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Celebrating the Winter Solstice, and Christmas

In the northern hemisphere in pre-Christian times there were festivals to help pass the short winter days. Fire and light relieved the darkness, and houses were decorated with evergreens which remained alive in the middle of winter.

With the coming of Christianity evergreens came to symbolise everlasting life. Holly and ivy were traditionally used, holly was thought to be masculine and ivy feminine.

Mistletoe was sacred to the Druids and was believed to bring good luck and fertility and provide protection from evil spells. Later mistletoe was incorporated into the kissing bough.

We are all familiar with Father Christmas, or Santa Claus, but who is he and where did he come from? Father Christmas may have originated in Odin, the Norse god, brought to this country by the Vikings. Odin brought with him either gifts or punishments, whichever was appropriate, had a long white beard and wore a blue cloak with a hood.

Much later in the 4th century, Nicholas was the Bishop of Myra in Asia Minor. Nicholas was renowned for his generosity to the poor and kindness to children. After his death he was canonised as St. Nicholas, his legend grew and he is still remembered in some countries on 6th December. One of these countries is the Netherlands, where St Nicholas was pronounced as Sinterklaas. Children put food for his horse in their shoes or clogs, which were left on the hearth. In the morning the food was gone and a gift was found in its place. This ties in with St Nicholas dropping a bag of gold down the chimney of a poor man who could not afford a dowry for his daughter as without a dowry a girl could not marry. Gift giving also ties in with the Three Wise men bringing gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh to the baby Jesus.

When Dutch settlers went to America they took these stories with them and Sinterklaas became Santa Claus! Now we all know about Santa, his sledge and his 8 reindeer, thanks to the poem ‘A Visit from St Nicholas’ by Dr Clement Clarke Moore (‘It was the Night before Christmas, and all through the house … etc)

Christmas is celebrated on December 25th although the Bible gives no date for the birth of Jesus and there have been arguments about this. The first time December 25th was celebrated was in 336, during the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine, and Pope Julius 1 declared this as the official date a few years later. This date may have been chosen to coincide with Saturnalia and Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, (birthday of the unconquered sun) ancient Roman midwinter festivals at the time of the Winter Solstice. In the Bible a prophesy about the Jewish Saviour, Jesus, is called ‘Sun of Righteousness’.

We all look forward to the special food prepared at Christmas, and most of us accept turkey and Christmas pudding as traditional. However, turkey only arrived in Europe from the Americas in the 16th century, via Spain, and at first only the very wealthy could have afforded to eat it.

In the medieval period the wealthy would eat swan, with the permission of the King, but more usually woodcock, goose or venison, while the poor made do with the leftovers. The poor may have been fortunate enough to be given the parts such as heart, liver, tongue, ears and brain, known as ‘umbles. With these they would make ‘umble pie.

Statue in Bourcq France St.-Nicholas - nobility.org

Het Sint-Nicolaasfeest, by Jan Steen, c.1663–65 - The Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

During the winter puddings known as frumenty were made with thick porridge, currants, dried fruit, eggs and spices, the forerunner of Christmas pudding.

During Elizabethan times, when sugar was available for the wealthy, a banqueting course consisting of sweetmeats was the centrepiece of the feast, and ground almonds and sugar were used to make elaborate edible constructions. Rosewater, milk and sugar made a dessert called ‘leech’. ‘Lambswool’ was popular as a drink and was made from cider, spices and apples, the latter exploded when heated forming a fluffy topping.

In the 18th and 19th centuries January 5th, or Twelfth Night was celebrated, with a fruit cake, from which evolved our Christmas cake. Twelfth Night cake contained a dried

Wassail – ‘be healthy’

There is no definitive traditional recipe for the wassail. Ingredients were often dictated by resources available in the area – cider, mulled ale and even mead were used. The following Lambswool recipe is said to be from 1633. In earlier recipes, honey would have been used instead of sugar.

Ingredients: 1.5 litres of traditional real ale – or cider 6 small cooking apples, cored 1 nutmeg, freshly grated 1 tsp ground ginger 150g brown sugar Method: Preheat the oven 120°C Core the apples, removing all pips. Place the apples on a lightly greased baking tray about 6 cm (2 inches) apart. Bake the apples at 120°C for about an hour, so they become soft and pulpy and the skins are easy to peel away.

In a large saucepan add the sugar, cover with a small amount of the ale (or cider) and heat gently. Stir continuously until the sugar has dissolved. Add the ground ginger and grated nutmeg, mix well.

Keeping the pan on a gentle simmer, slowly add the rest of the ale (or cider). Leave for 10 minutes on a gentle heat.

Take the baked apples and scoop out the flesh into a bowl, discarding the skin. Thoroughly mash the apples into a smooth purée avoiding lumps. Add the mix to the ale (or cider), mixing it in with a whisk.

Continue to warm everything through for 30 minutes, on a very gentle heat. Using the whisk or stick blender to briskly and vigorously mix everything together and froth the drink up. The apple and light froth will float to the surface, and depending on how much it is whisked, the more it will look like lamb’s wool. bean and a dried pea. The man who got the cake containing the bean became King of Misrule for the evening, and the woman who got the pea became the Queen. This was regardless of whether they were servants or masters!

During Victorian times few people could afford turkey or chicken for Christmas dinner. In the North usually beef was served, while goose was popular in the South. The poor made do with rabbit. By the end of the 19th century many more families could afford to buy turkey. Also by this time mince pies, which originally were filled with meat, dried fruit and spices became the sweet dish we know today. Ed. AD

(Traditionally, drinks were frothed by pouring continuously between two large serving jugs to increase air into the liquid.)

Ladle the hot lambswool into heat-proof mugs or glasses and grate over some nutmeg or pour the drink into a communal bowl (with several thick pieces of toast in the bottom) to pass around if wassailing – Enjoy.