Welcome back to the brainstorming for events over 4 years away. I know it may seem a bit ahead of schedule, but if I want to have any semblance of a good time I have to pre-plan.
If i do head to Russia for a future TH2 I already have a game plan in mind. Russian Christmas is centered around religious ceremonies and a 12 dish dinner. I think the Russian people have tailor made this dinner to be used in Thanksgiving 2 gatherings just for me. Each of the 12 recipes is vegetarian and are meant to represent the 12 apostles. As long as I can find tasty versions of each dish I think I could easily pull this off and have everyone enjoy my modern/American take on them. The twelve courses can include the toast, garlic and honey, mushrooms, dried
lima beans, potatoes, prunes, peroghi, fish, bobalki, poplanik,
kolachki and cabbage rolls. Going to Russia also allows me to go outside of the usual beer box. I can round up a selection of Russian Imperial Stouts. There are a lot of Russian themed beers being made by American breweries. Whether or not some of the choices I make are actually Russian I think will be forgiven by my guests. I can play around with that if It becomes difficult to find some truly Russian beers.Also, I have heard that the Russian people enjoy vodka, I was considering having a vodka tasting flight. pour 1/4 ounces and let people find out which variety of vodka they like most (I prefer potato).
If we go to Spain I am going to have to do a ton of research. I know virtually nothing about this area. I know they conquered many people and the movie Pan's Labyrinth takes place there. The one bit of culinary information I have is that paella is both a meal and a dish. I will not be making paella. I don't see myself making this on a regular basis. If someone I know owns a paella dish then I will reconsider. The real challenge won't be in finding interesting dishes, but in finding recipes that are fun and palatable by the guests. If I can't find enough I think I would do a combo with Portuguese cuisine. I could refer to the theme as "Conquerors of the New World". Adding in Portugal would open up a few of the regions unique wine styles also. Being almost surrounded by water, I may increase the amount of seafood that I normally make. If there is a demand I may add a grilled lamb dish, which is a big part of a traditional Spanish Christmas dinner. The beer selection would be a challenge.
If I decide to venture to the Middle East I would be focusing more on the dishes themselves as opposed to holiday dishes. Because of the Christian minority in this area of the world there are not a ton of traditional Middle Eastern Christmas dishes. The Lebanese have several cinnamon flavored puddings that I could try. The rest of the menu will be a mix of dishes from each country This is the most wide open of the possible ideas. This will also be the toughest to tie in to the Thanksgiving/Christmas theme. Clearly, at this point I am not sure where to go, but I will let feedback either leave me towards or away from this idea.
A good old fashioned Irish Christmas. I've done a minor amount of research already on Ireland when I was looking at England. Since the Christmas food traditions in Ireland are very similar to American ones I think I would put a larger focus on the dessert table. The desserts are the main difference between here and Ireland. A variety of puddings, and pies that we don't usually see in local homes. The Irish are of course known for their "love" of potatoes, so I would add a a few extra themed potato dishes too. If I can find any recipes that seem palatable to my guests I'd like to try and find some Celtic dishes to throw in. They would probably be very simple, but hopefully a few exotic flavors thrown in. The drink table for this theme would be exceptionally easy. Guiness would play a large part of course (even though they are a Macro) and some of my favorite beers are from Ireland (O'Hara's, Murphy's). I'd highlight brands that are specifically made in Ireland: Smithwick's, Beamish, and Harp. If possible I'd like to find some Irish craft breweries too.
So what do I mean by the Soviet Bloc countries? I think of Bulgaria, Romania, the 3 Baltic countries, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic and the Yugoslavian countries. These are basically the Eastern European countries from my 5th grade social studies text book. This theme is itself an experiment within an experiment. I have 7 countries listed so I would need to find a couple signature dishes from each region. In my preliminary research I've already found some directions I could go in. Bulgaria has a breaking bread tradition which uses a pita-like loaf of bread. Romania leans towards a multi coursed meal with pork as the main focus.Slovakia and the Czech Republic have a tradition of hard baked Christmas cookies. The Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania may each get their own recipe, but for now will be grouped together as they were in my textbook. Herring is the main component in many Polish Christmas dinners. I do not think I have ever even seen herring in front of me. This particular dish will be interesting. Hungarians have a fish soup as one of their main meals on Christmas Eve. As with the Baltic nations I will probably be grouping the former Yugoslavian nations together for recipe simplicity. On each plates name card I would highlight each country. I would have very little trouble finding drinks from this many countries. I could highlight each country with its own bottle of wine or case of beer. It would be nice to have one easy piece of this theme.
North Africa was brought up in response to my last post. The continent of Africa has a different take on Christmas than a lot of the rest of the world. Through my extensive pre-research I have found that Christmas isn't a huge deal in most of Africa. South Africa is full of so many ex-Europeans it has a conglomeration of European traditions. In Nigeria there is some celebrating with many meats. That is a tradition I can get behind. This is an idea I will be looking into a lot more.
Again, if anyone has any thoughts, please let me know what you think. I don't know if and when these will happen, but I am sure it will be a nice ride.
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