Hot Holidays

It's the tail end of the holiday season and I (as I imagine many of you) have spent the last few weeks celebrating and dancing and visiting and consuming ungodly amounts of food and drink and participating in several other forms of gluttony. We've had poultry and pork, crustacean and cow, cured and roasted and smoked, vegetables baked and sauteed and steamed, puddings and cookies and pies and cakes, whiskey on ice, brandy in 'nog, beer from the bottle, wine and champagne by the barrel. Life has been a veritable parade of earthy delights, and I no longer fit the majority of my clothing.

Don't get me wrong; I'm not complaining. Not about all the fun at any rate. It's just that so many of the aforementioned delights are so heavy. They fill one's stomach and strongly encourage long, indoor naps in the vicinity of a fire. All of this sounds great, I am aware. After all, these are the holidays, time intended for over-indulgence and lazing in cozy surrounds.

The problem is that, here in the southern hemisphere, the end of December is swinging 'round to the height of summer. In other words: we're roasting a turkey and baking the potatoes, and outside it's hot as hell.

The tradition of a grand roast holiday dinner in OZ was inherited from the Brits, just as it was in the States. It is a lovely practice; carving a burnished, steaming bird or slicing a sticky, glazed ham at the table, is undoubtedly one of the great celebratory moments in life. I'm not suggesting that we abandon the practice. It's just that, while roasting large joints of meat to be served alongside autumn/winter harvest produce makes perfect sense in the winter, it is, to my mind, madness during the southern hemisphere holiday season, especially when Christmas day temperatures might exceed 40ºC (100ºF).



It's taken a few generations, but Australians are slowly abandoning the tradition. It is not unusual to begin an Aussie Christmas dinner with a cold seafood platter. Roast meats as mains are less common than in years past. The much-loved BBQ is replacing the oven on hot Christmas afternoons. I'm all for it.

The real trick is to evolve these celebratory traditions so that they make sense, contextually, but not so much that they are no longer recognizable. Holidays should feel like holidays; a bit of sashimi and a few grilled steaks feels to me more like a Tuesday night than a feast.

I'm not saying I have all the answers, but I have been thinking about the problem. Specifically I've been thinking about mulled wine. I love the stuff. Warm, spicy, boozy, it's celebration in a mug. However, it is a cold-weather drink, designed to instill an inner warmth. How, I wondered, could you reasonably serve a flavored red wine drink on a hot afternoon?

Chuck it in the ice cream churn, obviously.

Sorbets are tricky things. You have to balance sugar and liquid and flavorings and (in this case) alcohol so that it freezes properly, but is not completely solid, and still tastes true to the ingredients. After playing around with mulled wine sorbet for a while with little success, it occurred to me that I might have better luck with sangria, as the range of ingredients is greater, allowing some room to play with the recipe.

It works a treat.

Sangria Sorbet

Careful, this stuff packs a punch. It's essentially a very strong adult slushie.

The combination of alcohol and sugar in this recipe yields the most velvety, soft-setting sorbet. It's a good idea to put a metal container into the freezer before you begin so that you have a cold container for the finished sorbet.

500ml fruity red wine, beaujolais is great
6 large strawberries
100 ml apple juice
100 ml pomegranate juice
juice of one orange, plus 2 tsp finely diced orange zest
50 ml brandy
50 ml (or to taste) strong sugar syrup (below)

In a blender combine the red wine and the strawberries. Blend until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Adjust sugar as needed. The sangria should taste of fruity wine and not be overly sweet. Also, keep in mind that with any sorbet or ice cream, flavors dull upon freezing. Therefore, when tasting the unfrozen product prior to churning, you should be aiming for slightly more intense flavors than you might otherwise.

Churn in your ice cream maker.



Strong Sugar Syrup

100 g sugar
50 ml water

Using the smallest pot you own, bring the sugar and water just to a boil over medium heat. Try not to stir too often and avoid sloshing the syrup up the sides of the pot while it is boiling as these things promote crystallization. When the syrup boils, remove it from the heat and allow to cool completely. This will make more than you need for the sorbet, but it can be stored in the fridge, in a clean container, for some time, to be used in mixed drinks or the like.

If, while your syrup is coming to a boil, it does form crystals, start over. Trust me.