We always eat at home for Christmas lunch which starts late, at around 14:00 and ends God knows when. The menu is always the same one (we tried something different last year but ultimately everyone preferred the traditional menu) brodu tal-falda, lasagna, roast pork belly, stuffed capon, roast veggies, cauliflower gratin, roast potato wedges, variety of cheese/fruit/nuts, traditional trifle/christmas pudding, mince pies, date and nut pie, christmas cake, gallons of wine, coffee, gingerbread men, stuffed figs, liquers and chocolates.

Before my parents passed away we used to prepare the traditional Christmas lunch, turkey with all the trimmings.

Thank you.

I must say it would be impossible without family contribution and combined effort and motivation.

The clue is most times in the little details:

Woodcock, depending on where this is caught, cannot be transported by car and if not caught by the person/ home cooking it, must be a gift. Yes, it is known as the king of birds and tradition also has it that it is served “seated on its canapé.”

Funghi porcini, is also a gift of the land. Not so much a class thing but a choice. When these are prepared by family members, there is their effort to go out into the forest early in the morning before other mushroom seekers pass by. They grow to huge relative proportions but past a certain size they are certain to be attacked by slugs. I would say farmers and agriculturers benefit most from this fresh produce. Upper class perhaps when it comes to choice of ingredients.

Our attitude towards food is a series of healthy choices in keeping with a responsibility towards future generations:

When we find that a fresh product is delicious, we take the trouble of keeping the seeds and occupying ourselves with germination, planting etc. (Lemons, tangerines, pumpkin etc)

The mushroom spores, for example, are left in place, so a mushroom is always cut at the foot not picked, which leaves you with a marker for where they’re bound to be found in successive years/ or after other rainfalls within the same season.

It’s cheaper than a can of beans.

Give me a true gaggle of geese over the many months it takes to prepare these, over loud brash music in malls, traffic jams or strolling down supermarket aisles any day.

Another traditional sweet for us are date and honey slices on a thin shortcrust with a porridge oat crumble on top that gets gently toasted in the oven. Candied (home-candied) “mandolin malti” goes in with the date preparation. Sometimes we add a piquant section to the tray. Spices are a focus. Where the basics are the same, the spices change.

Anything that we can make or grow without super exertion, we do.

It has a tendency to get very manual and busy-keeping, so I’m not sure how that merges with your upper class theory.
Simplicity is hard work, but it’s a choice.

You were away for Christmas and we missed your posts but not your name because, for a change of pace and since we had a non-Maltese as a dinner guest I thought of baking a traditional Maltese bread pudding – a perfect accompaniment to the indispensable black coffee after a multi-course meal.

Where did I get the recipe for the pudding? Glad you asked. It was from a cook book jointly authored by Anne and Helen Caruana Galizia.

Now, I have a confession to make. The ‘original’ book was bought several decades ago and before the dog-eared pages started to literally disintegrate, I had the presence of mind to copy all 70 pages (front and back) thus extending the book’s life to well beyond my remaining years.

So, with the book by my side written by two Caruana Galizias, how could I not think of you?

A happy 2015, and may you be blessed and rewarded for infusing some sanity in all of us, while going through such troubled times!

We had a selection of dips, galletti, grissini, roasted vegetables, stuffed olives and mushrooms for starters, followed by pumpkin soup. Main course was the traditional turkey with roast potatoes and more roasted vegetables. Cheesecake for dessert.

A happy new year to you and all your loved ones.