When travelling in Italy, we are asked about culture in Australia including what is traditional to eat at Christmas. These are difficult questions to answer as a citizen of a new world country with an ancient history and culture and wave after wave of invasion/migration.
In reality, families create their own traditions and rituals at Christmas time. These traditions are formed by the cultural stories and backgrounds of family members, including honouring the cooking of mothers and grandmothers, but we also create new traditions that match the weather, the latest food discoveries or the available produce and we reflect the diversity of the people in our communities and those who come to gather on the day.
This year we were very fortunate that we could come together as a family, as we had no community transmission of the virus in our state. Only a month earlier there was a chance that our group would be limited to 10 and our children would not be able to travel. For Christmas after a year of the pandemic it was especially important to reconnect with family. Children, nephews, nieces, cousins, sisters and their husbands travelled from Melbourne, Darwin, Canberra and Perth to be there. We hadn't seen them for so long.
Our family Christmas is unique to us and changes slightly every year with elements that the children insist are a "tradition", the definition of which seems to be that we have done it a few times. My youngest sister has the unfortunate privilege of having the best house for lunch and so one other tradition is that we impose on her every year.
The Italian part of our family means we start by opening our presents with a glass of prosecco and a slice of panettone in hand (the best buttery one from Milan). There are also always glossy, sweet, dark cherries which are abundant and in season at this time of year.
Prawns feature because these have become an Australian tradition, especially for my brother-in law who grew up in Sydney. My sister sources at least a kilo of cooked prawns well ahead as they are likely to sell out. They are served cold with lemon and cocktail sauce made with mayonnaise and a dash of tomato sauce and eaten while lunch is being prepared, along with a little more drinking.
Quite a few years ago my daughter discovered Nigella Lawson's brined turkey recipe from her fabulous cook book, Feast. It takes a lot of work and days to prepare but it is worth the effort as it guarantees juicy meat. This, along with stuffing made with pandoro, apples and bacon and a pile of duck or goose fat potatoes are my contribution to the meal. This year, my children thankfully stepped in to carve and make the gravy, as by then my organisational skills were a little dulled by the bubbly wine.
Raf's sister always brings a traditional Christmas lasagne made just like her mother's. It is an elaborate dish that also takes days to make. A southern Italian lasagne has many pasta layers and is dryer and denser than those form the north, with no bechamel sauce. This year's lasagne was particularly good. It was made with home made pasta sheets and the sauce was a luscious ragu made with pork, beef and lamb. The layers contained tiny meatballs, boiled egg, home smoked ham, buffalo mozzarella, pieces of meat from the ragu and pecarino cheese.
Our brother-in-law has recently taken to smoking a ham in his Weber and this year he has perfected the technique adding another delicious dish to the Christmas spread.
Then there were beautiful summer salads provided by sisters and children - crunchy Vietnamese salad, roast capsicum with pine-nuts, watermelon, mint and fetta, mango salsa, orange, almond and herb salad and green leafy salad. Mum as usual, made baked tomatoes, this year with sweet chilli sauce, coriander and red onion.
We loaded our plates and sat together at the table on the veranda, overlooking the beach in the sunshine. It was a perfect summer day.
For desert, mum always makes a traditional Christmas steamed pudding full of dried fruit and soaked with brandy which we set alight and sing to the table. This is served with custard. This year, my sister also made stunning summery bowls of raspberry ice-cream pavlova and mango trifle.
The afternoon drifts. Some tidy up and stack the dishwasher, others continue conversations over good wine, play games on the lawn, swim in the pool, snooze on the couch. Later we wander off to our own homes laden with leftovers for the week ahead and glowing with the gentle, familiar comfort of being with those who know us best.
*Recipes
I haven't included recipes for this post as all the recipes have the eye and touch of those who made them which is difficult to capture in a recipe.
However, I suggest you check out Nigella Lawson's Christmas recipes in her book Feast, which includes turkey, stuffing and potato recipes and many other delights.
For the southern Italian lasagne, a similar (but not at complex) recipe can be found in the book Pasta Grannies by Vicky Bennison which my daughter gave me for Christmas. (Page 162)
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