On 25 December 1662, diarist Samuel Pepys described his Christmas dinner as "A mess of brave plum porridge and a roasted pullet for dinner, and I sent for a mince pie abroad, my wife not being well to make any herself yet."
More than 350 years later, and even though our summer celebration may reach over 40 degrees C, Sydney still hankers for these traditional dishes at Christmas, although often we now mix it up with cooler contemporary food. For many the cooking is done at home. But if you don't have the time or the cooking skills, here's our guide to the best of the best in buying in your Christmas celebrations.
Yes, outsourcing is totally acceptable these holidays.
Christmas Mince Pies
The early mince pie was known by several names, including mutton pie, shrid pie and Christmas pie. Like Christmas Plum Puddings, Mince Pies were originally filled with spiced meat, such as lamb, suet and dried fruit mix rather than just the dried fruit of today.
Our favourites in Sydney by Pie Society are hand made with care and quality ingredients including an all natural butter pastry and can be home delivered. they are like Grandma made but even better – the minced fruit is studded with jewels of ginger, cranberry and sour cherries, and is lifted by a hint of orange zest. Last deliveries are December 23 with last orders on December 19.
Check out the full range of Pie Society Christmas specials >> and order online here
British Plum Puddings
When we think of Christmas, the traditional Plum Pudding comes to mind. Plums are an earlier British term for raisins, so while the boiled pudding contains none of the fresh fruit, it is a rich Yuletide celebration rich in a variety of dried fruits, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and other spices.
According to Wikipedia, prior to the 19th century, the English Christmas pudding was boiled in a pudding cloth, and often represented as round. The new Victorian era fashion involved putting the batter into a basin and then steaming it, followed by unwrapping the pudding, placing it on a platter, and decorating the top with a sprig of holly.
For best eating, the Plum Pudding - as in this early Australian family recipe - should be made months, even a year, in advance. Best news is that it is booze that stops it from spoiling.
This Christmas, Dessert Diva Merna Taouk is making glorious Christmas Puddings to add to her all year round Dessertmakers range. They are available from her artisan Dessertmakers kitchen in 4/3 Wood Street, Tempe (+61 2 9559 4449) or from David Jones Food Hall.
Italian Panettone
But Sydney is a city that is so much more than British ancestory. One of the Italian dishes eaten when celebrating Christmas, is the seasonal sweet bread Panettone (from Pan de Ton "bread of luxury").
Already as we start December the first of the panettone by Shady Wasef are baked, wrapped and hanging from the Pioik Pyrmont bakery ceiling. Although it utilises absolutely no preservatives, the citrus & sultana sourdough has a shelf life of 3 weeks due to the manipulation of fermentation, time and temperature. To his superb Pioik 100% sourdough with free range eggs from John Nixon, Wasef adds candied oranges and lemons, and Australian sultanas. One celebrity Italian Chef gave us the tip; it's the best Australian made panettone available.
Pioik also have other Christmas treats including sensational mince pies.
Pioik Bakery
176-178 Harris Street, Pyrmont
(+61 2) 9660 0343
For another Christmas direction, other wintry cakes to try include the German traditions of gingerbread houses and the buttery marzipan Stollen.
Ice Cream Puddings
Unlike other parts of the world who celebrate a White Christmas, Australia is known to be a scorcher and with this in mind, the Aussie Cold Rock Ice Creamery chain has created the perfect treat to cool down after Christmas lunch. The fun and quirky alternative looks like a pudding but is made of up of your dreams, so it is not only great for our weather but is double good for those buggers in the family who don't like dried fruit. To create their own pudding Cold Rock ice cream lovers can pick and choose their favourite flavour as well as add other delicious lollies, chocolates and fruit to be smashed together in the traditional Cold Rock way.
Turducken
Subtitled: Why three birds are better than one. But this one, you have to cook. As the name suggests, the Turducken is a boneless turkey, duck and chicken combination roast intertwined with three separate layers of gourmet stuffing and is the brainchild of award winning Sydney butcher Adam Stratton (Tender Gourmet Butchery: Hornsby, Macquarie Park, Bondi Junction and they deliver) who first started making the three-bird roast six years ago.
A Turducken weighs about 5 kilograms takes about 4 hours to cook and can feed between 12 to 16 people.
Inside each rolled layer of deboned free range poultry is a generous serving of seasoning, including: sage and onion, fig and pistachio and mixed savoury fruits. The entire roast is then carefully wrapped with several layers of smoky bacon
“You’ll definitely need a long sleep after knocking off one of these for Christmas lunch” Stratton exclaimed.
“My strong recommendation is to go light on the chips and dips beforehand because a Turducken is a show stopper in every sense of the word.”
