The VGT Christmas Fifty

[vilakins]

Another foodie list from the Very Good Taste site, this time a Christmas-flavoured one. I don't associate some of these with any particular time of the year (any time is good for rum balls, and Yule log is known as chocolate log here and is a very popular dessert).

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve tasted.
3) Place an asterisk after all the items you’ve cooked/prepared.
4) Optional: cross out anything you never want to try, or add an exclamation mark after anything you really want to try.

I've had 24 items--almost half--which isn't bad going. There are several more I'd like to try if I ever get the chance. :-) I've included their links for less well-known items.

The VGT Christmas Fifty

1. Crystallised or candied fruits
2. Egg nog
3. Bûche de Noël, or Yule log
4. Rum balls
5. Bebinca
6. Roasted chestnuts
7. Cavallucci
8. Tourtière
9. Uszka (but I call them pirogen)
10. Port & Stilton
11. Hallaca
12. Roast goose
13. Lefse !
14. Sugar plums
15. Romeritos
16. Pinnekjøtt
17. Hot toddy
18. Christmas cake *
19. Tamales !
20. Sorpotel
21. Panettone
22. Candy canes
23. Pasteles !
24. Speculaas
25. Makowiec (the Russian version)
26. Christmas pudding *
27. Stollen
28. Figgy pudding
29. Lebkuchen
30. Turrón !
31. Mince pies *
32. Wassail bowls
33. Buñuelos
34. Pio Quinto !
35. Marzipan fruits
36. Mulled wine
37. King cake
38. Christmas beach barbecue
39. Cola de mono !
40. Lutefisk
41. Kutia
42. Pizzelle
43. Dominostein !
44. Cranberry sauce
45. Pfeffernüsse
46. Satsumas or clementines
47. Pumpkin pie
48. Smalahove
49. Nut roast
50. Brandy butter

[eats some speculaas with a cup of tea]

Comments

[jthijsen.livejournal.com]

Cheers! Speculaas is also very tasty with some butter on bread. But the wikipedia entry is pretty out of date about it having to do with Sinterklaas in the Netherlands. It's been available all year round for as long as I can remember, usually with the shape of a windmill on top. Typical Sinterklaas food in the Netherlands would be pepernoten (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepernoot) (although we usually have the kruidnoot variety), marzipan fruits and other figures and chocoladeletters (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocolate_letter).

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

With buttered bread? I like mine with a cup of tea. I have speculaas right now, but yes, I buy it all year round too. I love it! The one I buy is delicious, and has about 5 or 6 different pictures: a tree, a windmill, flowers, two people (I think they're not very defined).

Did you see my reply telling you about the cat tunnel / Rascheltunnel?

[jthijsen.livejournal.com]

The speculaas goes on the bread to make a sandwich. Two of them fit almost exactly on a standard slice.

Yes, I most certainly did see your reply and I immediately went and ordered one. Also several catnip mice, which my cats like very much. On behalf of my kitties: Thanks!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I have never tried that! They're so delicious alone, but I should do that at least once. Wholemeal or white bread?

Oh yay! I hope they like the tunnel as much as my "teenagers" do. Apart from that, their favourite toys are mice too.

[jthijsen.livejournal.com]

Whichever kind of bread you prefer, it tastes wonderfully decadent either way.

I'm a bit slow to respond now, because my hard drive is showing signs of being about to crash. I've been doing a final backup (and yes, I have actually backed up my data before) and will install a new hard drive tomorrow. Then I'll reinstall Ubuntu and after that normal service should resume.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

This seems to be going around. astrogirl2 lost her HD a few days ago, but has a new one now.

Let me know how the cats like the tunnel. :-)

[jthijsen.livejournal.com]

She's baaack! But the tunnel hasn't arrived yet, the cats will probably have to wait until next year.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

The kittens are still playing a lot with the tunnel. I'm sure yours will enjoy it too, if not as crazily!

And you're back properly too?

[jthijsen.livejournal.com]

Yep, the new HD is working perfectly and the clean install of Ubuntu has solved a few problems for me as well, which were probably caused by adding new and at the time improperly supported hardware when the install was already there. It would seem that Ubuntu doesn't handle that much better than Microsoft. But it's all working like a charm now.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Excellent news!

[jaxomsride.livejournal.com]

Lutefisk as a Christmas treat????????
Well it takes all sorts.
Some of these I've only had a chance to taste courtesy of a local supermarket providing more cosmopolitan fare.
I'm now addicted to Stollen. Mind you my favourite is still Christmas pud with Brandy Butter.
Though Jamaican ginger cake with rum and other goodies from McVities is a new delicacy I hope they keep making.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I love Jamaican ginger cake! I never thought of it as Christmas food though; I buy it any time I want it. I have three Stollens! I bought one from the gourmet supermarket, another from the local baker, and Greg got one in the hamper his work gave him. I'm not complaining! I love them, but they have to have marzipan in the middle. :-)

And ewww, lutefisk. Takes all sorts. I was a bot surprised at some food there as it's not necessarily seasonal, at least not here.

[jaxomsride.livejournal.com]

Ah But it's a special ginger cake I don't know if it is available in NZ but it is even more addictive than the original.
If you can't get it there do let me know and I'll send some. I think I still have your address from last christmas.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Thanks, but I'm not sure about posting baked goods here. It would have to come airmail and really, that's too expensive for you. The one I buy here is moist and rich with crystallised ginger in it. YUM! No rum, but delicious anyway. :-) I've also made a Dutch ginger cake which was quite different: a sort of flat buttery tart full of crystallised ginger and almonds. I ended up cutting back on the butter and it was still beautiful.

[mistraltoes.livejournal.com]

I've send cookies to kerravonsen several times, and as far as she's told me, they've always been edible. Mind you, there are only two shipping methods available to us, airmail and by the boat, and I wouldn't use the boat for food.

And you've never tasted a candy cane? Really? I'd ask whether they weren't available there, but you've lived so many places; surely they were available somewhere?

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

They're not at all common here, but anyway I've always disliked hard sweets. :-)

I'm just not sure whether baked goods would be allowed in. We have some pretty draconian laws about what people can bring in with them on planes (and everyone coming in is sprayed before landing--really) so I'd hate for someone to pay to send me something that gets officially destroyed.

[mistraltoes.livejournal.com]

Good point.

everyone coming in is sprayed before landing

::blinks:: Do you mean that the planes are sprayed, or that the people are?

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Both. The entire interior of the plane is sprayed which includes the people. The stewards used to walk down the aisle with a bomb in each hand before landing. :-( I just checked, remembering that they didn't do it when we came back from the UK in 2004, and they have a new system now: there are much lower-level additives in the plane's air during the flight. Now they just spray if the plane's system breaks down.

But still, they're very paranoid about biosecurity here, so I'm just not sure about home-baked goods. An air passenger would have home-made cakes and biscuits (cookies) confiscated, and I know other food like fruit is taken off people coming in, but I managed to get an Australian friend's mother's pickles through. :-) I suppose pickling makes things fairly safe. They're much more accepting about commercial products they have records on though (lists of processed ignredients etc; kerravonsen's sent me chocolate.

So I'm uncertain they'd be allowed through via post too,

The other problem right now is that it's too hot and humid; chocolate melts, and a cake might well be mouldy by the time I got it. :-( It happens here in a couple of days if things are left out of the fridge. My nectarines have all gone mouldy, dammit, but if I put them in the fridge, they don't ripen.