Step into the festive atmosphere with our team riders, who will take you on a culinary ride full of delicious flavors! In this Christmas special, we will introduce you to a festive menu that our riders love during this season. From unique recipes for traditional dishes to their creative innovations. Find out which dishes are symbolic for them at this time and let yourself be inspired to create your own unforgettable Christmas menu. We guarantee that your taste buds will be delighted!
Halldór Helgason
Where are you celebrating Christmas this year?
In my hometown in Akureyri, Iceland, with my family.
What's your usual Christmas menu?
Starter: Wine
First dish/soup: Lobster Tails
Main dish: Christmas Ham
Dessert: Homemade Christmas Ice Cream
Can you share a recipe for one of those meals, please?
Sure, check out the video attached.
Tyler Chorlton
Who is in charge of preparing Christmas meals at your home and what's the traditional menu?
My girlfriend Cassie is the cook at home and every year she makes a delicious traditional English meal, usually with family. For our Christmas lunch everything is organic and homemade from scratch: roasted turkey with cranberry sauce and bread sauce, roast beef, a cooked gammon, pigs in blankets (mini sausages rolled up with bacon), roasted potatoes, parsnips and carrots, steamed Brussel sprouts, tradition roasted sausage, apple and sage stuffing, with Yorkshire pudding and lots of gravely. For dessert we usually have English Christmas pudding with brandy whipped cream, homemade chocolate roulade log cake and mince pies.
Sounds delicious! Can you share a recipe for one of those meals, please?
Easy traditional apple & sausage stuffing
1 onion, very finely chopped
25g butter
1 garlic clove, crushed
100g fresh white breadcrumbs (or gf equivalent)
1kg sausage meat
1 large apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped
large handful fresh parsley, finely chopped
small handful fresh sage, finely chopped
1 egg, beaten (optional, it makes for a less crumbly stuffing, so add to your own preference)
salt and pepper
Method
1. Fry the onion gently in a small knob of butter until just tender, approx. 10 mins.
2. Put the onion, garlic and breadcrumbs in a large bowl. Add 75ml water and use your hands to mix it together.
3. Mix in the sausage meat, apple, parsley, sage and some salt and pepper to season.
4. Mix in the beaten egg if you prefer a less crumbly stuffing.
5. Use to stuff the turkey neck or if you want to cook it separately, spread into a lightly greased baking dish, cover with foil and cook at 190°C/Gas 5 for 30 minutes, then uncover and cook for a further 10 minutes or so, until slightly crunchy on top.
Ethan Morgan
Where are you spending this year's holidays?
Back home at my parents in Germany, it's mandatory for Morgans to show up.
Can you share your Christmas menu?
Starter: Chocolate
Main meal: Duck
Dessert: Chocolate
Seems like you're a big chocolate fan. Any special recipe how you prepare it?
It's simple. Milk + cacao powder + sugar = chocolate.
Fabi Fraidl
Where are you celebrating Christmas this year?
I’ll be celebrating Christmas two times actually, first time at home with my family in Tirol/Austria on the 24th and then on the 25th with the family of my girlfriend.
What's your traditional Christmas menu?
Starter: Special potato soup with bacon
Main meal: Raclette - which is like a mini grill that's on the table, so everybody can grill their meat and vegetables together. With lots of side dishes like rice, fries and melted cheese.
Dessert: For dessert it's usually ice cream with fresh hot raspberry sauce and chocolate.
Can you share a recipe for one of those meals, please?
Sure, here is a recipe for my favourite soup (starter). It's super easy actually. Fry some cutted bacon slices in a pan and put them aside once crispy. In the same pan fry some cutted potatoes and brussels sprouts for 3-4 minutes. Then pour in half a litre of vegetable broth and let it cook for 10-15 mins. After that blend it and top it off with the bacon slices - it's amazing!!
Tomáš "Leader" Zejda
Where are you spending Christmas this year?
I am finally celebrating Christmas after all those years on the road. I am keeping my word and celebrating Christmas for the children. This year, we will be in the mountains, the snow is not ideal yet, but better than in the city... I'm taking an electric bike and skis, so I'll see what gets more space.
What will be your Christmas menu?
We adjust the food for the kids because the second one only consumes milk so far. The evening story on the table will be salmon and schnitzel with potato salad. We received some sweets; we're not baking, but we'll have the best banana bread from my wife. And of course, wine, but only in tasting quantities :).
Will you share the recipe for banana bread since you praised it so much? :)
We make banana bread using a cup. The basics are definitely bananas (3-4), a cup and a half of plain flour (I use spelt, whole-grain spelt, or regular... sometimes I use just a cup of flour or half a cup of coconut flour). Half a cup of cane sugar (sometimes even less, you can adjust it later... or I use honey, vanilla sugar, etc.). Then a teaspoon of baking soda, a teaspoon of baking powder (sometimes just one of these, depending on what you have at home). One egg. You should also add butter, but I don't put it in, and it doesn't matter at all, in my opinion. Mash bananas with the egg in one bowl, and in the other, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and soda. Add chopped chocolate, nuts, and anything else you'd like to use. Then mix both mixtures together, and if it's too dense, add a little milk. You can also add a pinch of salt or a cinnamon.
Richard "Gaspi" Gasperotti
Where do you usually spend the Christmas holidays?
I spend Christmas holidays with family at home and visiting grandparents.
Can you introduce us to your traditional Christmas menu?
Appetizer: Horseradish rolls
Soup: Fish soup from Pepa (father-in-law)
Main course: Pikeperch and potato salad
Dessert: Cinzano
Do you have a favorite specialty?
For me, an indispensable part of Christmas is the old Czech "Kroupový Kuba."
Ingredients
Barley groats 300 g
Dried mushrooms 100 g
Onion 1 pc
Butter (or lard) 3 tablespoons
Ground caraway seeds 1/2 teaspoon
Dried marjoram 1/2 teaspoon
Garlic 3 cloves
Butter (for greasing the baking dish)
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
Preparation
1. The night before, soak barley groats and mushrooms separately in water.
2. Drain the barley groats, rinse them, pour fresh water over them, add salt, and cook until tender. It takes about 30-45 minutes. After 15 minutes, drain the mushrooms and add them to the barley.
3. Peel and finely chop the onion. Heat butter or lard in a large pan and sauté the onion until golden brown. Add caraway seeds and sauté for 30 seconds.
4. Preheat the oven to 180 °C, grease the baking dish with butter. Drain the cooked barley groats and add them to the sautéed onion. Sauté for 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt, pepper, and marjoram. Peel the garlic, press it into the barley, mix, and sauté for 30 seconds.
5. Transfer the mixture to the baking dish, smooth the surface, and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes until golden brown.
Teo Kováč
How do Christmas celebrations unfold at your home?
Christmas has a quite clear routine every year. It's necessary to gradually visit the whole family, all the grandmothers, grandfathers, uncles, and aunts, so Christmas is marked by visits.
Do you have any traditional holiday food?
Our family's traditional dish on December 24th is fried cheese. One of the grandfathers is a vegetarian, so this meatless option is chosen. We've had fried cheese for as long as I can remember.
Can you share the recipe with us?
Specifically, the fried cheese is a great recipe. If possible, we try to buy pre-fried cheese as a semi-finished product and just finish frying it at home in a pan. It may not be the most fitness-friendly food, but perhaps once a year, it can be enjoyed and served nicely on a plate, just like carp.
Jakub Hejl
Where are you spending Christmas this year?
This year, I am spending Christmas at my parents' in Velké Meziříčí.
What is your usual Christmas menu?
Appetizer: I don't have an appetizer, but before dinner, I nibble on potato salad, haha.
Soup: Traditional carp fish soup with croutons - made by dad - THE BEST SOUP UNDER THE SUN.
Main course: Fried carp and potato salad - yum.
Dessert: If I don't burst after this, I'll have a few pieces of Christmas cookies. I love tubes filled with caramel cream and some gingerbread, and then I'll die with a stomachache while watching fairy tales.
Could you share your traditional recipe for one of these dishes?
Carp Fish Soup with Croutons
1. Cook the carp head with the spine and vegetables (carrot, parsley, celery, onion, garlic, pepper, salt).
2. In another pot, cook the carp innards (roe and milt) separately in salted water, and after about 15 minutes, rinse them with cold water and then chop them.
3. Strain the broth from the head and bones and vegetables and remove the meat from the head and spine. Add it to the innards, and chop the vegetables into cubes, then add them to the meat.
4. Make a roux (butter and children's semolina). When the semolina begins to golden, while stirring constantly, add the broth until it is well mixed. Pour the mixed semolina with the broth into the rest of the broth.
5. Then add all the meat and vegetables, simmer for about 10 minutes, and then garnish with green parsley. Serve with croutons.
Pavla Balíková
How are you spending Christmas this year?
I am spending Christmas traditionally in the family circle.
Can you reveal what will appear on your festive table?
For the appetizer, we have egg-shaped mushrooms - the body is made of egg, the cap from half a tomato, and white dots from mayonnaise; under the mushroom, there's a bit of potato salad. We don't usually have soup. The main course consists of salmon with a classic potato salad, as we have given up on carp :). For dessert, there is a plate prepared with chicken and pork schnitzels.
