Traditions are the essence of every festival. Having spent my growing up years in Jharkhand’s McCluskiegunj, once known as the homeland of the Anglo-Indian community of this country; when I moved to Calcutta, (it was yet to be rechristened Kolkata), I was averse to spending Christmas in this big, new city. Residents and neighbours tried to comfort me with tales of the grand Christmas celebrations Calcutta is known for owing to this city’s prominent stature during British rule. And while I was enthralled by the fascinating stories of the festival’s colonial legacy, especially of the legendary Christmas ball hosted in 1938 by Lord Brabourne, Governor of Bengal, to which he invited 140 guests, all comprising nobility and the total bill of the extravagant supper amounted to a whopping 5,296 Rupees that included 850 eggs, 330 roasting fowls, hundreds of bottles of drinks, among other food and beverages, and despite their promise that unlike those feasts that were enjoyed only by the cream of society, Bada Din in this city offers something for everyone – I wasn’t sure if it would have what I was looking for, that mattered most to me.
For I’d come from a place where this festival provided our small, close-knit Anglo-Indian community an occasion to bond and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that it made us feel like a large, extended family. It was a time when our homes didn’t only resonate with Christmas carols and from the cheers of feasting and merrymaking, but also jingled with those voices we’d waited all year long to hear, when family and friends returned from faraway lands where they either lived or worked. And the cold Christmas evenings of McCluskiegunj felt much warmer in the company and the embrace of these loved ones.
Now, after living two decades in this city, I have to admit that Christmas in Kolkata is special in its own right and has provided everything that I’d ever wanted, even more! And the years that followed, much like other city denizens for whom the tradition of bringing home plum cake from Flurys or rum balls and macaroons from the Nahoum and Sons, the popular Jewish family bakery, remains an integral part of the celebrations – I’ve enjoyed another ritual that also happens to be a highlight of this city’s celebrations. And it tends to make me somewhat nostalgic.
Since the festivities in Kolkata are very inclusive, celebrated amongst families, friends and neighbours, irrespective of which community one belongs to, the tradition of baking and sharing homemade cake came as a heart-warming ritual that took me back to those wonderful days when the whole family came together to lend my Grandma a helping hand as she undertook elaborate and painstaking baking before Christmas that resulted in some of the most scrumptious goodies that the entire community savoured during Christmas time.
However, the tradition of baking and sharing Christmas cake wasn’t always this popular worldwide, especially not how we visualised it to be. According to one story, Christmas cake goes back to the Twelve Days of Christmas celebrations when it was customary to eat rich, fruit and nut cake at the Twelfth Night party. Another story traces its origin to the mediaeval times when the English ate porridge on the eve of Christmas after fasting all day and before they feasted. The simple oats porridge evolved, as people began to improvise by adding spices, honey and dried fruit, especially plums or prunes and it transformed into the more popular Christmas pudding. Further, with time and the introduction of new ingredients, oats gave way to flour to which now eggs and butter was added along with an assortment of exotic dried fruit and the batter was placed in a muslin cloth and boiled. Those who could afford ovens, began to bake this batter.
Christmas cake came to India way back in 1883. According to a story published by The Telegraph, Murdoch Brown, a British planter in charge of a cinnamon plantation arrived with a rich plum cake from England and asked a local baker of Kerala, named Mambally Bapu to recreate a cake that tasted like the one he had just given him to sample. That led to the baking of the first Christmas cake by an Indian.
Grandma’s fruit cake baking preparation began a month in advance, beginning with a trip all the way to the nearest town Ranchi, over 60 kilometres away to source the ingredients. It was imperative that the primary ingredients which were dried fruits like currants, sultanas, raisins and cherries along with plums soak in brandy or rum for at least three weeks to infuse the flavours that give the cake warmth, or as some want to believe, to bring good fortune. Most fruit cakes follow a similar procedure and those who bake will know how crucial it is to maintain these steps.
Grandma’s baking ensured that every family member had an important part to play. And just like when all the ingredients in exact measure blend together to produce the perfect cake, when our family members baked Christmas cake under her wing, it became our very own family tradition. Years later, when we recreate the family recipe that we did together back then, and as we sit in our individual homes in different cities, some in countries far away, enjoying these slices of rich, dark plum cake, it works like an invisible thread that magically binds us together.
Baking and sharing Christmas cake isn’t a mere tradition. It’s a story our family cherishes and relives with every celebration!
Images courtesy: Needpix.com
