By Carina Bosman

It is difficult to imagine how to prepare a Christmas lunch for four people when you have been doing it differently for your 30+ Christmases – with loaded camping tables buckling under the weight of all the food. Summer Christmases in Stilbaai’s caravan park had smoked pork leg, tender leg of lamb in the black pot, a cold curry chicken dish, beef tongue and mustard sauce, salted meat … and something “green”, which could be anything from “slaphakskeentjies”, sweet pumpkin or layered salad. This menu would lead one’s eyes to become heavy … to such an extent that dessert was postponed until after naptime. The variety of sweet delicacies would be the death of any diabetic and had the children jumping around like mountain goats.

There was way too much food for the few families who celebrated together. As a result, leftovers had to be served from the caravan’s arsenal of Tupperware and empty ice cream containers for a week after Christmas. Any person who may have seemed alone at Christmas was invited or a bowl of food was stuffed in their hands.

That day in October when this mother, broken foot and all (with her one-and-a-half-year-old strapped onto her back and her three-year-old clinging to her trousers, complete with the smoked pork leg recipe, just in case) crossed the shores of Dubai’s gates, she knew that the camp table festivities would forever be fused between the earth.

That year’s first immigration Christmas was interesting, not only because we had to have two celebrations because the dad had to work and miss out on the holiday by the sea, but because the mother had to cook for four instead of forty!

After a sweaty search behind special sliding doors the smoked pork leg was found and devoured.

A year later our son, a Jamie Oliver fan, had a bright idea. Moroccan shoulder of lamb needs to accompany the pork leg to the Christmas table. Complete with fresh carrots, orange juice, mint leaves and pomegranate seeds! The Tupper container leftover anxiety kicked in, but we then settled on a small lamb and pork leg.  

That Christmas Grandmom and Granddad, who are used to camping table Christmas feasts, thoroughly enjoyed the Moroccan/SA style feast. Oh, and Italian for dessert, as someone had a craving for the taste of coffee.

The hotchpot Christmas was repeated in year number three, including the strange carrot salad.

In year four the pork leg recipe moved to a snow-covered Finland, telling its own tale. We landed with four suitcases in a wet November. The temporary flat had a manual wire whisk, midsize pot, and something resembling a mixing bowl.

“What are we going to make for Christmas?” the 7-year-old wanted to know. “Pork leg, Mom?” Oh well, yes, what else? Christmas surely would not be the same without it.

Anything resembling “pork” and “smoked” was comparable with our Finnish vocabulary. Here they prefer their pork leg unsmoked, and it is ENORMOUS! After searching we finally got hold of a smoked baby pig. We managed to cook the pork leg in a self-concocted foil contraption. We made turns using the wire whisk to beat the egg whites to the ideal consistency. We silently slurped up the soggy Tiramisu end-result (we probably should have used straws).

We celebrated that Christmas at an unfamiliar table, with a familiar recipe … and the bliss of togetherness and gratitude.

(Almost) Christmas greetings

Carina Bosman

Carina and her family currently live in Finland and are celebrating their second Christmas in the snow this year. Before that they lived in Dubai for three years. After two immigrations they are experts on being brave, feasting when feasting is necessary and living life at its fullest! 

ALSO READ: Interesting Christmas customs and traditions in Ireland

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