Christmassy Things: Carols

Yep, these are old, festive songs. Usually, but not always, Carols have a religious theme. They are not the same as 'Christmas songs' - tunes like 'White Christmas' were created in the 20th century, and are (for now anyway!) something more commercial. 

Most Carols go back much further, and were popular songs maybe 700 or 800 years ago! Some were originally folk songs. A lot also appeared in the 19th century, and even a couple in the 20th century, written as religious songs by famous composers - but I am not sure if these are very popular generally. Some of the old Carols were shared across Christian countries, with translations into various local languages. 

Carols are also Hymns (religious songs) but they are special, because they are for a specific festival. In fact the earliest Carols were Roman, and sung as far back as the 4th century, and apparently a couple of old Easter Carols also still exist. (I have never heard either.)

In the UK, you will hear Christmas Carols sung by choirs (for religious, and non-religious performances) and by congregations in Churches over the festive period. There is also a tradition of 'Carol Singing': groups of people who practice singing the songs well, and perform them in public spaces, or door-to-door, to collect money for charity. Carol Singers are called 'Carolers' in the US.

Here are some famous Carols in the UK, with their origins: 

• Good King Wenceslas (English, based on a Czech story)
• Ding Dong Merrily on High (English)
• Silent Night (Austrian) 
• O Little Town of Bethlehem (American)
• O Come, All Ye Faithful (maybe English or Portuguese) 
• Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (English) 
• The Holly and the Ivy (English) 
• Zither Carol (Czech)

Most Christian British people are very familiar with these Carols, because we used to sing them at school, or hear them frequently in town centres, on TV etc. They are not very cool or hipster, but a lot of them are happy and enjoyable to sing! My family used to go to the Church service late at night on Christmas Eve, and enjoy singing as part of it. 

The larger Churches, Cathedrals and Abbeys, also have their own choirs - including very young boys singing soprano/alto called 'choirboys'. The latter is a very odd tradition, when put in modern day context especially - I am not sure when or why the idea of choirboys originated (I suspect to eliminate the need for female singers!) but they are an old fixture of the Christian Church. Having said this, I sang in a choir (of adults) in London many years ago, and we had one session joined by the Westminster choristers (choirboys from the Westminster Abbey Choir - which is very famous). They were young boys, but extremely disciplined and well versed with music. They sang most of our choral piece perfectly, just by reading the music for the first time! 

Here are two of my favourite Carols: The Holly and the Ivy (sung by King's College Choir), and Zither Carol (sung by Westminster Abbey Choir):

Happy singing, and Merry Christmas! 

Photo:  "Carolers at the Door" by Charlotte Joan Sternberg

Christmassy Things: Gingerbread & Pepparkakor

Gingerbread is a Christmas favourite all over the West. It is not really a 'bread' but more of a biscuit or, more rarely, a cake. So gingerbread can range from being quite soft and chewy, to very crunchy, depending on the region or recipe. What unites all these dishes as 'gingerbread' is the ingredients, which normally include ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and other Christmassy spices (which in the old days might have included black pepper).

Northern Europe has strong gingerbread traditions, although the original recipe may have come from Armenia or Mesopotamia over a thousand years ago. In early days, it was thought the confectionery had some medicinal properties - and the flavour today should be slightly 'hot and spicy' (as well as sweet) due to the ingredients.

One of my favourite types of 'gingerbread' is the Swedish Pepparkakor - a very fine, crunchy biscuit, often shaped like a star or a flower. These are light and melt-in-the-mouth - very yummy! A Swedish friend once told me that you can also make a wish with these thin biscuits: put one in the palm of your hand before eating, and tap it - if the biscuit breaks into three, your wish will come true! Other Scandinavian countries have similar confections.  

Pepparkakor

In the UK we generally have heavier gingerbread recipes. Often made into shapes such as gingerbread men (sometimes iced to give them faces). These are old-style recipes, and apparently the first gingerbread men were made in the court of Queen Elizabeth 1, as biscuits to resemble her guests! Today, gingerbread is not such a famous Christmas food in the UK as it is in other European countries. We eat gingerbread at other times of year too, but there is something comforting about the flavour (maybe with a hot tea or coffee) in wintertime! 

Gingerbread Men (photo: bbc.co.uk)

Over the 20th century, smaller, decorated Christmas cookies became popularised from the USA, and these can be made from gingerbread too. They are often cut into shapes to resemble Christmas trees, stars or other festive things. In fact Christmas biscuits originated in Europe, but (like Halloween, or eggnog) got transformed and made fashionable by North America :) 

Several European countries (including UK, Sweden and Germany) have traditions of small confectionery houses made from gingerbread, and often decorated beautifully using icing and sweets. In some accounts, one such house (a big one!) tempted the children Hansel and Gretel in the old German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. 

Gingerbread House

Here's one baker's guide to making a Gingerbread House: 
http://www.bakingmywaythroughgermany.com/2015/12/mini-gingerbread-house/

And a recipe and bit more about Pepparkakor (although you can buy these in posher supermarkets in UK, Singapore, Japan and other parts of the world!) 
http://www.fransfavs.com/2011/12/pepparkakor-swedish-ginger-cookies/

Christmassy Things: A Christmas Carol

This is a story, and it has become a tradition to play it out over the Christmas season. The original was written by English author Charles Dickens, and first published in 1843. It tells the tale of a miserly man called Ebenezer Scrooge, who is visited by three ghosts - past, present, future - which eventually teach him the morals of compassion, generosity and goodwill. These are Christian traditional values, especially at Christmas time - although Dickens added his own socio-political angles to this story, which have now partly become interwoven with our modern Christmas thinking. 

There are actually dark aspects to this story - but today A Christmas Carol is usually portrayed in a fun, family way - and despite the ghosts and messaging, is not spooky or upsetting. There are many different ways to enjoy the story today besides reading the book - adaptations for theatre, TV, animation - even The Muppets have done a version! 

Despite the title, I don't think there are any real Christmas carols in the original story. (A carol is a happy religious song traditionally sung over the season). I think Dickens referred to a 'carol' as meaning a sort of moral tale. A Christmas Carol is so well known that the word 'Scrooge' is now part of the English language, referring to a person who is mean with money. And his catchphrase 'Bah, humbug!' (meaning 'nonsense!') is also famous.

On another dark note, in the modern day, there have also been criticisms of anti-Semitism in this story, due to the first name of the main character, who was probably supposed to be Jewish (which of course means there would be no factual reason for him to celebrate a Christian Christmas either!) And although hopefully we're encouraged to sympathise a bit with Scrooge later in the story, Dickens was a complex man who reflected some - for the 21st century at least - uncomfortably xenophobic / colonialist thinkings in his writing, as well as some progressive ones. This only struck me when I started writing this post today and thinking about the characters' names, as an adult. Of course the story is 170 years old. But sometimes it is worth remembering the era and sources from when/where traditions originate. Few things are 'neutral' even though we often grow up accepting them as such; and luckily today our understanding is more global :)

Anyway, while keeping that background aspect in mind, there are still some positive messages in this old story. Here is the trailer for The Muppets' version (which is also quite  old now!) starring Michael Caine as Scrooge - and this does involve plenty of singing: -

Christmassy Things: Eggnog

This is a drink which contains alcohol, raw egg, dairy and spices. It always sounded disgusting to me - but in fact it is rather delicious! 

It is thought the recipe originated in medieval Britain (and the name does sound like antiquated English). But it didn't become associated with the festive season until it travelled to North America in the 1700s. In the 20th century, eggnog at Christmas and New Year's was fashionable with the British upper classes. Today, there are variations of the drink all over the Americas and Europe.

Despite spending most of my life in the England, I didn't try eggnog until last week - in Singapore - when an Asian friend suggested we try it! Before this, I had not been keen on the idea of alcohol and raw egg together. (Also, in 1980's the UK had various health scares about uncooked eggs, and I think any child of that era has a slight suspicion of them!) 

There are many different recipes for eggnog - using brandy, whiskey, rum or other spirits, yolk of the egg, or yolk and white, plus variations on spices and dairy. Generally it consists of spirit(s), egg, cream or milk, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Our try in Singapore was made with cognac.

The verdict: 
Extremely yummy! The recipe is not that far removed from ice-cream, and eggnog is like a smooth, sweet, custard cocktail. And perhaps not 100% dissimilar in flavour from the ready-made drink Baileys (though fresher, and nicer). Eggnog is extremely rich and calorific, however, and I don't think you would need more than one at a time! 

Here is Martha Stewart's recipe for the cocktail, but there are many more online (including non-alcoholic versions). One egg usually serves two people :) 
http://www.marthastewart.com/355404/marthas-classic-eggnog

We drank ours at the Singapore bar here: http://www.maisonikkoku.co/

Christmassy Things: The Nutcracker

This is a ballet. And it is a traditional Christmassy one to watch in Europe and N America (and I am sure elsewhere as well!) Most ballets have fairly simplistic stories, and this one involves Christmas Eve celebrations, and various gifts and things coming magically to life that night (as witnessed by a little girl). Its origins are French and Russian. The story is adapted from a tale by Alexandre Dumas. The music to go with it was written by Tchaikovsky. The full ballet was first performed in St Petersburg in the 1890s, but apparently only really became popular in the West during the 1960s. 

A nutcracker is an implement used to crack nuts (funnily enough!) and the one in this story was carved to look like a person. Nutcrackers used to be especially associated with Christmas because, in Europe in the 1800s, nuts were traditionally a special/exotic thing to eat for the season.

Two of the well-known scenes in The Nutcracker are The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and The Nutcracker Tea - and you might recognise the music. Several pieces of music became famous from this ballet!

I have seen two performances of The Nutcracker, a traditional one in Singapore, and a more contemporary version in London. The latter was choreographed by Matthew Bourne (who is also famous for introducing an all-male Swan Lake!) 

In the UK, ballet has generally been seen as an upper class or 'high-brow' thing to watch live. Inaccessible to most people with normal incomes, and possibly quite dull for those who don't want to watch it for tradition or 'class value'. For some decades various authorities have been trying to change this perception and I think that there are many performances today which are both affordable, and with variations on the traditional style. Personally I am normally not crazy about ballet as a performance (and have watched it because I got free tickets through work!) But in addition to the famous music, The Nutcracker can have some great, colourful sets and scenes. And there is something very festive and atmospheric about the occasion itself - getting dressed up to visit the theatre, and doing something special for the Christmas season :) 

Here is The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, in traditional style with the Mariinsky Ballet, and also Matthew Bourne's version of The Nutcracker Tea. (You can also watch the entire Nutcracker ballet on YouTube if you search for it!)

 

Christmassy Things: Christmas!

It's December, and things are starting to feel festive! Even in the hot, sunny tropics. Christmas is a huge deal across most of Europe (and the Americas, and some other places). Of course it is a Christian festival to celebrate the birth of Jesus - though nobody knows Christ's real birth-date, and December 25th was actually re-appropriated from the pagan Mid-Winter festival in a political / diplomatic move of 'change management' in Europe, many centuries ago! Today in the UK, many families (even my rather lapsed Christian one!) celebrate the religious aspects of December 24th/25th. So we might attend a Christmas Mass at the church, for example - even if we rarely attend church at other times of year. And while religious aspects might have become diluted, the season's Christian traditions of generosity, compassion and goodwill hopefully do still hold!

More recently, however (and I think sadly) Christmas has become dominated by retail pressure, for shops make cash. This is the world over - Christmas buying frenzy and sparkly decorations are all over Singapore annually, and I've just been to Malaysia (an officially Muslim country) and it's the same there. Money and retail are universal. Though for me, Christmas retail pressure in Asia is pleasantly mild compared to what we get in the UK!

In Japan the festival is celebrated (not as a religious festival by most) with a loose tradition of eating KFC on Christmas Day. This is a genius move by KFC, incidentally. To get your product nationally associated with somebody else's annual festival is surely a marketing Holy Grail (excuse pun)! I guess an equivalent would be if Koka managed to get Europe or North America to eat their packet noodles every Chinese New Year :) [Koka marketing team, if you are reading this.... ]

I guess the one upside, perhaps, of the loss of the festival's true, Christian roots, and the generalisation of Christmas as simply a kind of party with gifts and shiny things, is that it is more universally accessible. This means that people the world over, regardless of culture or religion, can enjoy some amiable aspects of the festival too. (And I don't mean retail or KFC!)

So over the next couple of weeks, I am going to post about a few Christmassy Things, which hopefully anyone can investigate and enjoy. Tarrah for now! 

More Christmas reading from this blog: 

London at Christmas: festive arcades

London at Christmas: The Advent Calendar

London at Christmas: Kissing under the mistletoe

British Christmas Nosh

Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh

Photo: tree next to Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, credit to Conde Nast Traveller.

Giant Chalk Figures in England

Oddly enough, across the UK, there are several huge, white figures carved into hillsides. Some are thousands of years old, maintained to this day. I grew up knowing these depictions and not really thinking much of them. Now that I'm overseas, I think they're a bit strange. And interesting! 

Most original figures are horses, and giants. They are white, because they are carved through the grass into natural white-chalk hills, which mostly occur in the South of England. Sometimes the outlines were also filled with chalk to brighten them. There are around 24 old figures across the country in total, apparently. And of course others have been lost with time (some more recently discovered with infrared photography).

FYI in modern times, the hill-carving technique is occasionally used for branding and publicity stunts too. So if you happen to see a giant white Kiwi, or Homer Simpson - be warned, these are not old English monuments!

Why?
It seems the original figures were probably Celtic (an ancient pagan culture, which was in the UK from many years BC). Horses were definitely worshipped by the Celts, and the very early chalk figures were possibly images of their gods. Later horses might have been Saxon and political, as these invaders' war banners depicted the white horse. Over time, some figures were re-cut to make them look more contemporary, and parts were lost or changed. Other figures are relatively new (16th -19th century) and it seems were made to emulate the famous figures seen elsewhere in the country. 

Here are four of the good ones - just in case anyone out there is visiting England!

1. The Uffington White Horse in Oxfordshire still has something close to its original, Celtic shape. It is probably over 3000 years old, and the oldest chalk figure with a relatively traceable history! It is situated near the ancient, Iron Age, Uffington Castle. The horse is 360ft (110m) long.

2. The Cerne Abbas Giant in Dorset, is over 180 ft (55m) tall. His entire history is unknown; some theories say he depicts, or was re-appropriated as Hercules during Roman occupation, to reflect their own culture, and possibly also as Priapus (a Greek fertility god). Others that he was even a more recent parody of Oliver Cromwell. He's also situated near a famous, Iron Age, site, which perhaps suggests far more ancient origins. Generally, however, (and perhaps not surprisingly!) he is considered to be a fertility god. Even today, there is a view held by some that if couples spend 'snuggle time' there, their marriages will be blessed with children!

3. The Westbury White Horse, in Wiltshire, also has an unclear history. Tradition says it relates to King Alfred's nearby victory in 878 AD, but there's no actual record of the figure until 1742. It seems several horses were cut and re-cut into this same hillside over time, so he probably didn't always look like this. The horse is 170ft (52m) long.

4. The Long Man of Wilmington, East Sussex, holds two staffs, which reminds me of Scotland's Burryman*. The Long Man is 235ft (72m) tall, but again, his exact history is hard to trace. Theories suggest he might be either neolithic (a LONG time ago!), or much more recent (16th or 17th century AD) when he might have even been a satirical figure. Some also believe he has fertility connections. Today he's made of whitened bricks, put in place in the 19th century, as the original figure was apparently quite faint. Some experts suggest that the figure originally wore a war-helmet, and so the staffs might have been weapons. Nobody knows for sure. But he's an impressive sight, either way :)

Further reading on this blog:

Bonkers British Festivals no2: The Burryman 

Bonkers British Festivals no1: The Ottery Tar Barrels

Matcha of the Day: Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf's frappe (Malaysia)

I have never noticed this in Singapore (where the Tsujiri real deal is my go-to) but while staying in Kuala Lumpur recently, where Starbucks' matcha frappe is basically ice + sugar, I ended up trying CBTL's offering. And it was not at all bad! OK, you don't get the real bitter matcha edge in the way you do at the  Japanese-born outlets. But it was creamy, and flavourful enough to not be a vanilla milkshake. Worth it if you can't find a more authentic alternative.

FYI Tsujiri has apparently just opened in KL too (well, in Petaling Jaya). I didn't have the chance to visit it, however.