Christmas is a time of feasting with most festive get-togethers centred around food. This is great unless you find yourself in charge of providing said food - that is where cookbooks come in handy.
With just a few days to go until family and friends connect for festive feasts, tashas has stepped in with some superb nostalgic favourites from ‘tashas Inspired’ to help you get your planning, shopping, cooking, serving – and most importantly – enjoying done.
Founder and CEO of the tashas Group Natasha Sideris said Christmas in their home was a time to slow down and gather together with a feast of food with the dishes often inspired by their own childhood memories, travels around the world or old family recipes.
Sideris’ menu for this slowed-down nostalgic Christmas comprises four dishes, designed to be a delicious feast for the family with a variety of meat, fish, vegetables, and salads. It’s fresh, comforting, and familiar.
She said: “For starters, salmon Wellington. Known in France as “salmon en croûte”, this is lighter and more elegant than its big brother, beef Wellington.
“A fillet of fresh salmon is spread generously with herbed cream cheese, wrapped in layers of flaky filo pastry, and then baked in a very hot oven until golden and succulent. Good eaten either hot or at room temperature.
“For mains, comforting sirloin with horseradish cream. This makes excellent sandwiches for a country picnic or lunch the following day. As one of the Marx Brothers once observed, “Mustard’s no good without roast beef”.
“You might think you’re done with roast vegetable salads, but not until you’ve tried this one. Roasted pear and gorgonzola salad with sweet potato, red Kuri pumpkin, slightly tart pears, and a creamy, piquant Gorgonzola. A marriage made in heaven. Scatter a handful of butter-fried sage leaves on top just before serving to bring a light crispiness to this dish,” Sideris said.
“From the Mediterranean table chapter of the book, the Greek salad with whipped feta adds freshness to any South African Christmas celebration.
“Served with versatile unleavened flatbreads, the whipped feta, olives, fresh tomato and herbs provide the perfectly proportioned salad and create a thing of great beauty. Lastly, cherry pie.
“South Africa’s summer months see abundant plump cherries heavy on the shelves. Scoop some up for this time-consuming but not complicated dessert. Skip the shop-bought pastry and make it from scratch – it's worth it for the look on your family's faces when they take that first scrumptious bite. And always buy extra cherries,” added Sideris.
The book is divided into seven chapters – Café Society, A Spanish Affair, Le Bistro, The Levant Kitchen, A New York State of Mind, A Day in the Country, and The Mediterranean Kitchen. It encourages home cooks to think like a restaurateur and create memorable meals by considering all the elements that lend themselves to a specific menu, including the table setting and the music.
‘tashas Inspired’ is available at all tashas locations, and leading bookstores.
Have you checked out the latest IOL Food & Drinks digital magazine? Read it here.