I read an article in The Economist this week saying that “when you mess with Christmas dinner you mess with your memories too”. While I don’t disagree with their argument that the day is fundamentally about nostalgia and memory, I felt compelled to disagree that changing the norm ruins memories.
As a kid we used to have goose on Christmas day, a tradition passed down from my French grand-mère. I think we had a turkey once, but all my memories are goose, red cabbage, roast potatoes and buttered carrots a la Elizabeth David. My grandad and great gran would turn up around midday – just as kitchen relations between my parents had crossed from fraught into full blown row - to be fed a gargantuan plateful, decline the Christmas pudding that Mum would have made in a fit of domesticity and then fall asleep on the sofa.
My Grandad passed away at the beginning of December 8 years ago. That year we had lasagne as our Christmas dinner. We’d given my Dad a pasta machine the year before and now under no pressure from elderly relatives to cook something traditional, my parents decided they were going to go, as my Dad put it ‘‘rogue’’. This break from the traditional Christmas roast has continued and has become our own family tradition in itself. Last year we had pheasant casserole, the year before a Dover sole. There have been years of tortellini in brodo as a starter, clams, or a venison stew with polenta as per Georgio Locatelli’s Italian Christmas. That first liberating lasagne Christmas (which by the way took us longer than any turkey ever could and has not been repeated) meant we actually stopped feeling obliged to cook something merely because it was the thing to do and started cooking food we like to eat. We have fully “messed” with the Christmas meals of our youth and our Christmases since have resulted in delicious meals and absolutely no ruined memories.
With this month being no exception to the absolute car crash of 2020, many people will be unable to go home and have that long awaited turkey dinner. So instead of dwelling on the misery of this, it is Christmas still after all, I thought I’d make a case for making your own dinner traditions. In France they bring in the 24th with Oysters and a chocolate Bouche de Noel instead of the figgy pudding. In Japan Christmas has become synonymous with fried chicken after KFC started marketing Party Barrels in the 1970s. If you hate turkey, roast a chicken. Make Yorkshires a new Christmas tradition. Drink shed loads of champagne and have a stir fry. Basically do what you want this Christmas, Christ knows we all deserve it.
One thing I will be trying to bring with me into my own Christmases as tradition, is some form of the Townrow hat competition as depicted below by Martha. A reminder that Christmas isn’t just turkey, stuffing and mince pies but also about sitting around a table with your nearest and dearest and having a giggle.
Lastly we’d like to say thanks to you all for sticking with us and keeping reading these brain musings. We have really loved putting them together for you all.
We are going to take a post Christmas break for a month and flesh out Marigold for 2021 so we’ll see you in February.
Much love, pints and happiness to you all. Here’s a nicer, brighter and more pub filled 2021.
Josie + The Marigolds.
Suggested Pairing
Boris put a spanner in the works introducing tier four measures last night, a messy end to a chaotic year. My pairing is a nod to fresh beginnings at the dawn of the new year. I already mentioned this in our Meat Paper issue but my personal tradition is to eat greek salad and chips on January 1st. I encourage you to do the same, both oily and crunchy it bridges a gap between Christmas indulgence and the clean living so many of us try to embark on in the first month of the year.
Rebecca
The Christmas Hat Competition
Words by Martha Townrow
I have to start by expressing how much I LOVE Christmas. The combination of twinkling lights, slurred renditions of Fairy Tale of New York, and too much mulled wine, is in my opinion quite magical. I have always enjoyed Christmas traditions; however nonsensical they sometimes may seem, and I also think there’s something very comforting about knowing that once a year family and friends will come together, don the Christmas jumpers and (without being too cheesy), share the love.
My family has one quite unique, annual Christmas tradition. Every year like most we sit down to our Christmas lunch and out comes the turkey, oodles of crispy potatoes, brussels and pigs and blankets. The wine and gravy flow in equal measure as everyone tucks into the monumental feast. After we are all well and truly stuffed, the plates are cleared, glasses are refilled and finally the annual Townrow hat competition begins. Each member of the family will have prepared a hat to present to the group in a RuPaul runway-esque fashion. We are all given a score card and the best hat wins a prize (shante, you stay). Over the years we’ve had family and friends join us for Christmas day and the only rule is if you want some turkey, you better have made a hat.
I believe the tradition all started over 15 years ago when Mom and Dad came up with the idea over a bottle of red. They decided that each family member would create a hat in the run-up to Christmas, the more flamboyant the better. Over the years, the competition has sparked great rivalry, and tactical voting definitely plays its part. To give an example, I remember the first year we did it, our grandparents had come to lunch. Grandma who was head to toe in a velour green tracksuit (it’s Christmas why not), had the deciding vote and our little brother won by default of a.) being the favourite grandchild and b.) being the youngest and cutest, not that I’m bitter about it! And so, all those years ago, Grandma presented the first winner and the now legendary competition was born.
There aren’t any rules on the theme of the hat. My previous boss was equally intrigued and puzzled by the fact the hats don’t seem to have any connection to Christmas, that particular year I’d just created a giant lion (since when does a bedazzled lion not scream December 25th?) We really have had some fabulous entries, from a great galleon to Noah’s ark, a cuckoo clock and cat in the hat, you name it we’ve probably done it.
There have also been some epic hat prizes. They can vary from year to year, a couple of highlights being a pink retro radio and a set of bongos. As we’ve got older, the entries may have become a little more rushed (it’s now usually a scramble on Christmas Eve to knock something together) but the competitiveness hasn’t faltered. We’re all after that prize and of course the prestige that being presented with a pair of bongos brings.
The hat competition is truly my favourite Christmas tradition and the best part, it’s still going very strong. I hope that it will be carried on through the generations and if I ever become grossly famous, end up on Richard and Judy’s must reads, and write a page-turning novel about my life, the competition will probably even have a whole chapter of dedication.
This year has without a doubt been pretty crappy for a lot of people, and I think more than ever a little bit of Christmas sparkle is needed (queue Mariah…). And so, from my family to yours, have a very merry Christmas and may all our quirky family traditions long live on.
That’s all from us for 2020 guys, look out for our Valentines special in February. Merry Christmas where ever you may find yourselves send us any pics of Yule logs, turkey legs or sloshed family members to our email or gram. Here are our final link picks for the year, lots of love!
Alicia Kennedy, On Service Part 2 - We talked about the effects the pandemic has had on our industry in our Michelin Man and Michelin Man Part 2 issues, and We’ve been thinking about it a lot as the year draws to a close. We wanted to end the year shouting out to everyone who works in service, and this piece by Alicia Kennedy (her newsletter is great btw) does it extremely well and gives voices to our comrades working in kitchens worldwide. We really hope that 2021 will be a bit easier for us.
KFC Christmas Josie referenced this article in her intro. It covers all manner of Worldwide Christmas traditions including KFC creating a fried chicken bucket phenomenon. If you can’t be bothered to read it its featured in their podcast too.
Turkey Centrepiece Just incase you need a last minute nonsense gift this guy looks great on a laden table. We also have Marigold stickers left and they’d make an excellent stocking filler!
India’s farmers protests A look at how Modi’s new deregulation laws are affecting India’s farmers and whats causing them to protest in a pandemic.
This issue is in memory of Moby the Cat who died this year, a true feline prince.