Wassail and salt caramel

This past Saturday, the young man of the house and I joined friends for some family carolling at a church in Tokyo. Although dear friends O and T have invited us many times, we have either been in Oz or too strapped for time to go in previous years. We will endeavour to get organized a bit earlier from now on, as the British Embassy Choir put on a really good show.

Particularly memorable was a carol I'd never heard before, but one about a subject close to my heart: food!

Wassail, wassail all over the town
Our toast it is white and our ale it is brown
Our bowl it is made of the white maple tree
With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee

So here is to Cherry and to his right cheek
Pray God send our master a good piece of beef
And a good piece of beef that may we all see
With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee

And here is to Dobbin and to his right eye
Pray God send our master a good Christmas pie
A good Christmas pie that may we all see
With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee

So here is to Broad Mary and to her broad horn
May God send our master a good crop of corn
And a good crop of corn that may we all see
With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee

And here is to Fillpail and to her left ear
Pray God send our master a happy New Year
And a happy New Year as e'er he did see
With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee

And here is to Colly and to her long tail
Pray God send our master he never may fail
A bowl of strong beer! I pray you draw near
And our jolly wassail it's then you shall hear

Come butler, come fill us a bowl of the best
Then we hope that your soul in heaven may rest
But if you do draw us a bowl of the small
Then down shall go butler, bowl and all

Then here's to the maid in the lily white smock
Who tripped to the door and slipped back the lock
Who tripped to the door and pulled back the pin
For to let these jolly wassailers in.

As we know, wassail is both a festive occasion and a kind of liquor drunk on such occasions. A rollicking good-time carol, then. (And doesn't it just make you wonder what might be the cause of Santa's rosy cheeks and good cheer (g).)

After the little ones (and some not so little ones) had sung themselves hoarse, it was off for a quick bite to eat at one of those "family restaurants" I have not frequented in many years. The service was atrocious (do they actually train their wait staff?) but the food was passable (just).

The desert menu, however, did have something of interest: salt caramel ice-cream. Salt caramel is the "it" sweet du jour here in Japan (however, its appearance at this fami-resu probably indicates the boom is on its last legs). I had somehow not got round to trying the stuff, so I gave it a go, and can tell you it was quite delicious, though I could hardly taste the salt.

Today, I had an opportunity to try some truly gourmet salt caramel (from the posh caramelier and chocolatier Henri le Roux, courtesy of one of the translation vendors we use at work) and, intrigued, did a bit of googling.

It seems the salt in Monsieur Le Roux's caramel is in the salted butter, but there are other fleur de sel (a kind of sea salt) caramels where salt is added as an ingredient. Epicurious has some recipes that sound delectable, and once the turkey and pud are out of the freezer this Christmas, I reckon that bitter caramel ice-cream might just make its way in in their place (g).