Celebrating the many traditions of a south London Christmas (From Staines Guardian)

Celebrating the many traditions of a south London Christmas

11:20am Friday 25th December 2009

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The Caribbean community in Mitcham and Morden came together on Saturday, December 11, to celebrate Christmas early.

Grace Salmon, 49, a community worker, who helped organise the event, said about 50 people came together to be entertained by a comedian, enjoy traditional food and sing carols in Caribbean style.

The mother-of-two said: “We’ll sing Silent Night and the other songs, but they will be with a reggae and calypso sound, it will be lots of fun.

“The traditional foods we eat are escovitch fish, it has fish and peppers and limes in it.

“There might be some jerk pork too, lentil soup and Caribbean roasted veg and yams. There also might be a pepper pot, which is a Guyanese-style stewed meat dish.

The Tamil community in Croydon might have a more sombre celebration this year, said Patrick Ratnaraja, 46, of Addiscombe, a member of the Conservative Party.

The father-of-two, said most Tamils living in London would be remembering families back home in Sri Lanka, who have been killed or displaced by the government in the last two years.

He said: “Some people might have turkey, but most will have curry and rice. We will sing normal Christmas carols, but in Tamil.

“Christmas is mostly a family thing, a time to all come together.”

For Chinese born Youyan Li, 41, Christmas in Streatham will be spent catering between her own culture and that of her husband Marek Lukomski, 41, who is Polish.

She said: “I will probably cook a Polish dish such as guankee which is rolled up cabbage with meat and rice inside and I also might make some dumplings.

“The Chinese don’t really celebrate Christmas that much – for us New Year is a bigger event and in 2010 that will be in February.

“However, we still enjoy the season and we will be having a family get together for everyone to catch up and relax.”

Hindu family the Patels, of Sutton, have thrown themselves into the Christmas spirit with decorations adorning their home.

Seema Patel, 42, a freelance interpreter and her husband Timir, 42, an accountant, have two children: Priyam, 16, who attends Kings College School in Wimbledon, and Riya, 12, who goes to Sutton High School.

Mrs Patel said: “We are Hindu, but we follow the English calendar and so enjoy celebrating Christmas too. We’ll have a family gathering on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

“We might have an English-style dinner for Christmas Day, but after two or three days we might get fed up with roast and have curry.

Byung-il Suh, 61, chairman of New Malden’s Korean Residents’ Association, said Christmas in the Korean community meant a time when all the family got together to “share the happiness”.

He said: “We don’t have particular foods that we eat at Christmas since it is not our traditional holiday.

“However, it has become a widely celebrated holiday and it is a national holiday so most of us prepare traditional Korean festive food such as japchae, which is a noodle dish with various vegetables and pork strips, and bulgogi which is a tender thinly sliced beef marinated in sweetened soy sauce and grilled.

“They are also my personal favourites.”

Portuguese born Vasco Cardoso, 39, who runs Cafe Viriato in Epsom, said he would be spending it with his wife and son Bruno, six, and their relatives.

The father-of-one, married to Maria, 35, a classroom assistant, said children can usually open their presents at midnight on Christmas Eve.

He said: “This year will be very special, because we shall have a new baby in the family; we are hoping for a daughter.

“We will have a traditional dish, normally cod and potatoes or octopus with rice.”

How will you be spending your Christmas? Let us know below

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