By Maynard van der Galien
Special to whitewaternews.ca
One of the wonderful things about Christmas, and winter, is the chance to enjoy favourite traditional foods and to try new ones. Many of the popular foods we eat on special occasions began as peasant fare – food our ancestors lived on.
Last December in northern Québec, a group of us outdoorsy folks ate a meal of wild game meat. The bear balls were not what I thought they’d be. They were made from ground-up bear meat mixed with hamburger, and still rather strong tasting. I also tried small portions of caribou, venison, moose and fish. Caribou was my favourite.
Moose meat can be very dry and tough. Friends of mine shot a calf moose during this hunting season and invited me over when they feast on it. I’m sure it will be good eating.
I was invited to a Robbie Burns Day Scottish evening last January and had haggis for the first time. It was a very delicious dish and I went for seconds. Haggis, Scotland’s national dish, began as a peasant food. Folks back then couldn’t afford to let any part of the sheep go to waste, so they made a hearty meal by boiling scraps of heart, liver and lungs in stomach lining. It’s somewhat similar to making headcheese from the head of a pig.
Sauerkraut, bratwurst and schnitzels are popular German foods and if you’ve been to an Oktoberfest celebration, you’re sure to enjoy these foods, the beer and the entertainment.
Pierogi, or perogies, were considered peasant food in eastern European countries (Poland, Ukraine, Russia) going back to the 17th century. Made of unleavened dough, usually shaped in a semi-circle and most commonly filled with mashed potatoes, the now-popular perogies play an important role as a cultural dish. At one Polish festival, 30,000 pierogi were consumed daily.
I’ve eaten Indonesian dishes in Amsterdam that were very hot and spicy, and mild dishes such as the popular Nasi Goreng (fried rice).
Hearty winter meals
The Dutch immigrants in Canada ate mostly Dutch foods, at least at first. At local Bazaars you may still be able to order Stamppot (boiled potatoes mashed with vegetables and served with a meat or sausage), Hutspot (potatoes, carrots, onions and rookworst — smoked sausage), Andijviestamppot (raw endive mashed with hot potatoes, served with diced fried spek — a kind of bacon), and Zuurkoolstamppot (sauerkraut, potatoes, fried bacon or a sausage: my favourite).
Boerenkoolstamppot, curly kale mixed with potatoes and rookworst sausage, is one of the oldest and most popular Dutch dishes. Boerenkool (farmer’s kale) was mentioned in cookbooks in the 1600s. And don’t forget snert (pea soup), a pea soup so thick you should be able to stand your spoon upright in it.
Gehaktballen, (big meatballs) are usually made of half pork, half beef and are a big favourite with folks at Christmas celebrations. And on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day the Dutch are known to eat oliebollen,( a kind of donut minus the hole) advocaat (a kind of eggnog loaded with brandy) and pickled herring.
Herring has been a staple food source in many countries for centuries. There are numerous ways the fish is served and many regional recipes: raw, fermented, pickled or cured by other techniques. I’m a big fan of pickled herring and always have a jar of the store-bought variety in the refrigerator. I buy salted herring in the winter months.
Pickled herrings are part of Scandinavian, Nordic, Dutch, German, Polish, Baltic, Eastern Slavic and Jewish cuisine. Most cured herrings use a two-step process. Initially, the herrings are cured with salt to extract water. The second stage involves removing the salt and adding flavorings, typically a vinegar, salt and sugar solution to which ingredients like peppercorn, bay leaves and raw onions are added. The practice is strong in Scandinavia, The Netherlands, Iceland and Germany.
Isn’t it wonderful being able to try all the great traditional foods of different nations? What is your favourite?
Prettige Kerstdagen (Merry Christmas)! Enjoy the Oliebollen and Advocaat!
Maynard van der Galien enjoys all those great foods. He farms near Renfrew, Ont.
