This text is part of the special Pleasures notebook
Does a nutrition doctor treat the holidays as deliciously as the others? Absolutely, especially when it comes to Hubert Cormier! This friendly expert, the author of more than 1,300 recipes on the popular Bon pour toi website, and author of a dozen books, advocates a balanced, guilt-free diet. It is therefore in an atmosphere combining indulgence and awareness that he reveals to us some family secrets and the latest trends in festive specialties.
Hubert, what does Christmas mean to you?
The family, of course, but also my Beauceron origins, because like several people in my family, including my father and my brother, I worked in Sainte-Marie for the Vachon cake company, which produced, among other things, logs of Christmas. And since we all received one as a gift for the holidays, needless to say we didn’t lack desserts after our meals! Ha! Ha! It was actually after this period that I tried to make it myself… and I hated it! It took me years to find the trick to not breaking the sponge cake; a silicone mold, in this case. But now I make it every year. I created two for my blog this fall: a Red Velvet type, chocolate with cream cheese frosting, and another chocolate with hazelnut spread and Ferrero Rocher. A real treat.
Hearing you, it’s hard to believe it’s a nutrition doctor speaking. Do you eat big meals during the holidays?
Yes of course. On December 24, there are still around sixty of us at my parents’ house, and everyone brings something to eat for the buffet, so there is a lot of variety. My paternal grandmother, who comes from the North Shore, makes her soft butterfly bread. For my part, I prepare lots of things in individual portions — mini-quiches, mini-tourtières, etc. And my father racks his brains to create a vegetable decoration, like a broccoli tree, which we always look forward to discovering. A real running gag !
At my in-laws’ house, it’s a little different since we generally stay there for two or three days with my partner. We therefore select our recipes to cook on site a good month in advance, and everyone pitches in. And if we have a big boozy dinner one evening, the next day, we prepare a brunch with the leftovers, as well as a big fresh fruit salad to break up the fat a little.
As you create festive recipes every year on Bon pour toi, what are the 2023 trends in this area?
Well, apart from classics like tourtière and cocktail sausages, what has been going strong on the Internet for some time now are Jell-O shots ! This may seem surprising, but it’s a good idea because these mini-desserts are unifying, fun and very cute when they are decorated. You can also flavor them as you want, add alcohol or not, and make them a fun family activity, whether to prepare them or eat them. I personally created two for the holidays, including one with candy canes, and I challenge you not to find them cute.
Another marked trend this year is the comeback of donuts. Be careful, not the very stuffed donuts that you can find in stores, but traditional donuts with a simple icing on top. And we shouldn’t forget fondues, which are always among the three most viewed recipes on my site during the holidays. I myself am a big fan of this formula, since it allows us to vary all the ingredients (meats, vegetables, sauces, etc.), to be able to accommodate all eating habits, to eat as much as we are hungry without exaggerating, and to stretch out the evening in good company. There is just one must which never changes at our house: the family devil sauce, which I love so much that I can eat it as is on a piece of baguette, even without fondue!
In closing, does the nutrition doctor have any advice for us for the upcoming holidays?
You know, there are few people who want to follow health advice for Christmas, which I completely understand. So I would say just be aware of what you consume during this time. If you know, for example, that you are going to have a big meal and you want to taste everything, you can avoid going for the bread basket or the appetizer canapes. If you are prone to stomach upset, you can also pay attention to the size of the portions and the amount of fat you ingest at one time.
As for the hosts themselves, I would advise them to focus on quantity rather than variety. That is to say, serving fewer things during a meal, or spreading them out over several. It takes away stress and avoids overpreparing, what’s more. I would also recommend that they always provide a vegetable dish, such as raw vegetables, to give their guests another option than fried foods and desserts.
This content was produced by the Special Publications team at Duty, relating to marketing. The writing of the Duty did not take part.