Christmas brings families together to celebrate what for many is one of the most important religious holidays: the birth of Jesus. Others meet merely in a festive atmosphere that, infected by the fury of the commercial, invites us to give and share moments with friends, co-workers and those people who are close in our lives. Christmas is music, they are lights, they are colors; the “Christmas spirit” invites us to be generous and to think of others, and without a doubt, one of the great aspects of these celebrations has to do with the gastronomic tradition. Food continues to be the protagonist this season. There are many dishes around the world that shine with star intensity at these parties; In Mexico, it will be romeritos, cod, turkey and reheated cakes the next day, punch –indispensable during posadas–, even with its due dose of very Mexican mischief adding the “piquete”, the fritters, the chocolate, and so on. Each country finds on these dates a dish that identifies it.
Despite the importance of the very special dishes that are enjoyed at these festivals, gastronomy leads us to a reflection beyond the enjoyment of food, the kitchen invites us to meet others; it is precisely about recognizing ourselves in others and this can occur to different degrees.
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The first place, invites us to recognize ourselves as unique and valuable people; it confronts us with our own humanity and with our own dignity. Many of the people who spend these holidays alone, prepare a special dinner for themselves, “indulge themselves”, this is not a minor fact because it is part of our own nature. A lesson that without a doubt we must take into account; In a world that invites us to take as an example models even unattainable for the sake of vain consumerism, we must understand that the most important value to achieve in our life is that which is found within us, in what we truly are, that makes us unique and unrepeatable valuable items.
Second, our family environment. It is a time to meet our inner circle, with its strengths and weaknesses and how many anecdotes do we not have around the table at Christmas dinner? moments to remember and moments to forget, but it is in the family, in that central group of society where our humanity flourishes most spontaneously, the family nucleus is, in the words of Pope Francis, where we learn to forgive, where you learn to share. During the Christmas dinner, love, tolerance and respect are demonstrated, it is eaten and drunk in one of the purest forms of encounter between people.
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Third – in the inns, for example – we recognize ourselves within the realm of our friends and our co-workers. We are people who live in a society in which friends must be a balance and a counterweight, celebration and joy, so typical of our Mexican culture, are essential for the human person; social relationships must find their space to flourish as they bring balance to our lives. Our individual space is so important, as our family and as our friends and the Christmas parties remind us of it from the heat of a punch in the posadas to the reheating of Christmas Day.
Finally, Christmas also takes us to another very important and necessary area in the life of each person, that of generosity. Recognizing ourselves in others has a confrontational effect of our reality with that of the other, it allows us to recognize a mutual vulnerability. It reminds us of what we have and contrasts it with those who do not have it. Let’s not forget to share bread with those who do not have it, a gift, a pantry, a more generous tip in a restaurant during our many meals these days, everything counts. Feeding the soul with the generosity to which this season invites us, will nourish our hearts more, leading us to be better people, something so necessary in our modern society. Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and my gratitude to those who take the time to read these lines every month!
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Luis Javier Álvarez Alfeirán, MA. Director of Le Cordon Bleu Anáhuac *
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