Manipal: Fruit Mixing Gala as Christmas season approaching

Media source

Manipal, 24 November 2010: Christmas is around the corner. With only a month to go, Fortune Inn Valley View Hotel along with Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration ushered in the season with the fruit mixing ceremony for the Christmas cake and pudding at the hotel on Monday night.

 

A well-decorated Christmas tree and carols provided a perfect setting for the fruit mixing ceremony which was inaugurated by Dr Kumkum Garg, Director Manipal Institute of Technology and Dr PLNG Rao, Director, Quality and Compliance, Manipal University. They were the first ones to begin the mixing and the rest followed.

 

It was the first time that the ceremony was being jointly organized by FIVV and WGSHA. General manager of FIVV, A. Gopi Mohan Nair and the principal of WGSHA, Mrs P. Gopalakrishnan said that the people evinced a lot of interest in the function and therefore, would be held at a much bigger way next year onwards.

 

The mixing itself was fun. Everyone present donned the chef’s cap, wore an apron and with gloves dug into the dry fruits in search of gold and silver coins, which were hidden away somewhere on the 14-foot long table covered with cashew nuts, almonds, pistachio, walnuts, sultanas, seedless dates, figs, prunes, apricots, dry cherries, candied orange and lemon peels, cinnamon and cardamom.  The coins, a ring and a thimble are the good luck charms.

 

 

In the process of searching for the coins, ring and the thimble, the dry fruits got mixed well with a fair sprinkling of rum and brandy.  Before the mixing began, associate professor (Bakery) of WGSHA, Vasanthan Sigamany gave a brief explanation on the tradition of cake mixing and also the significance of the coins, ring and the thimble being hidden in the mix.

 

The soaked fruits were then carefully tied in hygienic bags. They would be left as such for over a month or until the time the mix develops a mature, rich and an exciting flavor, just ideal to make wonderful Christmas cakes and puddings.

 

Legend has it that during the fruit mixing ceremony, the fruits should be mixed and stirred turn-by-turn by each member of the family and in this case, it was by the members of the Manipal Family.

 

As for the charms hidden in the mix, they are considered to be indicators of fortunes of those who find them while mixing or eating. The coins promise riches, the ring suggests marriage and the thimble hints at a saintly, perhaps single, life.