Recipetin Eats v Ottolenghi: the generational fight over Christmas food
But as each generation claims their favourite fare, the fight over the Christmas spread gets more complicated. We’re all cooks now and we’re all products of the cookbook that turned us on to the possibility of something other than spag bol for dinner. So here’s what to expect on that WhatsApp thread.
Gen Z: Recipetin Eats
The younger generation (gen Z) are besotted with Recipetin Eats. They reckon Nagi Maehashi is more girl next door than domestic goddess and that’s where they’re at. Rules are bent, substitutions are fine and everyone is welcome to lick the tea towels.
So they want to swap the roast turkey for chicken shawarma; they think potato fondant beats the roast potatoes; and if the brussels sprouts aren’t charred, they aren’t interested. If you force them to play Christmas games, they’ll bring Finska and boardgames because they’re so retro.
Gen Y: Ottolenghi
The slightly older generation (Y) are persevering with Ottolenghi. They spent the past week sourcing ingredients – Za’atar, sumac, Urfa Biber and Pomegranate molasses – and they have a tonne of rose harissa left over from 2019. So they’re ready to impress. They might want to start with coconut green with scotch bonnet and jammy eggs and they’ll insist on Pilpelchuma chicken thighs instead of turkey. They’ll pair with Assyrtiko, Gavi or anything from Touraine-Oisly (they’re wines btw) but they might also rustle up a Rooibos old-fashioned (27 herbs from 4 countries and, yeah, it’s a cocktail). They don’t want to play games, they want to talk about food and wine and why it’s important to source 27 herbs from four countries.
Gen X: Jamie Oliver
Gen X are stuck on Jamie Oliver. He does pukka tukka but without fuss. He has gnarly ways with turkey, he can build a Christmas tree camembert and his Prosecco jelly is as pretty as a flower show. His monkey bread is just boss.
All this should be cooked in 30 minutes so everyone will have to be at their stations with maximum energy on display. After all this, they won’t play games so they’ll crash on the couch with a good book (no, not Billy and the Epic Escape by J. Oliver).
Boomers: ‘70s fare
Boomers are nostalgic. They think that Christmas traditions, like everything in life, were at their best in the ’70s. So Uncle Dave is lobbying for bacon-wrapped Spam bites, pigs in a blanket and devils on horseback from Margaret Fulton’s cookbooks. For mains, he thinks a crown roast with apricot dressing and a Hawaiian pork roast will nail it and for a bit of exotica, stuffed peppers (in fact, if he sees a vegetable, he wants to stuff it). Afterwards, everyone must play a game of cricket in the backyard, except for the women who will be needed for the clean-up.
Grandma: traditional stodge
We can’t forget grandma. It might be her last Christmas and, so far, she hasn’t recognised any of the food being talked about. So include glazed cherries somewhere, something with suet in it, egg nog or a pudding filled with silver coins (keep the emergency number on hand). She’d love a parlour game, charades perhaps.
If someone on the thread is silent, that’s your charcuterie cheat. She’ll turn up with a massive tray of slow-cooked lamb that everyone will love and only a few will suspect and even they will think … next year …
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About now the annual WhatsApp messages ping between families to sort out who’s cooking what for Christmas and what games will be played. These stoushes often centre on whether the lunch should have fare designed for fire risk days or traditional stodge that emptied the larder of veggies no one wanted to eat – namely brussels sprouts. It’s prawn versus pudding, if you like.