London at Christmas: Kissing under the mistletoe

Well I hope that those of you who celebrate it have enjoyed your Christmas (had a big family argument, got bloated on festive feasting, and headed guiltily to the gym.) (Yes, these too are British traditions!)

Anyway, here’s a final seasonal weirdo for this year:

A brief kiss under the mistletoe is a secondary festive tradition. It is a sign of goodwill or, now, more a romantic thing for couples. There seem to be many theories on the origin of the custom. It could be linked to old Scandinavia, where ritual dictated that foes put down their weapons if they clashed under mistletoe.

Today, people can kiss under mistletoe at any time over the festive season, though I would say it is more common on Christmas Eve, or at New Year’s Eve parties (NB: beware the drunken lech!) Apparently in France the tradition is reserved solely for New Year’s.


In Europe and North America mistletoe has special significance over the festive season, and is often used as a decoration.

It's actually a semi-parasitic plant. It grows on the branches of other plants draining water and minerals from the host, though it also feeds itself using photosynthesis. Its seeds are spread by birds who eat the berries. I remember globes of European mistletoe on the apple trees at my Grandparents’ home in Wales, UK, though there are many varieties the world over.


Happy holidays, peeps!

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European mistletoe

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Close up. No copyright infringement intended.

メリ~クリスマス: and The Big Shutdown!

A friend of mine told me of clients from Tokyo, who visited London as tourists for just three days over Christmas. I wonder if they enjoyed it? I hope they did, but if you are planning similar, beware:

December 24th, Christmas Eve: incredible, crowded, nightmare shopping frenzy in town (as locals panic re: Christmas presents)
December 25th, Christmas Day: shops and all public transport shut down. The city is a ghost town!
December 26th, Boxing Day: incredible, crowded, nightmare shopping frenzy in town (for the sales). And this year, tubeworkers strike.

I guess if you have a good hotel, you would get a nice meal on 25th. But you won't get to experience London at its best on any of these days. I'd recommend earlier in December for a Christmas feel (see Festive Arcades entry) when other attractions are open, and queues still bearable. OK, perhaps compared to Tokyo, it's all still pretty sedate, but that is my advice!

Meanwhile: I had my regular Japanese language lesson yesterday (28th) and found that I was once again almost pushed under a tube train by overcrowding, AND had to use advanced combat skills to get a seat in our usual quiet cafe. *sigh*

London at Christmas: The Advent Calendar

I was talking to an Asian friend last night, and she hadn’t heard of these, so here goes…

Advent calendars are traditionally used in Europe and North America to count down the days until Christmas. In the UK they usually resemble a large Christmas card with small ‘doors’ cut into it. Behind each door is a surprise picture, small gift or chocolate.  Children open one door each day, starting on 1^st December, and culminating in something special on 24^th or 25^th.

Apparently, the idea originated in the early 1800s with the German Lutherans, who would count down the days of Advent using candles or marks on a board. ‘Advent’ is actually the Christian religious period encompassing the four Sundays before Christmas. Modern calendars have been modified to the month of December.

When I was little, we had pictures (often religious) as our advent calendar treats and I was quite surprised when the luxury ‘chocolate’ versions appeared later on. (This makes me sound like a geriatric, but actually the evolution has been fast!) Today every brand has its own commercial version. If you really want it, you can even get one of dramatic genius Robert Pattinson. I could start one of those pieces about fame being the modern religion here, but I won’t!

   

Kari Ayam - woohoo!

I am currently cooking up my bi-annual Kari Ayam (Malay chicken curry). Underrated in the West, and usually outshone by the famous, well-marketed Thai curries, the Malay one is excessively yum! (Though I admit restaurant versions vary hugely.)

It uses coconut milk but a different set of spices, and is less sweet than the Thai counterpart. I am lucky enough to have a very good recipe, straight from a Malay kitchen. I'll post it up soon, so you can give it a go!

In the meanwhile: grappling with beans.

Dodgy design update

Fuzzy, yellowy colours and text? Apparently it could be a browser (+Windows 7 compatability) issue. Oh the excitement. So, hopefully, you can see still this blog in clear, glorious technicolour. I can't. Need to experiment!

Nosh of the day: ZENZAI !!!

Yes it’s bloomin freezing in London; time to break into the zenzai gift! For those who don’t remember, zenzai is a sweet, red-bean soup from Japan. It can be served hot, and sometimes with mochi .*  I was kindly given two zenzai from Tokyo to try: cook-in-pan; and posh-with-mochi.

PAN

Add packet contents to 150ml water, 50g sugar and simmer for around 6 minutes.

Verdict: Yes, good old red-bean soup! Yum. It is very similar to the delicious Chinese one I used to eat. The flavour strongly reminds me of chestnut – sweet and nutty. Very nice! If you’re eating it ‘neat’ as I did, I would actually recommend using 25g of sugar, then adding small amounts to preferred taste.

 

POSH

Heat the soup packet in boiling water for 5 minutes. The raw mochi looks like a bar of hotel soap; you need to heat it until it fluffs up (I used the grill). I am told that if you overcook the mochi it can explode, and I think I over-cautiously under-cooked mine – extra chewy! ^^

Verdict:  超おいしい! (extremely yum). The soup is good anyway, but the gooey, neutral mochi adds very nice contrasting texture and flavour.

 *Mochi are Japanese rice cakes. Hard to describe in English, but the texture is a bit like uncooked dough of varying gooeyness. Often they’re shaped like little patties, with a filling (for example, sweet red-bean paste). There may be many variations I don’t know of! The mochi for this zenzai was the plain ‘dough’.

Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park

I wandered into Winter Wonderland with friends this week. Actually it was pretty impressive - a huge Christmas-Market-with-Funfair / Circus Attractions / Ice Rink etc etc with lots of noise, warm waffle smells, even fake snow. Entry is free but everything else was a bit pricey for our unprepared budgets sadly (and you need tokens we hadn't sorted out). But I might go back to do a couple of rides when more flushed! On until 3rd January.
 http://www.hydeparkwinterwonderland.com/

 

Dastardly design disaster

I am now viewing this blog on a different PC and find that the design and colours look terrible! (Yellowy, glaring, fuzzy- it should have rich contrast colours, and be very clear to read!)  Possibly it's just this machine, or it could be a more general techy design issue. I will investigate. But in the interim, apologies if you have the same view! :(

Koto concert

Last night as SOAS's Brunei Gallery: famous musician Kameyama Kono playing the traditional Japanese stringed instrument 'Koto'. She was accompanied by her daughter on Shamisen (or Sangen) which is a little bit like a three-stringed Western banjo, played using a large comb-shaped tool; and a gentleman on a type of flute called a Shakuhachi.

Koto resembles a long, flat, 13-stringed 'harp'. Strings are plucked and manipulated to make sound. Little bridges are used to tune the strings, and the whole instrument can be retuned to suit a different piece (or, it seems, during a piece to suit different parts!) Apparently, very similar instruments exist in China and Korea.

I admit I am no fan of classical Western music, but quite enjoyed the Japanese version. It was very light and quite calming, though to a lay-person did not have anything like the shape of the music we expect in Europe. (Experts might know better!)

The concert was free. And the trio will also be performing in Bath and Oxford later this week. Plus back at London's St Dunstan-in-the-West on Fleet Street this Friday lunchtime.


Pic courtesy SOAS



Nosh of the Day - Sukiyaki: first contact

I am lucky! Yesterday a Japanese friend kindly gave me some 'boil in the bag' Sukiyaki to try. She knew I had been searching for Sukiyaki in London restaurants, but with a price tag of £30 upwards per person, it is probably more likely I'll eat it in Japan. Anyway, the 'instant' Sukiyaki took five minutes to cook, and it was delicious!

It is a sort of slightly sweet casserole, with very finely sliced beef, different kinds of mushroom, tofu, onion and other Japanese ingredients. If the instant one is this good, perhaps the chef-prepared version really is worth £30?

 

London at Christmas: festive arcades

Check out London's pretty, old-fashioned arcades this Christmas. You can find quite a few off Piccadilly, and other parts of Mayfair. Precursors to today's covered malls, these upmarket little shopping rows look properly Dickensian during the festive season. One of the oldest is the Burlington Arcade (opened 1819), but there's also the Prince's Arcade, Piccadilly Arcade (both early 20th century I believe) and nearby Royal Arcade to visit. (The Royal Arcade - off Albemarle St - houses the fabulous Charbonnel et Walker chocolatier too!)

Burlington Arcade

Prince's Arcade

Piccadilly Arcade