A Book Review… A Gourmet Christmas From The Swiss Guards

By PEGGY MOEN

The Vatican Christmas Cookbook by David Geisser and Thomas Kelly. Published by Sophia Institute Press (Manchester, NH: 2020), www.sophiainstitute.com, or call 1-800-888-9344. $34.95 hardback; 178 pages.

“God is in the details,” said architect Mies van der Rohe, and The Vatican Christmas Cookbook overflows with detail in its recipes as well as in its accounts of Christmas with the Popes, Christmas at the Vatican, the Swiss Guard Christmas Watch, and more. The Pontifical Swiss Guards are presenting the book.
Like master chefs, the authors of the book blend surprising elements into a tantalizing and intriguing whole.
And one of the authors, David Geisser, is a leading chef in Switzerland and a former Swiss Guard. The other author, Thomas Kelly, describes himself as “not a chef, not even a good cook,” but he is a veteran author, journalist, editor, and producer.
Geisser and Kelly earlier collaborated (along with Erwin Niederberger) on The Vatican Cookbook, a bestseller in 2016.
The cookbook spans both time and space, beginning with recipes for Advent (for example, Little Santas), moving on to recipes for Christmas Eve (Lasagna Bolognese, Polish Borscht) and Christmas Day (Linguine Carbonara, Salmon Club Sandwich), and ending with recipes for Epiphany (Dal, Tajine Lamb, and Falafel). It features a chapter on “Christmas Around the World,” describing celebrations in Argentina, Egypt, the Philippines, and Switzerland. The recipes in that chapter include Fondue Chinoise and Fajitas Argentine, among many others.
The recipes seem to be within the range of amateur cooks. I am looking forward to making the Vanilla Almond Cookies, for example, but feel a little intimidated by the delicious-sounding Saffron Risotto.
Though most of the ingredients are fairly basic — traditionalists will appreciate the recipe for a Roast Christmas Turkey, garnished with oranges and blueberries — some recipes call for items we don’t all have on our shelves. These would include Tahini (sesame paste), carnaroli rice, and almond flour. But these ingredients are available at fine food stores and also online.
As to equipment — I had never heard of raclette pans, necessary for making the Christmas Eve Pizza Raclette recipe — but those pans, too, are readily available. That, as you might expect, is one of the more basic and familiar recipes and should be popular with Christmas Eve guests.
The book also features the life of a popular Christmas saint — St. Nicholas. The story of how he provided three impoverished girls with gold coins for dowries is well known. Less well known, but told in this book, are the stories of how he calmed the seas for a ship in distress and how he saved a kidnapped child.
The “Christmas With the Popes” chapter tells the biographies and Christmas stories of Pope St. Leo the Great, Pope Gregory I, Pope Benedict XV, and Pope St. John Paul II.
A Swiss Guard Emeritus, Felix Geisser, tells how he was present in St. Peter’s Square, May 13, 1981, when John Paul II was shot. Stationed at the Portone di Bronzo, he sprinted to the scene to assist the wounded Holy Father. Months later, on Christmas Eve, Geisser served as a Guard of the Throne at the Midnight Mass and “witnessed the resurgence of the Holy Father . . . energized by the profound meaning of this night.”
As a final point about this magnificent book: The photography is as stunning as walking into a sunlit Romanesque basilica for the first time. The principal photographer is Roy Matter of Zurich, Switzerland, who provided all the food photographs. Don’t miss the photos of the Pork Tenderloin in Puff Pastry and of the Chocolate Cake Surprise, not to mention the images of the Vatican at night and of the Swiss Guards in formation.
If God “is in the details,” He is also found in beauty as beauty is found in Him. As Psalm 27 says: “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple.”
Needless to say, this detailed and beautiful book will make an outstanding Christmas gift.