What are
your favorite winter rituals?
Since childhood I’ve been a big believer in angels
and in fact I credit them with the magic
and wonderful opportunities I’ve had in my life to travel around the world and
share my gift with people. I rely on
them a lot to be my kitchen helpers – and of course they let me take all the
credit – it’s our little secret!
I love Winter time, and depending on where I am in
the world, I have different rituals for this time of year. I grew up in rural Ireland and my childhood
memories of winter are of warm cozy meals and gatherings around an open fire,
storytelling with my family. Making
snowmen and sledding down the hills on makeshift sleds, usually old pieces of
wood we found in the shed. Snowball
fights and of course the anticipation of Christmas and what gifts Santa Claus
would bring.
These days, with my traveling lifestyle, I can
never anticipate where I’m going to be come Winter. Some years I’m swimming in tropical waters
and some, I’m huddled up by the fire to stay warm. Always though, my life and days revolve
around food, so I’m usually creating winter delights with whatever ingredients
I can find locally. Last year I spent
winter between Los Angeles and Hawaii. I love the feeling of festivity at this
time of year as we have Thanksgiving in the U.S., Christmas and New Year – all
excuses for me to create celebratory feasts and bring people together around
the table.
Do you
celebrate Christmas and how?
I love to celebrate Christmas – perhaps because I
carry so many happy memories from the Christmases of my childhood. I’m not a religious person as such, but I
will often find myself going to church or some sort of spiritual gathering on
Christmas day as I enjoy the ritual of it.
Although sometimes my church is just time alone, sitting on a rock on a
beautiful beach, or a nice walk in nature.
I love to decorate my home wherever I am, but often
it will be with things I find in nature.
Last year I went to the beach and found a nice piece of driftwood and
turned it into a Christmas tree of sorts.
Adorned with some lights, jewelry and ribbons it looked perfectly
festive.
I also love an excuse to give gifts to people I’m with. Simple, thoughtful gifts that don’t involve mountains of wrapping paper and packaging – I really don’t wish to contribute to the commercialization of Christmas and all the waste this involves. I sometimes go to the local thrift store and find old scarves and fabrics to wrap my gifts in and look for creative ways to make my Christmas a little lower impact and fun.
I also love an excuse to give gifts to people I’m with. Simple, thoughtful gifts that don’t involve mountains of wrapping paper and packaging – I really don’t wish to contribute to the commercialization of Christmas and all the waste this involves. I sometimes go to the local thrift store and find old scarves and fabrics to wrap my gifts in and look for creative ways to make my Christmas a little lower impact and fun.
And then there’s my favorite part – the food! I’m usually cooking for clients or friends on
Christmas day and often have various palates and dietary preferences to cater
to. My choice is to keep my cooking
predominantly plant based, but often I’ll be cooking for clients who want to
include a turkey or something traditional in their Christmas meal, so there
will always be choices.
Any tips
for food regime in the cold climates?
What I love about nature and being in tune with
nature in my life and cooking is that it is perfectly designed. Foods that naturally thrive in a colder
climate are the perfect foods for us to consume to help us stay warm and be in
balance at this time of year. Winter
time draws us inwards and encourages us towards warmth and heartiness in our
cooking. Cooked porridges for breakfast,
warming soups, stews and oven baked casseroles are all good options for cold
climates. Root vegetables and foods that
grow on or below the earth have a more heating effect on the body, unlike food
and fruits that grow on trees that keep us cool in warmer climates.
It’s important also to get good quality fats to
insulate the body in colder climates – good sources of fats are oily fish like
salmon and mackerel, nuts and seeds and using good quality oils like olive,
flax, hempseed oil. Rather than frying
foods, I like to drizzle oil on my vegetables and other dishes, or use in
making dressings.
Can you
share your favorite winter recipe with us? (you can add a photo if you like)
This is a difficult choice as I’m always creating
new dishes, but we never had a Christmas growing up without Christmas pudding,
or plum pudding as it was also called.
My Granny would make the puddings and traditionally they were made early
in the year and stored so the flavors matured.
This is my own variation on my Granny’s recipe and it’s usually
thoroughly enjoyed. It’s traditional to
pour brandy over the pudding and light it at the table to burn off the alcohol
– I still like to do this as it gives it a lovely flavor.
Aine’s Christmas
Pudding:
1 cup raisins
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup chopped pitted prunes
½ cup chopped dried figs
1 cup chopped dried apricots
1/3 cup crystallized ginger – small
diced
¼ cup brandy
1 Tbs. orange zest
1/2 cup orange juice
1 Tbs. lime juice
½ cup maple syrup
Big pinch sea salt
½ tsp. allspice
½ tsp. nutmeg
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. cloves
¼ tsp. cardamom
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ cup melted coconut oil
2 cups grated carrots
1 ½ cups ground almonds
2 cups white breadcrumbs
1 tsp. baking powder
1 ½ cups non-dairy milk (rice, hemp,
oat, almond)
EQUIPMENT:
Mixing bowls
2 ceramic or glass pudding bowls
with rims
Cheesecloth or light muslin
Aluminum foil
String for tying bowls
THE NIGHT
BEFORE MAKING:
In a mixing
bowl, combine all the dried fruit and ginger and add brandy, orange zest and
juice, lime juice, maple syrup, salt, spices and vanilla. Mix well, cover bowl
and set aside to marinate overnight.
When ready
to make puddings, transfer the soaked fruit into a large mixing bowl and add
the remaining ingredients. Mix
well. Rub the inside of two ceramic or
glass pudding bowls with oil and line the inside with a couple of layers of
cheesecloth, leaving enough to hang out over the edges. Divide the pudding mixture between the two
bowls and draw the edges of the cheesecloth together in the middle and tie with
a string.
Cover the
top of the bowls with aluminum foil, putting a pleat in the middle of the foil to
allow for expansion during the cooking process.
Tuck the foil well in around the bowls and tie around the outside near
the top with string, looping the string over the top to make a handle that can
be used to lift the bowl. You want to
make sure the foil is tucked in and tied securely so that no water or steam
gets into the pudding during the cooking process.
Put the
bowls into large saucepans with tight fitting lids. Fill the saucepans with enough water to come
to within an inch of the top of bowls.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 4 hours. Check occasionally to make sure there’s
enough water and add some if it’s getting low.
It’s
traditional to make your puddings several months before Christmas and re-steam
on the day. When ready to use, steam
them again for about 2 hours.
To serve,
turn out onto a platter and drizzle liberally with brandy – set it alight
immediately to burn off the alcohol.
You can
serve with ice cream or whipped cream or non-dairy alternatives.
Where are
you going to be this winter/what are your plans for work and celebration?
I can honestly say at this stage that I really
don’t know. I’m currently home in
Ireland for a couple of months cooking for my mother who just had surgery. I love being home in Ireland and may extend
my stay here until Christmas, in which case I will be celebrating with my
lovely parents, who just celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary!
What’s
your favorite book to curl up with by the fire?
I’m obsessed with wild foods foraging and
fermentation at the moment. I made my
first batch of beer using wild foraged herbs recently and it was quite
delicious. One of my mentors in the wild
foods world just published a wonderful book called “The new Wildcrafted Cuisine”
which I have by my bedside and enjoy reading for ideas and inspiration. I really don’t take cookbooks into the
kitchen as it’s my creative space and I like to let my creative spirit loose
when I pick up my knife, but I enjoy reading cookbooks in my leisure time,
particularly if they have nice food images. I love the Ottolenghi cookbooks for
inspiration and creative ideas. I also love a good novel
Does snow
make you feel grumpy or romantic?
I love snow!
It makes me happy, especially if it’s a snowstorm big enough to slow the
world down. I remember being in busy Manhattan one winter and we had the
biggest snowstorm ever and the entire city came to a standstill. The cars were all buried under mountains of
snow and people were snow skiing in the streets. I know it’s probably not the best thing for
business, but it brings a sense of calm and peace when the world is clothed in
white.
What’s
your fondest childhood winter memory?
Waking up on Christmas morning and going downstairs
to see what Santa Claus had left. We
always left him a glass of milk and cookies the night before. It must have been challenging for my parents
to keep us all happy, with 11 children to feed and clothe on one man’s salary,
but we were always surprised and thrilled with Santa’s generosity.
We went to midnight mass at Christmas, which was
also a big thrill, to walk to church in the dark. The smell of the incense in the church still
lingers with me.
What’s
your secret wish for this Christmas? If you’d like to share it with us
Well then
it won’t be a secret any more! When I
worked for one of my actor client’s we all had to make a wish list for
Christmas and this was always a challenge for me. The things my heart desires
the most are things that money can’t buy.
My wishes usually involve being with the people I love and who make me
happy. Having access to great food,
feeling healthy and joyful. Being
somewhere in nature where I can take a nice long walk or a swim.
When I
think of “things” to wish for, it’s usually something small that travels easily
– beautiful jewelry is always appreciated!
Are you planning any more cookbooks
or projects?
Being a
creative mind, I always have many projects and books brewing, I would like to
do a revision on my first book “Recipes to Nurture” and bring it up to date – I
still use recipes from it, but as my cooking is constantly evolving, I’d like
to add some more recipes to reflect this.
I have a few other cookbooks in the works that I’m hoping to get out
there soon.
I’m
really inspired by the food culture in Ireland whenever I come home – so many
artisan food producers popping up all over the place and it’s such a magical
and beautiful country, I’d love to bring groups over here to explore the food and
foraging culture. I have a Facebook
page, Feastandforageireland, where I’ll be posting updates on this.