Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1942-12-25


plums-prunes, they are called now
And he pulled out the plum" with
his thumb because In those DAYS
pies were eaten while held in the
hands. Jack Homer needed neither
fork nor spoon. Forks 1t that time
we're hardly known in England
Spoons were known and spoon
meat" was q meat dish cut I'D and
ready to be eaten with spoon.
The "pye" Of old England was the
mixture Of spoon meat" baked In a
bread or pastry shelEready to eat
without any fuss or excitement.
The mince pie of today was the
"mutton-pie" Of centuries ago-and
q great day-to-day dish it was. The
Christmas pie was mutton pie
mixture to which fruits were added
resulting in the holiday pie
extra good. But in another way
Jack Horner's Christmas pie differed
from the ordinary-the Christmas
pie was baked in shell which was
made to resemble in shape the
manger in which the Christ child
was laid. So Jack Horner's pie was
oblong in shape-it had no top crust
the filling was mutton and many
other ingredients all chopped fine,
with plums or prunes added.
Today 1t Is practically the same,
with raisins taking the place Of
plums-probably our Oldest tradi-
tional Christmas dish.
The pumpkin pie of America is a
gift from the Indians to the Pill
grim housewives-and good indeed it
is-but without the ancestry and
tradition of mince pie.
The turkey which is the real
American national birN. is dish
substituted by the Pilgrim fathers
In place Of the goose of old England.
But even the goose was not the
great Christmas dish of England.
The goose, often in the form OF a
goose-pie, was the dish which the
great lords of the manors sent at
Christmas time to their tenants or
retainers. The most highly re-
garded Christmas meat was the
boar's head.
As the old servant sang:
THE boar's head in hand bear I.
Bedecked with bays and rosemary"
The bay was form of laurel leaf
and rosemary is still a delightful
seasoning herb. But the boar's head
has long vanished except in tradi-
tional ceremonies, while the turkey
and the goose have assumed first
place.
Greatest of all Of the traditional
dishes of Christmas is the plum"
pudding-made today without a
plum-or a prune.
The plum pudding comes down
from an ancestry which goes far
beyond the Christian era. It Is in
deed gift of the holidays OF our
heather ancestry, back in the deep
forest OF Scandinavia, in the dark
recesses Of the oak groves OF the
Druids, from the tables OF Cheruskin
warriors as they feasted in welcome
Of the coming new year-the dish
concocted from the first of the
grains and the finest of the fruits
the "Grosser Klosz" Of the Angles
and SaXons, through whom it came
to England and thence to America
as plum" pudding. The Teu-
tonic knights knew it as "Pfaumen-
Gruetze," first Of the harvested
crop. and to this day. in the Danish
borderlands 1t is still sQuashy,
fruity mass, mixed with fine grained
grits, brought together and cooked
In a skin or cloth.
learned from Roman missionaries
the story of the Christ, these plum
buildings were eaten as thank Offer
ings to the ancient gods who, it was
thought, brought the harvests. AS
a propitiating sacrifice for the new
crops, too, the pudding was eaten
at the winter solstice. Centuries
later, the wise Christian missionaries
up from Rome pointed out that the
adoption of Christianity would not
deprive the common people of their
cherished feasts-because the birth
OF Christ, only four days removed
from the winter solstice, marked
newer version of the life to come.
The Yule log, the great log for
the fire on the feast day to Thor,
over which Yule or Yoel presided,
became the back log of the Christ
mas Day fireplace. And the small
evergreen trees set up in the homes
Of Europe to the North and Eng
land and America came to COM