While the holidays and end-of-year festive season are typically the busiest travel times of year, many people are opting instead to stay home for the holiday season to be with loved ones and to avoid the complications of travel during an ongoing pandemic.  

But just because you’re staying home, that doesn’t mean you still can’t travel vicariously - not only through planning future travel, but also through the fun, excitement, and new flavors of trying holiday dishes and cocktails from around the world.  

Spice up your holiday season and indulge in four filling dish and drink recipes offering everything from a taste of the south with a France-meets-Low-Country take on an éclair to a refreshing Sydney Sling from Australia.  

So put on some holiday music, tie on your apron, and get ready to take your taste buds on a journey far and wide with these four festive global recipes.  

Who knows, maybe they might become your next great holiday tradition. 

Chef Remy’s Holiday Rubéclair

Hotel Bennett, Charleston, South Carolina, USA 

Take a culinary tour of the American South with Chef Remy’s Holiday Rubéclair that blends the classic French pastry with a South Carolina spin.  

Pâte à Choux

Ingredients 

• 1 cup water 
• 1 cup milk 
• 1 tsp salt 
• 1 tbsp sugar 
• 1 cup butter 
• 1.5 cups all-purpose flour 
• 9 eggs 

Directions 

In a sauce pot bring to boil water, milk, salt, sugar, and butter. At the first boil, remove from heat and add flour. Mix well and bring the pot over medium heat and cook for one minute. Pour the dough in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Stir on low speed adding eggs three at a time. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a pastry tip #809 with dough. Pipe six-inch-long éclairs on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Bake at 340˚ F until fully baked - about 40 minutes. Set aside to cool. 

Blackberry Compote Filling 

Ingredients 

• 1 cup blackberry 
• ½ cup raspberry 
• 1 cup sugar 
• 1 tsp apple pectin 

Directions 

In a sauce pot, stir all ingredients and set aside for ten minutes. On medium heat, cook the compote stirring constantly for about three to four minutes. Pour the compote in a bowl and refrigerate. 

Ruby Chocolate Cream 

Ingredients 

• 2 cups heavy cream 
• 1 cup ruby chocolate 

Directions 

Bring the cream to boil and pour over ruby chocolate. Stir well until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for six hours or overnight. 

Ruby Glaze 

Ingredients 

• 1 cup heavy cream 
• 3 tbsp corn syrup 
• 2 cups Ruby Chocolate Cream 

Directions 

Bring to boil heavy cream and corn syrup. Pour hot cream and corn syrup over Ruby Chocolate Cream. Stir well until a smooth texture. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside to cool. 

Assembling the Rubéclair 

Flip over éclair and make three holes: one on each extremity and one on the center of the éclair. Whip the Ruby Chocolate Cream in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment until fluffy (make sure that the bowl and cream are very cold before mixing). Fill a pastry bag fitted with a small round pastry tip with blackberry compote and another Ruby Chocolate Cream. Fill éclair with blackberry compote then with ruby chocolate whipped cream. Dip top of éclair into ruby chocolate glaze. Refrigerate for glaze to fully set. Garnish éclair with halved blackberries. Serve and enjoy. 

The Sydney Sling 

The Fullerton Hotel Sydney, Sydney, Australia 

Head down under and cool off for a not-so-white Christmas celebration with The Fullerton Sydney’s Australian take on the Singapore Sling. 

Ingredients 

• 45 ml of your favorite gin 
• 15 ml hibiscus liqueur 
• 10 ml ginger liqueur 
• 45 ml blood orange juice 
• 25 ml fresh lime juice 
• 10 ml fresh ginger juice 
• 10 ml grenadine 
• 20 ml sugar syrup 

Directions 

Combine all ingredients into a shaker and shake together vigorously for five seconds. Strain into a glass over ice and enjoy. 

 

Noodle Sauce “Mentsuyu” 

Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan 

Ring in the new year like in East Asia with Japan’s beloved Mentsuyu sauce, which is most often used as a dipping sauce for soba noodles and tempura.  

Kaeshi  

Ingredients 

• 800 ml Koikuchi soy sauce 
• 75 ml mirin 
• 100 g super fine sugar 
• 100 g granulated sugar 

Directions 

Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and heat until just under boiling. Cool and refrigerate for 10 days. 

Dashi Broth 

Ingredients 

• 1,500 ml water  
• 25 g kelp seaweed 
• 50 g dried bonito flakes 
• 35 g soda bonito flakes 
• 25 g mackerel flakes 

Directions 

Add kelp to water and place on high heat. Remove kelp just before boiling. Add bonito flakes to water and let it simmer a few minutes. Add soda bonito and mackerel flakes and bring the water to a boil. Lower heat and simmer about three minutes. Strain flakes and set aside to cool. 

Mentsuyu Sauce 

Combine one part kaeshi with six parts dashi. Serve warm or cold with your favorite type of noodle.  

Grießknödel

Hotel Maximilian’s, Augsburg, Germany 

Experience a quintessential German Christmas treat with a traditional dessert from Bavaria composed of nougat-filled semolina dumplings with praline sauce and stewed quince. 

Praline Sauce 

Ingredients 

• 200 ml cream  
• 125 g nougat  
• 125 g dark chocolate  
• Zest of ½ orange  
• 20 ml chocolate liqueur 
• 20 ml amaretto  

Directions  

Heat all ingredients in a saucepan until nougat and chocolate have melted. Stir until smooth. Serve warm. 

Stewed Quince 

Ingredients  

• 4 quince 
• Water with lemon juice 
• 200 ml white wine  
• 200 ml Noilly Prat 
• 200 ml apple juice 
• Seeds from 1 vanilla pod   

Directions  

Peel and quarter quince before removing core and cutting into 5 mm cubes. Immediately place them in lemon water to prevent them from turning brown. Lightly caramelize honey in a suacepan, then deglaze with white wine and Noilly Prat. Simmer liquid to reduce by half. Add the quince and apple juice and the vanilla. Cover and simmer until the quince are soft. Drain the quince in a sieve and set aside. Reduce the mixture a little more, depending on the consistency and taste. Add white wine and a little honey and allow to cool. The results should be slightly syrupy and have a sweet and sour taste. Add the strained quinces back to the seasoned sauce and serve warm. 

Nougat-filled Semolina Dumplings 

Ingredients 

• 90 ml milk  
• 20 g butter  
• 1 pinch of salt  
• Zest of 1 lemon  
• Splash of vanilla extract 
• 30 g semolina  
• 1 egg  
• 30 g white flour 
• 60 g nougat  

Directions  

Boil the milk with the butter, salt, lemon and vanilla. Stir in the semolina and allow to incorporate. Remove mixture from heat and add egg. Fold in the white flour and refrigerate for three hours. After chilling, form dumplings by hand around nougat. Place the dumplings in boiling water to cook, then remove and strain to dry. Sprinkle with biscotti crumbs and powdered sugar and serve with praline sauce and stewed quince.