Merry Christmas to you, loyal followers of my blog posts.
Have you ever thought how Christmas was celebrated a few decades ago? What was a traditional Christmas dinner like? On the spur of the moment, I thought I’d have a quick look at Christmas in Malta, not so long ago.
At the time, Malta being a devoutly Catholic country, Christmas centred around ecclesiastical celebrations. In the run up to Christmas, young children participated (some still do, today) in a procession around the village (il-purcissjoni tal-bambin), carrying a figure of the baby Jesus and singing Christmas carols along the way.
The Christmas crib and baby Jesus were typical decorations of every household with midnight mass, on Christmas eve, being the highlight of Christmas celebrations. During this mass, a young boy was chosen to deliver a heart-felt Christmas sermon. Another tradition that’s still around, to this day.
A tradition which seems to have died over the years is the traditional Maltese Christmas meal. Turkey was not always on the Christmas menu. In most families, the Christmas menu consisted of a fattened capon (ħasi) accompanied with baked potatoes (patata l-forn) and a selection of seasonal vegetables. Very often, the big bird and potatoes were cooked – kind-of baked but not exactly roasted – in a very large, tailor-made dish. On Christmas day, in the morning, housewives and husbands alike would take their dishes to the local bakery – home ovens were not large enough to cook the traditional Christmas meal. Crusty, local bread was typically served with the meal to mop up the juices from the bird and potatoes. Usually, vegetables were cooked at home.
The main course was followed by a pastry ring stuffed with black treacle. Nowadays, these traditional sweets, known as treacle rings (qagħaq tal-għasel), are found at local confectioneries, but they do not necessarily form part of the Christmas meal. They’re more likely to be served at tea time.
As if that wasn’t enough, the traditional Christmas meal would end with a thick, warm drink of stewed chestnuts and cocoa (imbuljuta tal-qastan). The warm, thick, chocolaty beverage was also the go to drink after midnight mass and throughout the cold, winter months.
I remember my mother cooking a traditional Maltese Christmas lunch. What was Christmas lunch like, when you were younger?
My thanks go to
Azure.com – Top 5 Christmas Customs in Malta
A Maltese Mouthful
Ilovefood.com.mt
196flavors.com
Image: Introduzzjoni ghall-ikel u nbid ta’ Malta – Puligraf Publishing
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