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Canwest News Service
Canadians will consume more than eight million litres of eggnog this holiday season, if purchase volumes match those of 2008, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada.
With it packing 19 grams of fat per cup, and the caloric value of a bacon cheeseburger, it’s no wonder a dude whose midriff shakes “like a bowl full of jelly” has come to symbolize the season. But a Canadian food anthropologist says our willingness to imbibe these, and other, liquid feasts has less to do with appeasing taste buds than acquiescing to tradition.
“Drinks have meaning and valence,” says Krystyna Sieciechowicz, an associate professor at the University of Toronto. “Their role in the rituals of socializing is so important that it actually offsets the caloric values people later have to work off.”
Because western Christmas is so steeped in Victorian traditions of “content” – that is, the accoutrements of entertaining as signposts of well-being – Sieciechowicz explains that luxurious drinks, offered to guests when they first enter the home, become emblematic of the event.
“Eggnog is a very good example. This is a drink that has farm eggs and cream and sugar and sometimes rum, lots of stuff that’s rich not only in calories but also in quality,” she says. “When you present it, it marks a different kind of occasion.”
Other hot holiday drinks, according to spirits company Beam Global, include hot chocolate with DeKuyper ButterShots Schnapps, Cruzan mojitos with candy-cane garnish, caramel appletinis and Jim Beam eggnog, most of which might best be chased with sit-ups.
Global beverage consultant Fred Tibbitts says opulent holiday drinks play best in a snowbelt such as Canada, where their warmth or richness translates to comfort.
“When it’s colder, heavier drinks — mulled ciders, schnapps, hot chocolate, special coffees and classic cocktails with a twist — are always the most popular,” says Tibbitts, who has offices in Bangkok and New York. “[Beverage] marketers understand this, which is why you see them advertising heavily this time of year.”
According to industry estimates, November and December account for about 30 per cent of annual wine sales, 36 per cent of spirit sales, 75 per cent of champagne sales and virtually all eggnog sales. Add in such seasonal swill as Starbucks’ caramel brule latte, which can deliver as much as 580 calories and 20 grams of fat per serving, and it’s no mystery why sales of fitness equipment in January soar 123 per cent above the monthly Canadian average.
“If you have a pumpkin spice latte in the morning, a soda for lunch, and glass of wine for dinner … you’re taking in almost a third of your daily calories in beverages,” says Dr. Rebecca Reeves, an assistant professor of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas. “You can easily be adding on a pound a week if you keep that up over five days, with no physical activity.”
On average, Reeves says a tablespoon of whipped cream on a drink packs 50 calories.
Tags: egg nog
