Spirit of Christmas 2 : Austria

The second of three interviewing food bloggers; this time I am chatting to Johanna of The Passionate Cook. Johanna is Austrian by birth; she has a distinct accent, no doubt modified by extensive travel, including a period living and working in Mexico.  

When’s the last time you felt the spirit of Christmas?

Chances are that you’ve lost any sense of spirituality the day you discovered that there’s no way Santa Claus can visit every single child in this world (even if you only count those of Christian faith and take into account that his day is actually longer than 24 hours due to the various time zones). Or you might have decided to keep the myth going while you were still living at home… in the hope that your share of presents would be greater if you played along. The next time you’ll get to experience a sense of wonder and excitement again is probably when you’ve got kids in the right age bracket or are able to “borrow” a bit of it for yourself by celebrating with close friends or family who do.

Do you think it has lost its meaning?

For most of the people that surround me, Christmas has completely lost its meaning - and it's all self-inflicted, I fear. I mean, just how much spirit of Christmas do you think you're going to get while you trod down Oxford Street every single weekend in December, in the search of the gazillionth present for somebody who has everything anyway? Or when you open up a truckload of presents people gave you and you just think about how you could possibly recycle them by giving them to somebody else the following Christmas?

We've made a conscious decision in our family years ago that we would not do presents anymore - at least not amongst us adults. In fact, we don't even do birthday presents - we rather give throughout the year, whenever we see something suitable or just feel like giving… so at least on the presents front, the pressure is off - I don't have to find a present just because it's "that time of the year" and I can positively steer clear of the highstreets when they're at their fullest.

How are you celebrating of you have 'lost' the gift side of the festivities?

We're doing all we can to celebrate Christmas the way we did at home. For us, Christmas is almost over by the time most people open their presents here - although the celebrations last much longer. Back home, we actively honour the advent, the four and a bit weeks before the actual event. Every night we would gather around the wreath on the dining table, lighting one more candle every Sunday, and read stories together, sing songs, eat cookies… just consciously spend time together as a family and find some quiet moments to combat the madness out there. So Christmas for us is all about: the daily gatherings, the advent calendar where the kids get a tiny present every day, and all this, combined with the fact that we do not have a Christmas tree until the "Christkind" (the "Baby Jesus" is our equivalent of Santa) brings it on the 24th are an incredible build-up of excitement and allow us to savour Christmas so much more, enjoying a little taste of it every day.

You are reknowned as a cook; anything you think would retrieve the lost spirit of the season?

My recipe for getting the Spirit of Christmas back is simple: a plate of cookies (preferably home-made, but go with whatever suits your culinary ambitions), some tangerines, nuts and a big mug of hot chocolate (adults read: mulled wine) - consume daily surrounded by your family or close friends, rather than spending the evening at the late-night opening at Debenham's.

The Spirit of Christmas for me is the feeling of togetherness, the sense of belonging. After all, the time devoted to the ones you love is the greatest present you can give.

The first interview in this series was with Sam of Becks and Posh.

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