Slider Image 1 Content
Scallops, sprouts, ackee and saltfish: my family’s Christmas food rituals | Christmas food and drink
When I was growing up, my family didn’t have Christmas traditions so much as periods. Our festive celebrations reflected where we were as a family at any given time.
The Scallop Period was probably my favorite. A couple, Colin and Anne, moved into the house next door to my childhood home in Weymouth, and every now and then, Colin, a trawlerman, would leave a massive bag of scallops on our doorstep. Dad would clean and freeze them, ready for Christmas, when we would feast on a starter we’d otherwise never have been able to afford: scallops seared and served with bacon and pea puree.
There was also the Foraging Period, which saw the dinner table groan with jars of chutney and jelly and bottles of steeped gins I’d made with fruits and berries such as plums, hawthorns and sloes picked in the Dorset countryside during what was quite a militant obsession in my early 20s. Making them in autumn meant they’d be perfect by Christmas, and I’d give any surplus to friends as gifts.
Then there was the Brussels Sprouts Period, which was probably the longest of all, when my parents first insisted, then guilt-tripped me into eating two.
But it wasn’t just periods; there were things we returned to year in, year out. And, for people born outside Britain – my mum in Malta, Dad in Jamaica – my parents took a decidedly British approach to Christmas lunch. A roast dinner, with little loyalty to a particular bird, meaning it might be turkey, goose or duck, with all the trimmings. It would be joined by a second meat, usually lamb, and my brother and I would haggle over the bone marrow.
There were also little highlights drawn from my parents’ background, which seasoned the festivities in other ways. Ackee and saltfish for breakfast, made by my dad (if we had managed to get the ingredients from a trip to London and back to Weymouth in time, that is). There would be loads of fried dumplings and, if we were lucky, fried plantains too. If not, my second favorite, a dish of bacon, tinned tomatoes and onions all cooked together – the result is so much better than the sum of its parts – with a fried egg and a fried dumpling on the side. Even thinking about it now makes me yearn for the magical flavor that is egg yolk and tomato scooped up with dumplings.
In the lead-up to the big day, the house would be filled with the smell of Imbuljuta tal-Qastan, a classic Maltese Christmas drink made by Mum which consists of dried chestnuts simmered with cocoa, water, chocolate, cinnamon, nutmeg and orange zest. Our house could not have smelled more Christmassy if it was filled with festive Yankee Candles, though it took me years to learn to like it. These days, I can’t get enough.
Now that I have my own child, I suppose it’s my turn to establish some kind of tradition. Aside from the beef rib I buy from our local butcher every year, we haven’t really had a chance to establish any Christmas rituals, given that, for half the number of years I’ve been a parent, Covid-19 has put paid to our plans. Last year, like so many other people’s, our hopes of getting the whole family together were thwarted on Christmas Eve by one relative’s positive PCR. The beef rib went in the freezer and my partner, daughter and I had lunch at an Algerian cafe on the Old Kent Road in south-east London. We eat delicious merguez and hand-cut chips, surrounded by men playing chess, and without a hat or Christmas jumper in sight. It was wholly untraditional, and it was perfect.
The World’s Oldest “Flatbread” Was Cooked by Neanderthals 70,000 Years Ago. Recipe Includes Wild Pulses, Mustard Seed and Pistachio Nuts
Scientists have found evidence that Neanderthals—the relatives of modern humans who lived thousands of years ago—may not have been as primitive as previously believed. In fact, they may have originated in the artisanal food category. According to a study published in the journal AntiquityResearchers analyzed burnt pieces of food at a Neanderthal excavation site and found they were remnants of the world’s first “flatbread,” a recipe devised by the ancient figures for pleasing flavor.
“Our findings are the first real indications of complex cooking—and thus of food culture—among Neanderthals,” said Chris Hunt of Liverpool John Moores University, a study co-author. Read on to find out why.
1
“A Prehistoric Falafel”
The findings argue against the typical picture of Neanderthals as unsophisticated. “The old stereotype is that Neanderthals were less intelligent than modern humans and that they had a largely meat-based diet,” explains Hunt. On the contrary, the researchers found evidence that Neanderthals created recipes and cooking techniques to create a kind of unleavened artisanal bread. Hunt describes it as a flatbread. The study’s leader, Ceren Kabukcu of Liverpool University, compared it to a prehistoric falafel.
2
The Ingredients: “Very Palatable”
“It seems the Neanderthals smashed, or ground, then soaked a mix of wild grains and grasses, wild pulses including wild lentils, wild pistachios and, at times, wild grass seeds and grass pea fragments, then cooked the resulting mix on hot stones, ” said Hunt. The study is the earliest example of ingredients being blended together and cooked, possibly with regard to how the result would taste.
Hunt and the research team even attempted to re-create the Neanderthal recipe. “It made a sort of pancake-cum-flatbread which was really very palatable – a sort of nutty taste,” said Hunt.
3
Wealth of Information in Cave
The new study center on Shanidar Cave, a Neanderthal dwelling 500 miles north of Baghdad, Iraq, in the Zagros Mountains. The site, believed to be 70,000 years old, was first excavated in the 1950s. There, archaeologist Ralph Solecki discovered the remains of ten Neanderthal men, women, and children.
Those initial findings suggested that Neanderthals were more sophisticated than given credit for. One Neanderthal appeared to have survived several injuries, possibly because of primitive medical care, and another’s grave seemed to contain remnants of flowers, suggesting a burial ritual.
4
Ancient Leftovers Analyzed
To come to their conclusions, the researchers used an electron microscope to analyze fragments of burnt food discovered at Shanidar and another cave in Greece. In other words, ancient leftovers. “The charred food fragments from Franchthi Cave are the earliest of their kind recovered in Europe, from a hunter-gatherer occupation around 12,000 years ago,” said Kabukcu.
“Those from Shanidar Cave are the earliest in southwest Asia, from Neanderthal and human layers dating to seventy and forty thousand years ago respectively.”
RELATED: The 10 Most “OMG” Science Discoveries of 2022
5
Surprisingly Creative Cooks
Ultimately, the study found that human and Neanderthal food, at least, in this case, aren’t all that different. “Our work conclusively demonstrates the deep antiquity of plant foods involving more than one ingredient and processed with multiple preparation steps,” said Kabukcu.
“This is the cool thing: we don’t tend to associate hunter-gatherers with creativity when it comes to what they’re going to eat,” she added. “The fact that we found mixtures [of ingredients] suggests that there’s some sort of planning and thinking that went into the combination. And maybe it was the flavors that were driving some of the selection.”
Capital One Venture X Cuts Priority Pass Restaurants
In the interest of full disclosure, OMAAT earns a referral bonus for anyone that’s approved through some of the links below. These are the best publicly available offers (terms apply) that we have found for each product or service. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of banks, credit card issuers, airlines, hotel chains, or product manufacturers/service providers, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Please check out our advertiser policy for further details about our partners, and thanks for your support!
While not the end of the world, this is still a sad development…
Venture X cutting some Priority Pass access in 2023
The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has become one of the most popular premium travel credit cards, since launching just over a year ago.
While the card has a $395 annual fee, there are so many reasons to get this card, from the excellent welcome bonus, to ongoing perks like a $300 annual travel credit, 10K anniversary bonus miles, and much more.
The Capital One Venture X has offered an extremely well rounded lounge access benefit, all of which apply to both the primary cardmember and authorized users:
Unfortunately as of January 1, 2023, a change will be made to the card’s Priority Pass membership — the card will no longer offer credits or experience at Priority Pass’ non-lounge airport experiences, including Priority Pass restaurants, spa discounts, and more.
As far as premium credit card Priority Pass memberships go, this aligns the Capital One Venture X with the policy of The Platinum Card® from American Express (review) rather than that of the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card (review).
My take on this Capital One Venture X lounge access perk change
It goes without saying that this is a negative change, and I’m sad to see this. This now makes the Chase Sapphire Reserve the popular premium card that continues to offer Priority Pass restaurant credits, at least for now (hopefully Chase doesn’t make the same change).
While this is of course disappointing, to me it doesn’t fundamentally change the value proposition of the Capital One Venture X. The way I view it, the card’s $395 annual fee is still more than covered by the $300 annual Capital One Travel credit plus the 10,000 anniversary bonus miles.
Everything else is the icing on the cake, and this remains the best premium card for families, as you can add up to four authorized users, and they all get lounge access as well. Also keep in mind that unlike the Chase Sapphire Reserve, the Capital One Venture X offers access to Plaza Premium Lounges and Capital One Lounges.
Bottom line
As of January 1, 2023, the Capital One Venture X is changing its Priority Pass benefit. Priority Pass memberships issued through the card will no longer offer non-lounge airport experiences, such as Priority Pass restaurants and spa treatments.
What do you make of this Capital One Venture X card benefit change?