When the Romans had shaped “the satura”, as a cake of pine nuts, barley mash, pomegranate seeds, raisins with honeyed wine “satura”, little did they imagine the evolution of their creation years in the future. Over the centuries the entire month of December has been dedicated to the creation whose origins may dated back to even before the Romans. If one hasn’t yet figured out what the above lines were about, it can be credited to the modern version of “satura”, i.e. the fruitcake.
Each year, the holiday season marks special traditions in many homes and among many communities, some which center around food while others revolving around the various customs and heritage. The fruitcake enjoys its’ own special relation with people. For some, fruitcakes bring nostalgic memories of warm kitchens, family specialties, the smell of spices in the air and the feel of Christmas baking. While for others, fruitcakes epitomize tasteless bricks or unwanted gifts that probably came from a factory kitchen rather than a homemade specialty.
“There’s a little bit of fruitcake left in everyone of us.” Jimmy Buffett
Yet the origin of the fruitcake was one of love and survival for difficult times. It was believed that the ancient Egyptians would put an early version of the fruitcake in the tombs of loved ones as means of providing food for the afterlife. The ancient Romans popularized the fruitcakes especially for the soldiers as these early fruitcakes were easy to carry and remained edible for a long time. Gradually over the years, other ingredients, such as honey, spices and preserved fruits were added. Towards the 16th century, the discovery that fruit could be preserved by soaking it in heavy concentrations of sugar (candied fruit) lead to its’ experimentation in fruitcakes especially when excess amounts were there in the kitchens.
“Friends are the fruitcake of life – some nutty, some soaked in alcohol, some sweet.” Jon Ronson
Slowly fruitcakes became layered, dense and heavy with a typical fruitcake having citrus peel, pineapples, plums, dates, pears, cherries, candied fruits and even nuts or raisins. With a long storage life and easy to preserve, fruitcakes have been popular during Victorian England especially during holidays and special occasions. This British tradition has spread over to many of its’ colonies although other countries have their own set of “fruitcakes”. From the Stollen of Germany, panforte of Italy, keks of Poland and Cozonac of Romania to light coloured or rum soaked fruitcakes, the variants are many to list. Although by convention fruitcakes are made more around December (Christmas time), they have been traditional for certain weddings especially as seen in the royal weddings.
“Reality is like a fruitcake; pretty enough to look at but with all sorts of nasty things lurking just beneath the surface.” A. Lee Martinez
Although fruitcakes can certainly be delicious, they’ve declined in popularity over the years primarily as the richness is a little too much especially with calorie counting and the arrival of other decadent delights. Despite the declining demand, fruitcakes are still a holiday tradition in many areas though not beyond that period.
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