Foods to avoid serving over the Christmas holidays

 

Christmas lunch and New Year brunch are the most popular meals had over this festive holiday. Family and friends tend to gather together to celebrate and in many households, several dishes are made.

In Kenya, popular dishes include meat meals- whether fried, stewed or barbequed- rice and vegetable meals, baked foods and savory snacks; all accompanied by water, soft and alcoholic drinks. And these are had over a span of 10 days from days before Christmas to a day or two after New Year. You now understand where the weight loss resolutions come from.

And while it is the season for merry making (and remembering last minute that Jesus is the reason for the season), there are some foods that you would want to avoid preparing over this festive season, not only to save your money but also for health reasons. Nairobi News now lists some of these foods that should preferably be avoided at this time:

1. Avoid making large amounts of salads with hopes of serving them over days from the fridge. These salads include those that have eggs, chicken, ham and tuna in them because they don’t last past three days and do not freeze well. Prepare meals to be immediately eaten, prepare more on the day you are hosting.
2. To save your money, cook and serve crabs and lobsters (affluent readers, how are you today?) on the day of hosting. They do not last past a day before spoiling, and it is not recommended to freeze them for future meals.
3. Stewed food only lasts up to three days before it spoils, especially those with meat and vegetables added inside. While freezing it may save you, no one likes eating frozen meals- they often complain of the ‘fridge taste’ which ruins the meal’s original taste.
4. Avoid serving foods with his acidic content including citrus fruits, some grains, sugar, processed foods, sodas and fish. They cause acidity in many people and you wouldn’t want to entertain guests who end up suffering and complain of acidity after munching down your sumptuous meals.
5. Don’t serve unpopular foods- such as tripe and mutura- that may end up sitting out in a serving dish for hours. For some foods, bacteria rapidly grow on them when left out at room temperature for more than two hours. You might want to conduct a census to know which meals are popular and may be eaten fast compared to those eaten by the few.
6. Drinks tend to accompany these meals. And as large gatherings tend to enjoy soft and alcoholic drinks, it would serve you well to either limit or not serve alcohol. This is because there are some people who cannot handle their alcohol and may begin misbehaving- especially where there are children in company. This will also limit your liability incase someone drinks at your party and ends up getting into an accident whether on your premises or after they leave.

BY NAIROBI NEWS