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24 dishes to make the ultimate Christmas dinner spread
A roast and vindaloo, yule log and bebinca, together make for the perfect mix of festive traditions
Chef Gresham Fernandes is the Culinary Director of Impresario, crafting menus for the Social, Smoke House Deli and Salt Water Café chain of restaurants, but as an East Indian raised in Bandra, Mumbai he is just as personally invested in the Christmas festivities. Especially the big festive meal. The perfect person to plan the menu for the ultimate Christmas party for us, he brought the meal to life with a mix of Western traditional roasts and desserts along with East Indian elements such as pork vindaloo and bebinca, creating a perfect balance.
The dishes also got his signature genius twist. Roasted in seaweed butter, the classic roast duck has a Japanese touch. The pork is roasted in marmite while the leg of ham got a good 3-4 days in brine before going into the oven. The vindaloo has been slow-cooked in the traditional way, which means it is cooked a week in advance and re-heated till its mature, rich and juicy. “The Christmas dinner is so much about nostalgia. So even though as a chef I like to experiment with my food, my family insists on the traditional recipes on this day,” says Fernandes.
But the piece-de-resistance could easily be the plum cake that has been 10 years in the making! “Since the time we started making the cake 10 years ago, we whip up a batch and save a quarter of it that goes into the mix for next year. Every two months we stir the mix and close it up. This way it matures and keeps getting better every year,” adds Fernandes.
Here is the list of all the 24 dishes for your inspiration to cooking the ultimate Christmas dinner:
- Roast duck
- Roast chicken
- Ham leg
- Roast pork with crackling
- Panettone
- Yule log
- Stuffing
- Cheese platter
- Meat platter
- Gingerbread men
- Hot toddy
- Pumpkin soup served in the pumpkin
- Roast potatoes
- Christmas pudding
- Fruit trifle
- Sausage meat pie
- Quiche
- Honey glazed carrots
- Pork vindaloo
- Bebinca
- Stollen
- Egg nog
- Hot chocolate with marshmallow
- Mulled wine
Mulled wine and hot toddy are perfect for the winter.
If you wish to enjoy a Christmas feast of your own without slaving over the stove, you can head to Salt Water Café that is currently serving a special Christmas menu
A quiche is a good option for the vegetarians at the table.
Chef Gresham Fernandes likes to add a twist to every dish he creates except the Christmas Pudding, which is kept completely traditional.
A mix of Western traditional roasts and desserts along with East Indian elements such as pork vindaloo and bebinca, chef Gresham Fernandes created a perfect balance.
