Does It Taste Like Christmas?

by Louie Cannaday

A longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul.  Proverbs 13:19a

The other day I heard a chef talking about a recipe that “tastes like Christmas.”  That was enough for me.  I gathered the ingredients, put on some Nat King Cole and slow roasted a pineapple in various yummy liquids and spices.  The smell was unbelievable…but that’s another blog post.  When I pulled it out of the oven and served it, it didn’t disappoint. It was tart, rich, bright and velvety – spicy, sweet, heady and decadent.  It tasted like…Christmas.

A quick web search convinced me that Christmas doesn’t taste the same to everyone, though. One international food blogger offered this answer to the question of what Christmas tastes like: “It seems to be quite a simple question, at least for Estonians.  Almost everyone would reply at once: sauerkraut, roast pork, and blood sausage.” Hmmm – I hope no one will take offense if I avoid Estonia during the Christmas season.  Twitter user, Natalie McDonald, has a different answer:

Tastes like Christmas. Peppermint Mocha Frappuccino #starbucks http://t.co/dYscsGor6Q

Chestnut Praline Lattes as the definitive Christmas flavor have a big following in the Twitterverse too, as do various kinds of cookies and, of course, eggnog.

I’m not surprised at the differences of opinion, because what tastes like Christmas to each of us has a lot to do with the foods of our holidays past. In one of my favorite books, a character visits the kitchen of his childhood and wants to stop and eat, “Not for hunger’s sake but just to taste again the flavors of home.” That yearning is not so much for the familiar spices and textures, but for the connection, joy and love that we remember or longed for, even then.  C.S. Lewis reminds us that that longing itself is a gift from God, only to find its complete fulfillment in Him. I’m going to try to savor the things that taste like Christmas this season and let them remind me that they are just a shadowy foretaste of my real home with my Father in heaven.

Oh, and here’s the pineapple recipe – you didn’t think I’d forget to share, did you?


Louie and her family have attended Cove Church for three years.  Wife to John and mother to four fabulous children, she volunteers as a storyteller in Kids Cove.