Atlantica - 01.11.2002, Side 33

A T L A N T I C A 31
Silent Night
What are your fondest Christmas memories?
All of my memories are good, but my dearest childhood memo-
ries are from when I visited my grandparents in the Vosges moun-
tains. I was really excited to see the snow and ice of a “real”
Christmas. Now, of course, it’s my reality.
What do you do on Christmas Eve?
I spend my evening with my wife and my children and we like to
mix our French and Icelandic traditions. In early December, I usu-
ally go to France to do some Christmas shopping and bring back
wine and special foods. We start our evening at six o’clock like all
Icelandic families, drink a French apéritif and listen to Vivaldi’s The
Four Seasons. And then we eat...
What sort of food do you typically eat at Christmas?
On Christmas Eve, we eat lobster which I prepare in various ways.
One of them is like in the film Babette’s Gestebud. I make a pastry
“coffin”, sarcophage, in which I place the lobster. I also make a
lobster termidore which is a typical French dish with cream,
estragon and échalotes in white wine. It’s just wonderful. It is one
of the best things you can imagine. Then we eat garlic chicken –
we eat garlic cloves as you would eat chocolates – and this is
accompanied by a Chateauneuf-du-pape. And for dessert we
make a mousse-au-chocolat with an almond in it. On Christmas
Day we enjoy various French delicacies like foie gras which I’ve
managed to smuggle into the country, as well as hangikjöt...a real
mixture of traditions.
Where, how and with whom would you spend your ideal
Christmas?
My ideal Christmas is with my family. I wouldn’t change a thing.
What’s the most bizarre gift you’ve ever opened at Christmas?
A good luck medallion for my car. I don’t own a car, you see.
What is your favourite Christmas movie/novel?
The family often watches old French movies together. Every
Christmas I make a concerted effort to read Icelandic novels: Let’s
say it’s more out of duty than pleasure.
When did you stop believing in Santa Claus?
I’ve been made to believe in a lot of things. As a child, my father’s
family told me to believe in Father Christmas; my mother’s family
told me to believe in St. Nicholas, and when I came to Iceland I was
also supposed to believe there were 13 of them.
What would you most like to open underneath the Christmas tree?
A nice bottle of wine.
What’s your Christmas wish?
Peace and a good catch of cod next year.
GÉRARD LEMARQUIS IS A PROFESSOR OF FRENCH AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ICELAND. PARISIAN BY ORIGIN, HE LIKES
TO BRING HIS CULINARY HERITAGE TO AN ICELANDIC CHRISTMAS.
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