Seeing is Believing

There's more to being a professional Santa Claus than a beard and red suit: Steve Whiting shares the magic and generous spirit behind the storied St. Nick.

BY LOYD MCINTOSH | PHOTO BY JOSEPH DESCIOSE

As a child, did you ever wonder what the real Santa Claus was like? Did you ever struggle to stay awake  on Christmas Eve hoping to catch him leaving a big pile of toys under the tree only to fall asleep long before St. Nick shimmied down your chimney? No matter how hard you tried, the big guy stayed just one reindeer step ahead of you. Even though Santa the man may be more elusive than a snowflake in July, the spirit of Santa Claus is a whole different matter. You just need a charitable soul, a gift for making children happy, a sense of humor and the patience of Job. And it helps to have a red suit and long white beard.
     While shopping mall Santas may be a dime a dozen, few really embody the essence of Santa like Steve Whiting. A rather imposing figure with a heart of gold, Steve has provided Christmas magic all over the country for the last eight years. Well versed in the history and mythology of St. Nick, Steve is very serious about what he does, viewing his job as a protector of the reputation of Santa Claus as well as an entertainer for children. "I see Santa as a religious figure: St. Nicholas—that's his origin,” Steve says. “But Macy's, Gimbels and Sam Walton realized how much the image of Santa could boost their business during Christmas time, and now we look at Santa as more of a commercial figure.”
     Steve prefers to focus on the source of Santa’s legendary character. St. Nicholas of Myra, a fourth-century Greek Christian bishop, became well known for his generosity to the poor throughout Europe. How we celebrate Christmas is largely inspired by one story in which St. Nicholas secretly gave gold coins to a man with three daughters in order for them to have dowries so they wouldn’t be forced to become servants. According to the tale, St. Nicholas dropped several coins down the chimney of the family’s home shortly before each daughter reached marrying age, accidentally inspiring one of the season’s most important customs. “Back then, people might have just one pair of socks, and they would wash them out at night and hang them by the fireplace to dry for the next day,” Steve explains. “It just so happened that one of those coins fell into a sock, and there comes the tradition of hanging a stocking at Christmas.”  
     It’s St. Nicholas’ famed altruism that drives Steve as he works at events, parties and anywhere else Santa Claus is needed. Last year, he began working at functions for children with autism. Through an organization called Santas America, he also provides Christmas cheer for children dealing with terminal illnesses, abuse or other difficult life circumstances. “Santa can go in and give them a hug and get their mind off of this trauma. Sometimes, if they're in physical pain you can actually see the pain go away for a short period of time,” Steve says. “It's hard to go in to minister to someone and keep yourself together. That's the hardest part of it to me. I really have to prep myself so I can stay in character.”
     Throughout his time as Father Christmas, Steve has learned much about children and how they process information differently from adults. He sees it first-hand every year when children are bombarded with multiple Santas throughout the season, but, somehow, continue to believe in the existence of Santa Claus. "It's really the adults that throw the kinks into the works, because we no longer believe," he says.”Children manage to answer those questions for themselves.”
     Take, for instance, a Santa Claus convention in Branson, Missouri, in 2004. As Steve and his wife pulled into the parking lot, they noticed dozens of cars with Santa painted on the doors and personalized tags with references to Santa Claus. What Steve and his bearded brethren didn’t know was that the weekend was shaping up to be a big one for families as well.
     "This was the middle of summer and all of these families have come to Branson and brought their little darlings, having no idea that Santa was having a convention at the Radisson,” Steve recalls. “Mommas and daddies are coming in and there are all of these fat, hairy men in red shirts, shorts and all kinds of casual Santa attire, just sitting everywhere. And all these parents are going, 'What are we going to do?’“ Luckily, Steve recounts, children had their own way to rationalize the chaotic scene: "I overheard one kid say, 'Santa's got to have helpers. We've come to where he trains his helpers. That means the real Santa is here somewhere! Where is he?’"

BY MARTI KILPATRICK | PHOTOGRAPHY BY JERROD BROWN | STYLED BY ROSE NGUYEN

     Before their holiday seasons were filled with private parties and catering, chesfs spent them just like the rest of us—at home, with family and friends. These memories live on in dishes that they still prepare for gatherings when their professional aprons get thrown in for a few precious days. Read on as five local chefs share the special recipes their families enjoy year after year. Then head over to our food section to get the details on how to make them a part of your holiday fare.

      Brothers Nicky and Jimmy Koikos, owners of The Bright Star restaurant, know a good thing when they taste it. If the 100-year-reign of their restaurant, The Bright Star, isn't proof enough, then all it takes is a bite of the Koikos baked apple crisp, a much-loved fixture at Christmas gatherings for more than a quarter of a century. The holiday season always finds the Koikos brothers at their sister Helen's house, playing basketball and video games with their three nieces. "It can get quite loud and competitive," says Nicky. "It's a great way to blow off steam after working for 30 days without a break."

 

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     Brian Somershield, chef at one of Birmingham's newest eateries, Za Za Trattoria, may make a living off pasta and pizza, but his holidaymemories have a distinct Eastern European aroma. "I come froma good Polish Catholic family," he says, so the holidays often called for kielbasa, horseradish and beets.His favorite meal, however, is one his grandmother prepared: a pork loin, wet roasted with sauerkraut, handmade dumplings and a secret ingredient-applesauce. "Not homemade," he says. "Mott's. Only Mott's. We were doing a natural food pairing and not even knowing it." As he learned more about cooking, he tweaked the recipe bit by bit, starting with the dumplings. "I'm sure they were just flour and water-poor man's stuff," he says.
      After culinary school, Brian moved to Birmingham to work. He now lives with his wife, Bobi, far from family in Cleveland and Pennsylvania, but the pork recipe lives on. "It's one of those things," he says. "My mother tries to cook it, my sister tries to cook it, I try to cook it, but it's never as good."

 

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HOT AND HOT FISH CLUB

     Chef Chris Hastings and wife Idie, co-owners of Hot and Hot Fish Club, know the importance of tradition in the kitchen. Their brand-new cookbook, The Hot and Hot Fish Club Cookbook, A Celebration of Food, Family & Traditions, is both a history of past meals and a guide for future gatherings. In it, they share many of their favorite family recipes, including Italian cookies with a silky lemon glaze.
     These cookies were a specialty of Idie's Grandma Morano, who hailed from Calabria in southern Italy. They would appear during the holidays, when Italian-American cousins, grandparents, nephews and nieces convened around the table. "There was always a hustle and bustle of aunts and cousins cooking at Grandma's house," Idie says. "The kitchen was filled with people cooking, starting at least two weeks before Christmas." To this day, it doesn't feel like the holidays for the Hastings without these cookies-so much so that they have an honored place at Hot and Hot. "Today we serve the cookies in our restaurant in the wintertime, alongside a hot cup of coffee," she says.

  

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 SOL Y LUNA

     For Guillermo Castro, chef and owner of Sol Y Luna, family rules during the holidays.When he was a child, his relatives would make a yearly pilgrimage to congregate in his hometown of Guadalajara, Mexico. "The tradition in our family was to go to work for the holidays at our dad's store," says Guillermo. "The family organized a big gathering at grandfather's house on the evening of the 24th of December." The fact that family members have scattered across the continent doesn't stop the annual holiday gathering. "Because of growth of the family and the immigration to this country, traditions are different," Guillermo says. "We still get together on the evening of the 24th, but the menu changes from time to time." However, this roast pork tenderloin with chipotle chilies remains a perennial favorite. The dish is rich with peppercorns, chipotle chilies, and cascabel powder, a round, smoky flavored pepper that grows wild on the Pacific coast of Mexico. Guillermo says anchos or pasillas make a good substitute if needed.

 

  

 

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     It's no surprise that Thanksgiving is Chef Frank Stitt's favorite holiday. For him, food is inextricably linked to memories, and one of his best is the huge feast his mother would prepare for the entire family. "She was probably the best cook in Cullman," says Frank. Apalachicola oysters, at their most delicious in the cooler winter waters, were always a featured menu item. "As I began to help with the cooking, we collaborated on this version of baked oysters," he says.
     The oysters live on as a menu item at both Bottega and Highlands, often dressed up with greens and caramelized onions and studded with country ham. The communal spirit of the dish is alive as well. "We often have a few so-called ´homeless´ staff members who are in Birmingham without any family close by, so we will invite them to our table and splurge with magnums of really good wine and tons of wonderful food," Frank says. "In the past when we had too many people to fit at our home, we convened on the patio at Bottega and pulled all the tables together for a feast of oysters, autumn vegetables, cornbread dressing and slow-roasted natural turkey."

3 lbs. sliced apples (your choice)
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1 (16-oz.) box light brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
8 oz. unsalted butter (room temperature)

     Preheat oven to 350°. Combine first 6 ingredients
in large bowl. Mix well and let sit for 15 minutes. Add remaining 3 ingredients to bowl and mix thoroughly. Transfer mixture to greased 3-quart Pyrex dish.
     Bake 20 minutes at 350°. Let sit 5 minutes and serve. Yields 8 servings.

by Brian Somershield of Za Za Trattoria
(photo by Jerrod Brown)

1 boneless pork loin, 4-6 lbs., fat cap not
removed if possible
6 garlic cloves, peeled
1 medium-size yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 cans sauerkraut, rinsed briefly
1 tbsp. caraway seeds
2 cups water
3 eggs
2 cups milk
3 3/4 cups flour
1 can or jar of Mott’s applesauce, cold

     Preheat oven to 400°. Cut 6 small slits, about 2 inches deep, into various parts of the pork loin. Stuff each slit with a garlic clove, then season the pork loin aggressively with salt and black pepper. Place pork in center of a large casserole dish, then scatter sliced onions on and around the pork loin. Place in center rack of oven and roast for 30 minutes.
     After 30 minutes, remove dish from oven and decrease heat to 275°. Remove pork from dish. While oven is cooling, scatter sauerkraut and caraway seeds around the base of the casserole dish, then place pork in the center of the sauerkraut “nest.” Add water, cover entire dish with foil and return to
oven. Cook, covered, for 1.5 hours.
     While pork is cooking, place a large pot of lightly salted water on the stove and bring to a boil. In a medium-size mixing bowl, whisk eggs and milk together. Add a heavy pinch of salt and black pepper, then slowlybegin adding flour to the milk/egg mixture. Continue whisking until all flour is added and a smooth, slightly sticky mass has formed. Using an ice cream scoop or two spoons, gently drop rounded dough balls into boiling water. You may cook several dumplings at the same time, but be careful not to overcrowd the pot. Once the dumplings float to the surface, cook for another 2 minutes, then remove with a slotted spoon. Place on a lightly buttered sheet tray in a single layer, and allow to cool.
     After pork has cooked for 1.5 hours, remove dish from oven and place on stovetop. Gently remove pork from dish and cover. Meanwhile, add dumplings to sauerkraut/onion mixture to warm. Spoon a generous amount of the sauerkraut mixture onto a serving platter, placing pork on top. Make sure applesauce is close by, and enjoy! Yields 6 servings.