An article that first appeared in the Hong Kong Sunday examiner in 1959.
For generations the people of Macau have faithfully observed some beautiful Christmas customs taught them, probably, by the missionaries and nuns who were among the earliest settlers in that outpost of the Portuguese empire. When many of her sons had to migrate to Hong Kong, Shanghai and other places in the Far East in search of work, they carried these customs with them.
However, with the passing of time they succumbed to British influence and adopted such things as the Christmas tree, Christmas carols, plum pudding, turkey, and even that monstrosity of monstrosities, "Santa Claus". Now that December 24 is no longer a day of fast and abstinence, consoada (the full meal of the fast) has lost its meaning and it is feared that in the next generation or so these customs, which are still observed by many families in Macau, will completely disappear.
In some households, preliminary preparations for Christmas may start towards the end of September or the early part of October, when the home-fed pig is killed for the making of the delicious Macau sausages, chouriço de sutate and chouriço de colorau. Practically nothing of the poor animal is wasted. The skin is washed, cleaned and dried and will form the principal ingredient of that wonderful Macau dish chow chow de pele. The lard that is extracted will be kept for the making of the empada and cuscurão. The legs and shoulders are cured and will adorn the festive board at Christmas and the New Year as ham.
As everything is home-made and eaten literally fresh from the oven, the few days preceding Christmas are really hectic ones for the housewives of Macau. They will probably start with making the aluar. This is a sort of butterscotch made of glutinous rice flour, melted rock sugar, butter, thinly sliced almonds and cooking shavings. The whole mixture is stirred into a batter with an oar in the shape of a cricket bat.
When the batter is of a certain stiffness, it is placed on a prepared board, flattened out and cut into squares about an inch thick to represent blankets to cover the Child Jesus. After this, the fartes and folnar will be made. The former is a sort of cookie made of cornstarch flour and stuffed with coconut shavings and almonds and cut into the shape of cushions to represent the pillows for the infant Jesus. The folnar is a kind of mince pie filled with coconut shavings and with a top crust garnished with icing sugar. Next comes, probably, the cuscurão. This is made of flour deep fried in lard, twisted into the shape of shells with a chopstick and garnished with icing.
On the morning of the 24th, the empada will be made. This is a pie filled with spiced fish, eggs, almonds, olives and cheese, shaped like cradles to represent the manner in which the child Jesus was laid. While the empada is being baked, the mother and other girls will put up the antimacassar, the laces and curtains and prepare the crib. Time off will be taken for the light repast, after which preparations will be made for the consoada. The menu for the consoada is a traditional one consisting of sopa de lacassa, a soup made of vermicelli, shrimps, tomatoes and balichão (shrimp sauce); peixe assado, baked spiced fish stuffed with garlic, olives, almonds and cheese; and a salad of carrots and turnips dipped in sweetened vinegar. These three dishes are de rigueur and where there is room for more, curried fish and rice or other seafood products may also be taken. Dessert will consist of fruit in season and the Christmas confections mentioned above.
The head of the family with his wife and children will sit down to this meal which may sometimes last to very near the hour from midnight Mass. After Mass the family will return home to partake of canja dec frango (chicken broth), cold meat, and Christmas cakes and sweet meats.
Christmas lunch and dinner the very elaborate functions and generally held in the residence of the oldest member of the family. It was a very common sight in those days to see the old grandfather and/or grandmother surrounded by 70 or 80 members of the family at Christmas dinner. After dinner, incense and candles are burnt at the crib and all join in prayers and singing or carols and hymns. Some families make it a point to continue the singing every evening until the Feast of the Epiphany, when the Christmas season officially comes to an end.