For TV host, author, chef Maria Goretti, Christmas brings with it the scent of her mother’s cooking. Nevris, kalkal and dal fudge are sweet memories, along with her grandmother’s coconut tartlets which she never did learn to make because she was too young, but is now trying to recreate the taste of a childhood favourite from others’ recipes.
“Dad and my uncle who worked abroad would return home for Christmas, and from November, the house would be cleaned, new curtains and clothes stitched. Sweets were prepared at home, and homes around us, and on the morning of December 25, children would go from door to door distributing them. Our big Christmas lunch always included my mother’s baked chicken and sorpotel (pork curry), along with Russian salad and fugias (fermented bread), and was followed by a welcome siesta,” she reminisces with a laugh.
When they were home from school, the children were allowed to peel onions and garlic but nothing more. Down the years however, Maria has perfected her own Christmas lunch, prep for which starts five days in advance. It continues well past 3 pm and has become a much-anticipated annual ritual for friends, some of whom even stay back for dinner.
A merry Christmas years ago: Maria with husband Arshad Warsi and children Zeke and Zene Zoe |
“This is the first time I will be hosting the luncheon in Goa, and even though some friends are flying down from Mumbai, it will be a smaller gathering,” Maria shares, but promises that her signature dishes, including an East Indian prawn curry, a mixed vegetable pasta—it entered the menu to feed a vegetarian friend and has become a fixture now—and Wambatu Moju—a Sri Lankan dish she cooks onl during Christmas because it is deep fried—will be there.
Surprisingly, Maria doesn’t bake the traditional plum cake because even as a child, she was eating it all year at communions and weddings. “And someone usually brings one along, so I focus on gelatos, pavlovas, chocolate bites and a sticky toffee pudding which is a favourite with her children,” she informs.
Zeke and Zene Zoe have grown up believing in Santa Claus. “From December 1 to the 25, they would write letters to him every day and I would make sure I replied for him,” Maria confides, adding in a conspiratorial whisper that on Christmas Eve, while in church for the midnight mass, she would be frantically texting husband Arshad Warsi to remind him to drink a little milk from each of the two glasses the kids had put out for Santa, and nibble on a few cookies, to convince them that he had stopped by with the gifts for them which were opened when they returned.
Maria with family |
“During Easter, I would hide Easter eggs all around the house, and after telling my son and daughter how many there were, would let them find them. During Christmas, Santa’s gifts were wrapped in newspapers, with name tags, and they could hunt them out from under the tree,” says Maria, remembering how one year, a school friend convinced Zeke Santa didn’t exist and he told her she could keep the gifts.
“He asked me if I believed in him, and admitting that I did, I told him as long as you believe in it, there’s magic,” she smiles, pointing out that you can bring your children up better if they believe in magic. Remembering how her mother would carry a small bell hidden in her palm and ring it frequently to make them hurry along, saying Santa was on the way, she shares that Zeke had asked her that time what gifts she had asked Santa for. “I told him that they were not material things, but just as important, like peace and more time for holidays,” she flashbacks.
Obviously, the argument convinced him to keep believing in Santa’s magic because a few years later, when Maria announced that anyone who was taller than her wouldn’t get any more gifts from the Ho-Ho man, he protested loudly, grousing that it was unfair because she was anyway too short. Laughing, Maria points out that while you can buy girls pretty glass boxes and fill them with trinkets, thinking of gifts for boys can be a headache. “Two years ago, I gifted shaving kits. And now that Zene Zoe is 18 and Zeke 21, I’ve decided to end this Christmas tradition. For the first time this year there will be no gifts, but the Christmas tree is up and will stay till January 6, Three Kings Day,” she signs off.
Recipe
Mulled Wine
Ingredients:
2 oranges (peeled)
1 lemon (peeled)
½ cup demerara sugar
1 cup water
1 vanilla bean
4 cloves, 3 star anise, 1 stick cinnamon
2 tsp all spices (ground)
2 tsp nutmeg (grated)
I bottle full-bodied red wine
½ cup cognac
Method: Mix sugar and water in a non-stick pan and place over medium heat. Add zest and juice of oranges, vanilla bean, all the spices, whole and ground, and bring to a boil. After 25 minutes, add half a cup of wine. Simmer for 20 minutes to get syrupy consistency. Add remaining wine and cognac, gently bring to a boil for two minutes. Do not overheat or the alcohol content will dissipate. You can add seasonal fruits to the mulled wine and let it sit for 15 minutes. Ladle into glasses and always serve warm, but do not reheat.
