Treats from the Holiday Kitchen Take a New Twist

By: Jean Johnson for Body1

Sweet Nothings

“Who says treats have to have loads of sugar and butter to be good,” said Melody Strong who’s joined the retired artist colonies clustered along the Oregon Coast. “Especially during the holidays all the seasonal fruit is so abundant. It’s expensive, that’s true. Persimmons, for example, run around a dollar a piece. I guess that’s why we’ve just gotten into the habit of upending the sugar bowl in everything. It’s cheap. And once you start eating it you just want more which is great for the sugar industry.”

Take Action

Hold the sugar this holiday: Miles Hassell, M.D., Integrative Medicine Program medical director for Providence Cancer Center cautions his patients to avoid getting around sugar with substitutes. “We have so little science on fake foods like aspartame and Splenda. It’s like transfats were fifty years ago. Everyone thought they were great, but now we know differently.” Hassell’s rule of thumb on eating well – holidays included: - No hydrogenated oils - No processed sugars - No white flour - No fried foods unless it’s a recipe you do at home for special occasions

Strong may have a point according to the Society Brain Briefings. A batch of studies, mostly on animals, that focused on sugar and addiction suggest that indeed the darling white crystal may share some commonalities with drugs like heroin, alcohol and nicotine.

“Studies that focused on brain chemicals, known as opioids, provided some of the first clues that an overlap may exist between sweets and drugs. Some addictive drugs like heroin or morphine activate the opioid system to produce a pleasurable response that many believe helps fuel a longing for more drugs and is key to the addiction process,” according to the Society. “Whether through opioids or some other brain chemical, the scientists suspect that sweets like drugs can activate an ‘incentive system’ in the brain that helps reinforce behaviors. Activation by food is generally beneficial. It makes us want more and keeps us alive. Sweets, however, packed with calories, may create extra activity that helped us in primitive times when food was scarce, but is not needed today. Some also believe that gorging on sweets may alter the system so that it caters to addiction rather than survival, propelling some people to repeatedly binge.”

If you’re sighing right about now and thinking not sugar too, never fear. Body1 has some sweet ideas for those who at the very least want to temper their intake of sugar this season. Treats from the holiday kitchen can take on a new twist.

Mejol Dates

Those big plump Mejol dates. Stuff one of those babies with some room temperature goat cheese and sit down with a cup of dark espresso for a true holiday treat experience. The creamy fat in the cheese paired with the rich date sugars make for a mouth feel no cookie or bon bon ever provided.

Another more traditional way to prepare dates is to stuff them with good old cream cheese and a nice pecan half. Even rolled in powdered sugar, these lovelies are mostly the real deal. As full of health as they are festive in this bustling season.

Pears

These sublime fruits are at their peak in the holiday months following harvest. Try Boscs for all purpose cooking pears whether baking or poaching. Or sink raw wedges into Bundt pan of gingerbread made from 100 percent molasses and whole wheat flour. Then again, oiling whole pears to bake alone produces tender, soft-skinned center pieces that once halved and cored can be dressed with nice nuggets of Stilton, dollops of crème fraiche, and a scattering of ruby red pomegranate seeds – or at the very least a dusting of ginger and some non-fat yogurt.

(We must make a plea for the idea that as much of a pain as pomegranates are to get into, a meditative moment can be found in the doing. Halve the fruit on the chopping block and then take the red leathery skin in hand. Slough the seeds out of the yellow membranes into a bowl, staying in the moment the entire precious time. Soon there will be a mound of leavings for the compost heap and a bowl full of succulent garnet jewels that will keep for days in the fridge waiting to decorate everything from pears to soups to salads.)

Anjou pears also bake well whether you stuff the hollowed cores with cheese or simply drizzle on some nice port wine for basting near the end of the cooking. But don’t think whole is the only way to go with pears. No matter the variety, these babies are so sweet that cooked down and sieved, they can become the filling for an array of goodies including those darling little tartlets the cooking magazines dazzle us with. Add a fine chop of hazelnuts, and you’ve even got an authentic Pacific Northwest theme going.

Persimmons

Many of use aren’t familiar with this orange fruit that’s high in Vitamin A and C, but California growers have started producing these strictly seasonal Japanese natives for the organic market.

Persimmons come in two varieties, the flat Fuyus and the tall pointy Hachiyas. “The Hachiyas have to be extremely soft before they are ready,” said Xavier Martinez, assistant produce manager at the locally-owned New Seasons market in Portland. “The skin will even blister and crack a little bit when they are ready, but if you eat them before that they will be stringent. For those just getting used to persimmons the Fuyu is more forgiving and can be eaten at most any stage of ripeness. I find the taste sweet and pleasant.”

Martinez’ tip on Hachiyas should be taken to heart. Put another way by Captain John Smith of Jamestown, “If it be not ripe it will drawe a mans mouth awrie with much torment; but when it is ripe, it is as delicious as an Apricock.”

The orange flesh of persimmons is half the fun. Like the apricots Smith speaks of, persimmons can make for a bright bit of sparkle in a filled cookie or diced for use in quick breads along with some exotic nut like macadamias. Slices of firm, luscious persimmon can even serve as dunkers for chocolate fondue for those that simply must have their sweet nothings.

Unlike a sack of sugar, persimmons are only available from late September through December, with a few left lingering in January in some areas of the country. Pears and dates, of course, will be around in fine style most of the winter.

So for those who’d like to tone down the volume on sugar, ‘tis the season. It’s a bit risky, for sure, taking on tradition and all. But just think of the adventure as a new twist on fruit cakes and then some – without all that icky citron.

Last updated: 19-Dec-05