Christmas with a Jamaican splash [intermediate]

Written by Adepeju Pearce

I am British by nationality.  Although I was born in England and I grew up in England, I spent part of my early childhood in Lagos.  My father is Nigerian (born in London) and my mother is Jamaican, hence my international background.  Consequently, Christmas with my family is not celebrated in a strictly traditionally British way.  With my mum as “head chef” in the kitchen, our Christmases have their own distinctive flavour.

A traditional British Christmas dinner consists of: a whole roast Turkey stuffed with one of a variety of stuffing, with roast potatoes, carrots and Brussels sprouts as accompaniments.  After the meal is served on a plate, it is generously covered in a thick, brown, delicious gravy, made from the juices of the roasting turkey.

After a pause from two or three servings of this hearty meal, a dessert of Christmas Pudding or “Mince Pies” and cream usually follows.  Mince Pies are a traditional treat of small pastries stuffed with fruits such as raisins and citrus peel.

In my family, Christmas meals differ in that the roast Turkey is replaced by baked salmon and spicy roast chicken (as most members of my family are not partial to turkey), which we eat with rice containing diced vegetables as well as roast potatoes, accompanied by a fresh, colourful salad of green leaf vegetables, cucumbers, tomatoes and sweet peppers.

However, what makes our Christmas particularly different is the Christmas cake that my mother serves.  This is no ordinary cake but one that requires special preparation.

A year in advance of Christmas my mother gets a bowl of raisins and cherries, soaks them in Jamaican rum and pours them all into a large jar, which is then sealed and stored in the cellar.  This means that for a year the fruits ferment and soak up the rum.  The rum preserves the fruit but does not overpower its taste. Then a few weeks before Christmas (i.e., October to early November), my mother bakes the Christmas cake, which is rich, succulent and oozing with fruitful flavour.  The cake, wrapped in foil and placed in a tin box, is stored in the cellar again where it will be kept at a cool temperature.  But once a week my mother goes down to the cellar to baste the cake with a tablespoon of rum.

By the time we cut into the cake on Christmas Day Evening it is irresistibly rich, moist and inviting.  With each mouthful vibrating with the delicious medley of vine fruits, citrus peel, nuts, aromatic spices and warming Caribbean rum, you are transported into a splash of Jamaican culture.  A treat worth waiting for!

Vocabulary:

hence consequently strictly distinctive stuff stuffing roast potatoes Brussels sprouts accompaniments generous gravy hearty treat pastries raisins replace spicy partial to diced vegetables pepper particularly ordinary require in advance a bowl of soak pour jar sealed stored cellar ferment soak up overpower rich succulent oozing wrapped in foil tin baste irresistible moist delicious medley citrus peel spices splash a treat worth waiting for

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