Food, Literature, and the Holidays at Bex

With the official first day of winter on December 21st and the holidays looming, the season calls to mind tradition, family, and food. There is also the traditional holiday tale, in the literary world. 

Dickens and the Christmas Goose

Telling ghost stories during the holidays is an ancient tradition, likely associated with the hardships of winter, time spent indoors, and spooky whistling winds. The holiday literary tale in the western world is often associated with Charles Dickens’ perennial classic A Christmas Carol. While the title indicates a song – and the story is divided into chapters or what Dickens calls “staves” – it is technically a novella, a story too short to be a novel and too long to be a short story. Dickens’ tale of a humbug miser who discovers the holiday spirit from a series of instructive ghosts is well-known to audiences worldwide. Published in 1843, the story helped return a Civil War-ravaged America to its seasonal roots in the late nineteenth century, and the book was well-received and successful worldwide, now translated into 40 languages. Food, and the lack thereof, plays a strong role in the narrative, including the famous Christmas turkey that Scrooge sends to Bob Cratchit. While mainstream traditions are evident during the holidays, each family tends to have its own traditions and foods. Does your family celebrate in some way? Is it on Christmas Eve or Day? Is there a favorite story your family tells at the holidays? While Thanksgiving may take center stage regarding a spread of food, the holidays are a close second, with the tradition of the holiday ham, goose, turkey, leg of lamb, or whatever your family serves. 

Icelandic Coziness

In Iceland, food and literature come together in the tradition of the Jolabokaflod (roughly “Christmas book flood”), in which families do a gift exchange of a new book, which is read on Christmas Eve while enjoying hot chocolate with family. (Nowadays, cellphones may replace the book for many families!) In Califon, where Bex Kitchen is located, an old steel bridge within walking distance served as the inspiration for the iconic bridge in the 1946, now-classic It’s a Wonderful Life film. While a town in upstate New York claims to have inspired the film’s setting, the author of the original short story that inspired the film, Philip Van Doren Stern, has certified that Califon was the actual inspiration. Califon at the holidays looks like a scene out of a Christmas movie, with its rural charm and beauty and cold trickling brook that runs through the town. Comfort foods, holiday pies, and foods that sustain energy for short, cold days dominate. 

The holidays at Bex are a busy time, and Chef Becky uses fresh, local, seasonal ingredients to cater your holiday event. Whatever your tradition may be, we at Bex wish you and your family a happy and healthy holiday season.