New wine in new bottle with old-world charm

KOCHI: With Christmas round the corner, the Anglo-Indian community in Kochi is all set to celebrate it with the same old charm and tradition that they inherited from their forefathers. Joyous colours and decorations start  embellishing each Anglo-Indian house by the first week of December.“This is one of our major celebrations. It is a month of cake, wine and food,” says Marc Antony, a member of Anglo-Indian community at Fort Kochi. Each family prepares for the big day with special plum cakes and by brewing home-made wines which is very typical of this  community.“As the month is marked by frequent visits from the dear and near ones, each household will be abuzz with activities to welcome them, which mainly includes preparation of various  varieties of food,” he says.“We make different sweets, cookies and send them to friends and families. This custom is called ‘Concota’ which is purely  Portuguese,” says Evelin Peters, another member of the  Anglo-Indian community. The custom is all about sending ornate trays full of sweets like kal-kals, matrimony, bread puddings, rose cookies and the likes. Midnight Mass on Christmas eve is something no Anglo-Indian   would like to miss. “We will be dressed in our formal attires for the Mass on Christmas eve. ‘Silent night’, ‘Oh come all  ye faithful’ and ‘We three kings of orient are’ will  reverberate through the church. The midnight Mass will be for about two hours after which we return to our home, say a prayer, cut the Christmas cake and toast with home-made wine,” says Marc.Now, the table is laid for the big day -December 25. “This special day is all about socialising and revelry and engaging  in sumptuous traditional food. Lunch is a grand affair with stuffed chicken roast. It varies with people’s tastes and affordability. You can have a stuffed duck roast or a turkey roast or a piglet roast,” he says. There are sports, games and music also for the big day.