CHENNAI: Everyone already had their fingers dipped in the large pile of dry fruit in front of them. A few had bottles of wine, rum, scotch and whiskey in their hands ready to be emptied at the cue. We were at the cake-mixing ceremony in Savera Hotel.
"This year’s theme is red,” said Jesu Lambert, who has been working as a chef at Savera for the last three years. “Red is the colour of love. Christmas is about spreading love and peace and we are looking forward to a great year ahead," said Nina Reddy, joint managing director of Savera Hotel.
“In olden days, to ensure that all the dry fruits are mixed well with the alcohol, the cooks used to hide five coins in the mixture. We have also hidden five coins and we all need to find them,” announced chef Lambert before starting the countdown.
There was silence for a minute as everyone waited for all the alcohol to empty out. Soon, gloved fingers combed through the mixture, looking for a buried coin. A few started singing carols while others laughed excitedly while mixing. “We have chopped walnuts, cashews, dried cherries, raisins and dried grapes in the mixture and will be mixing them with red wine, whiskey, scotch and rum,” said chef Lambert.
Soon, the smell of sweet, alcohol-soaked, dry fruits filled the hall when suddenly Anu Sachdev, a guest, found the first coin. The crowd cheered and the search for the rest of the coins resumed. The second, third and fourth coins were found soon after that.
At the end of a good fifteen-minute search, a pile of thoroughly mixed dry fruit mixture was heaped at the centre of a long table. The group was only able to find four hidden coins. “Now we will have to find it in the cake,” quipped Nina with a smile.