The sound of carols; the usual city hum that seems to increase as the month of December progresses. The smell of hams roasting, plastic trees, biscuits baking; the textural feeling of wrapping paper and Christmas tree leaves.
However, for me, the sense that is evoked the most throughout Christmas would have to be taste. Although we celebrate Christmas in the Summer, every one that I can remember is spent savouring the warmth that comes only from Christmas treats. The aromatic combinations of spices found in traditional Christmas foods such as rich fruit puddings and gingerbread, never fail to remind me of the happiness that has come hand in hand with each and every Christmas past. The same effect can be achieved through the variety of foods within an Australian Christmas; fresh seafood, baked hams and turkeys, whole cooked fish, a multitude of salads, cakes, biscuits, puddings, custards and the various associated condiments.
Is there another festival in the Western World that we devote an entire month of each year towards with as much gusto as we do Christmas? Is there another holiday that we look forward to with as much enthusiasm as we do Christmas?
