Causing a stir

Today is the last Sunday before Advent, aka Stir Up Sunday. It's time to make Christmas pudding and  so, let's kick off with a prayer;

 Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord,
The wills of thy faithful people,
That they plenteously bringing forth
The fruits of good works, may
be of thee plenteously rewarded

This is the prayer for the 25th Sunday after Trinity and was synonymous with the cry to rally the troops into getting on and stirring up the pudding in advance of Christmas. Very much a case of sowing now (and allowing the fruit to mature in the alcohol) to reap your reward.

Traditionally the pudding had 13 ingredients to represent Jesus and his 12 disciples. One should gather the whole family into the kitchen and get each person to give the mixture a stir and make a wish, stirring from east to west to represent the journey of the 3 wise men. Trinkets might then be added to the mixture; a silver coin for wealth, a thimble for the spinster and a ring for a forthcoming wedding. These should be thoroughly cleaned before adding to the mixture and everyone should be given a warning so there are no poisoning nor choking incidents!

Gosh, there's a lot of traditions and superstitions to remember.

I have also taken the opportunity to get cracking with my Christmas cake today and the jewel-like fruit soaking in sherry and orange juice has certainly put me in a festive mood. If only photos of food could be scratched and sniffed! Maybe that should be my wish ...

Sherry Baby!

Returning from Ibiza and feeling chilled and relaxed got me thinking about Spanish food, drink and customs. I wrote about Spanish tapas in my blog Top Tapas dated 23/8/15 and touched on the history behind tapas food. It all started with the sherry drinkers in Andalucia protecting their drink from fruit flies by placing a piece of bread over their glasses. Over time, the bread was eaten and more and more snacks were introduced as an accompaniment to sherry until they became a meal in their own right.

Sherry is a fortified wine, meaning that a distilled spirit such as brandy is added. These wines include Marsala, Port, Madeira, Vermouth and Sherry. 

Sherry comes from the area around Jerez in S/W Spain, has protected designation of origin status and ranges from extremely dry to very sweet. The accompaniment to the strong and varied flavours of Spanish tapas is generally a (dry) fino sherry served chilled. New Sherry Bars are popping up in London and around the country as Spanish cuisine is embraced.

It's all a far cry from those sweet wedding reception sherries of old or the musty old bottle brought out on Christmas Day. In the late 1980s/early 1990s I remember pre-drinking at Yates Wine Bar where a dock or schooner of sherry was gulped down to get the night started. It was served at room temperature and was pretty disgusting but it did hit the spot. Apparently it was an Australian fortified wine and not actual sherry. Another memory of the eighties was hosting an impromptu after-party and as everyone raided our drinks cabinet one guest drank almost a full bottle of Emva Cream!

My parents still enjoy a glass of sherry every day at around 4-5pm before making dinner. They recently bought new glasses but were somewhat perturbed to find they were smaller than their old ones! They may need a top-up! "Salud!"