The perfect Christmas

The book

Chapter 22 of Moby Dick by Herman Melville is titled Merry Christmas and is one of the most touching ones, because drenched into a deep sadness, sarcasm and true sense of belonging to the ship community. Captain Ahab does not show up on the deck. Captain Bildad and Captain Peleg are licensed at the end of the chapter and they take a boat to move ashore, while tears twinkle in their eyes and voices. Ismaele, the narrating voice, remembers:

“At last the anchor was up, the sails were set, and off we glided. It was a short, cold Christmas; and as the short northern day merged into night, we found ourselves almost broad upon the wintry ocean, whose freezing spray cased us in ice, as in polished armor. The long rows of teeth on the bulwarks glistened in the moonlight; and like the white ivory tusks of some huge elephant, vast curving icicles depended from the bows”.

Bildad, while at the wheel, intonates what sounds like a Psalm, but is a ballad by Isaac Watts, A prospect of Heaven makes Death easy. The winds bring his words to the crew: the first line quoted by Melville says “sweet fields beyond the swelling floods”, which portraits the stated on peril the ship is going to undergo now that Bildad and Peleg won’t tame anymore Captain Ahab.

http://www.classicreader.com/book/309/22/

How different my yesterday Christmas was? Let's have a glance:

Moby Brie-k: I could not restrain myself, but I apologise.

The people

Not many people stayed in Edinburgh for Christmas. So, I decided to create a Doodle to see if those here, were interested in a Christmas’ lunch. What happened was pure magic: only a person, a dear good friend of mine, Andrew, responded to the invitation. He involved and brought along two exceptionally nice friends, who I didn’t have the pleasure to met. Stephanie and Emily proved to be fascinating guests: elegant, nice and talkative. My brilliant office-mate Mara came just after the opening with her brother and her sister-in-law and that was it. Everything would have been magnificent if only Michelle was there with us! Alas, the sun blessed us casting a bunch of rays onto the Leopard Lily (I still have a to find a name for it):

Leopard Lily in the gentle December sun

This has been the first Christmas away from my family: a strange feeling to process. Yet I must tell the novelty was not just surprising, but indeed a revelation. Perhaps because everyone was new to each other, the conversation was lubricated, alive and fizzy. The reduced number of guests made everything easier (also in terms of dish cleaning). We were three Italians, three Germans and one Australian: this milieu favoured the use of English as conversational language and we were occasionally switching to German or Italian when needed. This “natural” selection of outstanding guests was the first step in order achieve the perfect event.

Moreover, we were from different university backgrounds, law, tourism, linguistics, literature and architecture. This fueled the conversation, making the reciprocal exchange of informations even more interesting. Different reasoning brought us together to the same place: in a way we are all finding distinct patterns in the same maze. I happen to realize that sharing a city shapes your way of thinking and approaching problems: you are "forced" to meet new people, adapt yourself, cede something you had for something new and unknown. Those how keep being stuck to their past end up creating a city in the city, a fake reproduction of what they feel they lost: and that is the moment in which it is lost forever. I like intensely the image of people abroad as these Green and Blacks chocolate into a Martini glass:

These are "conversational" chocolate, because each label has a question,
and these questions contribute ease in small and big talks!
Green and Blaks is organic and fairtrade chocolate...both ethic and taste.

The place

Perhaps, the purple tents, perhaps a serious Christmas three, perhaps the red dishes with the white rime – after which this blog is named – made of my flat the perfect location to appoint. We discovered that in Australia every fancy meal might be called dinner. Recently, I attended a tea in Edinburgh, yet the tea, in reality, was a full-scale dinner. I am particularly amused by this regional acceptation given to meals in the English-speaking-world!

Our synthetic Christmas tree makes a lot of atmosphere,
the spirit of all the possible Christmas dwells here.

The food

As soon as the crew was elected, it was necessary to establish a menu. Everyone was asked to contribute to the meal according to her/his culinary skills. This is why Andrew opted for two platters of mixed salami and one international cheese, so to prevent himself from poisoning us. Stephanie brought with her a splendidly revised recipe of Tiramisu and Emily an extraordinary Lamington cake, introducing us to the sweet delicacies of the Austral hemisphere. I basically made a broth. I also discovered that the stock is derived from bones, broth instead from meat:

Select carefully the ingredients:
Gressingham duck poussin (promotion 2 x 5£);
9 chutney carrots;
3 small potatoes;
2 cherry tomatoes;
1 onion;
1 coast of celery.
ALL THESE VEGETABLES THEN WERE RE-UESED
TO MAKE VEGETABLE BALLS IN THE OVEN ON
ST. STEPHEN'S DAY

The early stage, when the water was dusted in white pepper.
On the bottom of the casserole one tea-spoon of Maldon salt
was already dissolving.
At the beginning I thought duck toxins might have been
poisonous, but then I discovered it is even better than chicken.

Yet here is the complete and exhaustive (and exhausting) menu:

      Starters

·      Tesco Finest* platter of ham, salami and three cheeses (Brie, Mancego, Wanslaydale with cranberries);

·      Duck titbits with dates, rolled in pancetta and served with steamed asparagus' tips. 

Main course

·     Tortellini in duck broth.

Second course & side dishes

·      Duck salad with Modena balsamic vinegar gravy reduction

·      Roasted potatoes with mustard seeds and rosemary

·      Salad (apple, lettuce gems, rocket salad, celery, sweet pointed peppers)

Desserts

·      Tiramisu and Lamington cake

·      Green and Blacks chocolate assorment

·      Twinings nettle and sweet fennel infusion

Deli platter

The cheeses

Steamed asparagus and sprouts
with morsels of duck thighs' meat, dates and pancetta

Tortellini in duck broth: because of the size it would be wiser to call them
cappelletti, and you can find them in Waitrose for 1,99£ (250gr pack).
Mine were bought in Paris, but his is a different story!

Clockwise: from the left, the duck breast with the balsamic gravy,
mustard seeds and rosemary roasted potatoes,
and the extravagant salad, dressed in lemon and extra-virgin olive oil.

Lamington cake (pic taken from Google images):
admittedly they were irresistible! 

Stephanie's tiramisu was looking different, but the taste was an A.

The wine

Wines have been a genuine crescendo of tannins and joy: a French Tesco Finest* Muscadet for the appetizers, an Ogio’s Primitivo from Puglia and The chocolate lover’s wine, aromatised with chocolate notes, a symphony: this wine is sold in Sainsbury’s and Co-operative.  

Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur Lie, Tesco Finest* 7,27£.
Produced and bottled by Vignerons du Pallet in Brétagne, France.

http://www.chocolateshopwineuk.co.uk/

The games

When all the food was gone, Mara had to leave, and Stephanie proposed us to play Pictionary. Not the table version, but the online generator of words and categories. This was hilarious, challenging and cheerful. 

Pictionary word generator: 

 http://www.wordgenerator.net/pictionary-word-generator.php