Think back to your favourite Christmas memories and they probably involve family and friends sharing food. The crispy skin of a perfectly roasted turkey or your specially prepared personal favourite meal, the sweet smell of biscuits baking or the pillowy crunch of the perfect pavlova. Food reaches your deepest emotions and creates an instant sense of connection to family, to place and celebrating life. It’s one of the key ingredients of the Scenic experience too, with sumptuous dining that champions local produce and regional specialties.
To help make your festive season celebrations extra special, we asked two of Scenic’s culinary team, Jöerg Lindner – Culinary Director Europe River Cruises and Tom Götter – Scenic Eclipse Director, Food & Beverage, to share some of their favourite recipes, including some personal memories and insights into what guests can expect when enjoying a Scenic cruise at this special time of the year. You’ll also enjoy a Plum’s Cake recipe from top French chef Gabriel Gaté, host of Scenic’s Tastes of Southern France culinary river cruise.
Jöerg Lindner
Scenic Europe River Cruises
What would you eat at home on Christmas Day?
Plenty of Christmas cookies and Christstollen (fruit bread) – I love sweets. We’ll cook a traditional chestnut soup and a deer ragout with bread dumplings and red cabbage. After that, it’s time for more Christmas cookies.
Can you share one of your favourite Christmas memories?
My grandmother once invited the whole family for Christmas, 15 people in total. As some relatives came from the USA, she decided to cook a whole turkey. She had never done this before as it is not really an Austrian tradition to serve turkey for Christmas. Long story in short: the turkey was burned black, so I, as a chef, had to act fast and make something quick and tasty. With my helpers, we made several different ‘flammkuchen’ (crispy flatbread pizzas). At the end of the day, everyone was happy!
How is the feeling of Christmas brought to life on a Scenic river cruise?
We create fresh Christmas cookies served at our coffee and tea sessions, with the Pastry Chef preparing up to five different gingerbread houses for the public areas, and a mulled wine dispenser is placed in the bar – so guests can smell the spices and order as they wish! We also add some unique Christmas-themed dishes to the menus, with engaging gingerbread and eggnog cooking demonstration onboard.
Why did you choose this recipe?
This dish reminds me of my childhood. The smell of Christmas cookies was all over the house; even our neighbours could smell it when my mother was baking for Christmas time.
Tom Götter
Scenic Eclipse
How do you like to celebrate Christmas?
Being in hospitality, we are usually working around the holidays. But this can be the time where your team unites the most. I love to use this opportunity to make a huge kitchen dinner for the staff. We all sit on one long table and every single chef needs to cook one dish from their home and tell us about it. So we end up with over 30 dishes from all over the world and eat all together. It’s a beautiful moment we have every year and just brings out so many wonderful stories. I find it very inspirational.
What can guests expect onboard Scenic Eclipse at Christmas?
Christmas is a very special day which everybody celebrates differently, and food is a key part of the experience. So, besides the chocolates and candy houses, we are really focused so make sure everybody gets their own personal Christmas feeling. The ship is just the right size that we can really pay attention to each and every guest, to ensure we can spread love on these beautiful days.
Why did you choose this recipe?
I think chestnuts are very underrated and many people have no experience with cooking them, but I truly love to experiment with them. They are very fragile in taste and if you don’t focus they can be overpowered very quickly. This recipe is great to elevate the flavors instead; a very beautiful but simple dish.