With December comes the smell of Christmas and the arrival of festive ingredients on our supermarket shelves.
Putting it all together sometimes takes a bit of creativity in terms of finding out what goes well with what. Rabanada (a variant of “French Toast”) is a Brazilian Christmas tradition, but is sometimes put on the table as part of the Christmas spread with little appreciation.
I decided to raise the bar when it comes to our Rabanada, using seasonal ingredients here in London. Figs, nuts, the five oriental spices and Stilton cheese are the secrets to a typical London Christmas.
You can serve them on a cheese board with rabanada, in the place of the more traditional crème crackers. Tempered sugar with the five oriental spices (which you can find in specialised supermarkets) go very well with the Stilton – which is quite creamy – the crunchy nuts, and the fresh figs. Everything is a matter of balancing the flavours, textures and a pinch of creativity.
Recipe
1 French baguette
300ml of milk
3 eggs
200g of brown sugar
2 tablespoons of the 5 chinese spices mix
1 tablespoon of cinnamon
200g of roasted nuts
4 fresh figs
150g of Stilton cheese
150ml of vegetable oil for frying
Preparation
Slice the baguette to produce small disks, as if you were making toast. Place the milk in one bowl and the mix of beaten eggs, five spices and cinnamon in another. Add oil to a pan and place on the heat. Soak the bread in the milk, being sure to wet each side. Leave for about 30 seconds, before dipping into the egg mix. Soak the bread in the beaten egg and fry when the oil is suitably hot. Once browned on both sides, drain and place in a bowl of sugar, covering both sides. Repeat with the remaining slices of bread. Cut the figs. Place the toast on a fancy dish or cheese board and decorate with figs, walnuts and Stilton cheese.
If possible serve with Port and coffee. For me this is the best way to end a Christmas dinner: with sweet charm and love.
