from all over the world and from many traditions, and we talked to a few to see how they celebrate the holiday. We’ve missed Hannukah and Eid, which are Jewish and Muslim holidays that are just recently finished. So since our space is limited, we’ll stick to the holidays still coming: Christmas and Kwanzaa. Next year...

Delsie: Many of you know Delsie because she is the friendly voice at the end of the phone who you talk to about ordering the Good Food Box, deliveries, etc. This Christmas she will be going home to Kingston, Jamaica. She just can’t stay away at this time of year, because the pull of the season-- of family, friends and celebration is just too strong. Delsie says that at Christmas, you’ve got to clean and fix up the house: if you’re going to put up new curtains, now’s the time to do it. Take all your dishes out of the cupboard, wash them and put them back. Christmas Eve, there’s something called the Grand Market-- a toy market to go and shop for toys for kids that’s open all night long. Delsie likes to go with friends around midnight. Some people wait until the early morning. On Christmas Day, food and family play a big role, of course. For Christmas dinner, you might slaughter a goat or a chicken, and serve it with rice and peas (called pigeon peas here, and goungo peas there). There is a lot of gift-giving, and as Delsie says, people aren’t so much shut in their homes as they are here - there is a feeling of festivity in the street, with music playing all over and people setting off fireworks.

Gloria: Gloria is our financial manager, and is originally from Nicaragua. Talking to her, it’s clear that she loves the holiday, and that Christmas is pretty fun in her family. The big celebration starts on Christmas Eve. Early in the evening, the small children get a light dinner and are sent off to bed. At midnight they are woken up, and everyone gathers for a big celebration (in Nicaragua, fireworks are would be set off at this time). Everyone gathers at the home of a senior family member, which in Gloria’s case is her mother’s house, and gifts are exchanged. Relatives give each other gifts, but the children receive gifts from the Baby Jesus. Santa Claus is included in the picture, but as Gloria puts it, “he’s like the mailman” - the gifts are really from God, in the sense that all things come from Him. Christmas Day is a relaxed day with lots of visiting, gifts and a big meal - often turkey. Going to church is important-- at home, there’s a service every day at 5 a.m. for nine days before Christmas. Here it’s more on the 24th and 25th.

Yvonne: Yvonne is our School and Bulk Produce Coordinator, and she celebrates Kwanzaa, which starts on December 26. Kwanzaa was introduced in its current form in the 1960’s as a way to revive African traditions, for the African diaspora around the world, from the Caribbean to the US and Canada. Many not of African heritage have also embraced the holiday because of its reflective, non-materialist focus. Each of the seven days of the holiday, a different principle-- for example Umoja (unity) or Nia (purpose)- is celebrated, and families /friends gather to discuss their meaning in their lives, families and culture. The holiday culminates in a big celebration. Gifts are exchanged, but you have to have made them yourself. Yvonne’s kids are starting to make their gifst soon, and last week they got together with other children at the Umoja Learning Centre to talk about how to apply Kwanzaa principles in their lives. Because the Christian tradition is also strong in the African-Canadian community, Yvonne says that sometimes there are disagreements between generations about which holidays to observe. Nonetheless, the popularity of the holiday continues to grow.

Featured this week.... Red cabbage, Shallots

Red cabbage (regular Good Food Box)

Red cabbage is high in vitamin C, and is one of the “cruciferous” vegetables that are known for their cancer-fighting properties. It also has the advantage of being inexpensive, stores well and looks pretty on the plate. Choose heads that are firm and not withered looking. Store in the crisper. Serving ideas: grate a little bit and add to any type of salad to boost nutritional content. Use as the basis for a coleslaw (chopped apples go nicely) or add to soups or stews. The recipe provided here is a Swedish Christmas recipe, also known as raadkaal.

Shallots (Organic Good Food Box)

Shallots are a member of the onion family, with papery brown skin, purple-tinged white flesh, and a flavor resembling a cross between sweet onion and garlic. Look for firm, well-shaped heads that are not sprouting. They are considered to have a more “interesting” and stronger flavour than a regular onion (and tend to cost a lot more). They are used in small quantities, often as the basis of a sauce or dressing. They can also be used in a basil tomato sauce, and go well with fish.

Recipes

Christmas Red Cabbage
1 red cabbage (about 1 kg), cored
1 yellow or red onion
4 sourish apples
2 tbsp margarine or vegetable oil
8 cloves
5 Jamaica peppers (they probably mean “scotch bonnet peppers” but these are very hot, so be careful: if you are unfamiliar with them, use fewer or leave them out. Remove the seeds before cooking to reduce the heat)
1-2 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp red wine vinegar and/or lemon juice
salt to taste

Cut the red cabbage into thin slices. Cut the apples (without cores and peels) into pieces. Slice the onion(s). Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the cabbage, onion, apples, vinegar, spices and salt. Cook covered over low heat for one hour, stirring occasionally. Add more vinegar or lemon juice according to taste. Serve hot. From www.santesson.com.

Potato Latkes
(too late for Hannukah this year, but will go well with cabbage anyway)
4 cups peeled, grated potatoes
1 large onion, grated
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons flour (or matzo flour)
2 eggs
pepper to taste
Oil for frying

Wash, peel, and grate the potatoes. Squeeze out liquid. Combine with onion, salt, flour, and pepper . Lightly beat the egg, and stir into the mixture. Heat oil in a skillet, and spoon in tablespoons of the mixture to make medium sized patties. Brown on one side, turn and brown lightly on the other. Repeat with the rest of the mixture. Serve with applesauce, cottage cheese, yogurt, or sour cream. From www.harperschildren.com.

Red Wine, Mushroom and Shallot Gravy
This is my recipe (Kathryn)-- or sort of, once upon a time I read it somewhere and adapted it from a ‘coq au vin’ recipe. I hope the amounts are right. If not, I’ll be gone in the New Year, so don’t bother complaining! This can be made to go with chicken or turkey (in which case, you may want to use a traditional gravy method which uses some of the drippings, with as much fat removed as possible, instead of olive oil). Otherwise, you can make it to pour over mashed potatoes or other vegetables.

2 tablespoons olive oil
4 large shallots
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms - ordinary or exotic
1 cup red wine or cooking wine
1 cup chicken stock or bouillon
1 tablespoon flour
1/4-1/2 cup hot water
1 tablespoon butter

Slice the shallots finely and fry in the olive oil until clear. Add mushrooms and fry until they have shrunk quite a bit. Add wine and stock and bring to a boil. Dissolve flour in a cup with about 1/4-1/2 cup of water - as much as you need to make sure it’s not lumpy. Mix into hot gravy mixture, and bring to boil again. It should thicken, but if it’s not thick enough, either let it cook a while to reduce, or mix up some more flour and water and add a little bit at a time. When ready to serve, add the butter, let it melt and mix it in.