Merry memories: Celeb chefs revisit childhood Christmas feasts that made them

The festive season is upon us and this Christmas could very well be closest to pre-pandemic celebrations as many will hopefully be able to meet family and friends. While most people soak in the festive cheer indoors, there are others who spend their time dining at the many restaurants in the city.

If diners can indulge on this special day, it is because there are chefs behind the kitchen door whipping up delectable food while missing out on family time themselves. "The hospitality industry is such that we don't really get to celebrate any holidays at all because we're usually helping other people enjoy theirs," Chef Freny Fernandes points out

Keeping this in mind, Mid-day.com reached out to three city chefs - Paul Kinny, Juliano Rodrigues and Fernandes, who tell us about their festive celebrations and how the Christmas cooking in their homes somewhere influenced and inspired them to become the chefs they are today.

Chef Paul Kinny, Culinary Director, The St. Regis Mumbai, Lower Parel
City-based chef Paul Kinny has fond memories as a kid from this time of the year with his family. He reminisces, "I used to live in a joint family, so everyone cooked together during Christmas." While he currently lives in Worli, Kinny, a member of the East Indian community, is originally from Gorai and during his time there, the entire neighbourhood would come together and get involved in preparations. While the pandemic has dampened spirits, he was able to attend mass online with his family and send out gifts and sweets.

Like every other festival, Christmas too is incomplete without food. For Kinny, the week was all about making and packing the sweets and feasting on them at every opportunity. With such a large variety of sweets, it is hard to pick a favourite but the chef reveals he has one. "I personally enjoy making and eating rich plum cakes so that is something I look forward to along with a few East Indian sweets as well," he says.

A delicious Christmas spread at the Kinny household, says the city chef, includes chicken curry, lamb chops and dinner would involve hosting or visiting relatives for celebrations that continued into the night. "The dinner was more of a celebration with plenty of music, singing, dancing and good food which included a pork sorpotel or suckling roast," shares 49-year-old Kinny, who has been with the hotel for three years now.

With such a rich culinary experience, it is no surprise when Kinny, who is one of three boys in the family, tells us that household cooking sowed the seeds for him to choose the hospitality industry as his area of expertise. "I landed up helping my mom in the kitchen initially, chopping or cutting and later assisting in the cooking. So, yes, I can say that was my first step towards becoming a professional chef," he informs.

Chef Juliano Rodrigues, Out of The Blue, Khar West
Ask Chef Rodrigues about his favourite memories from Christmas and he says, "Christmas shopping for new clothes, decorations for the home. The best part is maceration of fruits in alcohol for Christmas pudding and plum cake." Of course, the Covid-19 pandemic did not allow Rodrigues to enjoy the festival fully as it interfered with the entire experience of going for midnight mass and church services; he missed the familiar Christmas carols and the church choir, and hopes he can compensate for it this year.

With roots in Goa and hailing from Mahim, the city chef says dodol (made with coconut milk, jaggery, sugar), doce (grated coconut, chana dal, sugar) and perad (Goan guava cheese) are musts that are served to people who visit his home during this time. While that covers the sweets, there is a lavish homemade spread for Christmas lunch too. "For Christmas day, pork sorpotel with Goan sannas is a must. It is followed by mutton vindaloo, recheado fish (pomfret or king fish) and roast beef tongue."

More than festive food, it was his mother's enthusiasm for regional cooking that ignited the 43-year-old chef's culinary imagination. "The Christmas feast and cooking in general did not really influence me because everything that was prepared required time and patience (slow cooking)," informs Rodrigues. "It was my mom's influence and persistence to prepare traditional dishes consistently that sparked the passion in me."

Chef Freny Fernandes, Monèr - Bistro & Dessert bar, Bandra West
Christmas is always a special time for Chef Fernandes. While Kinny and Rodrigues have dear memories of preparing for the big day with food, shopping and decorations, it is different for the 26-year-old chef. She explains, "My most favourite memory is the whole family getting ready to go for midnight mass after which we would go around town looking at all the different cribs and all the Christmas lights."

The food at the city chef's house has always been a big spread. "Being an East Indian, pork vindaloo and hot fugyas would be a must. My mom also makes the best stuffed roast chicken and chicken curry," she says. However, lunch is incomplete without the traditional sweets and Fernandes says her mother makes the likes of guava cheese, marzipan, plum cake and mawa cake.

Like Kinny and Rodrigues, the cooking at home inspired Fernandes to take up cooking as a profession. She explains, "My love for cooking comes from my mom. Every Christmas, my mom would start prepping one week before by soaking the nuts and getting the marzipan ready. Back then, we didn't have any mixers or fancy ovens. I fondly remember her painfully beating the eggs and butter with her hand until it was so light and fluffy, and then baking in the small round electric oven - one cake at a time." It is also the reason why her mother's food is still her favourite even after all the years of having eaten at the best patisseries around the world and being a pastry chef herself. "My mom's mawa cake is my favourite," says an excited Fernandes, taking us down memory lane and back to our mothers' kitchens.