IN DEFENSE OF THE FRUITCAKE

I never thought I'd be glad to find that a shop I frequent has run out of fruitcakes.

- OPR (Other People’s Recipes) NORMA O. CHIKIAMCO

French Baker Fruitcake: Patiently aged with cognac, rum and French brandy, and studded with old-fashioned flavors. JuD Fruitcake: JuD's fruitcakes ingeniously combine tradition and innovation. Mary Grace: Best served chilled, Mary Grace's fruitcakes are available all year round

“All sold out, Ma’am,” the clerk at the counter of The French Baker told me. While I was disappointed, since I had wanted to buy a fruitcake, I was also delighted. After all, this meant that people were still buying fruitcakes— the cake that has been getting a bad rap these past several years, the cake that’s been the butt of old jokes, vilified and ridiculed, the cake that’s said to be re-gifted so often that, as one comedian put it, “there’s only one fruitcake making the rounds all over the world.” And yetit’s also the cake that I, and many others, have loved since childhood.That the day’s supply of fruitcakes had run out confirmed what I’ve felt all along —that despite all the bad jokes and mockery surrounding the fruitcake, I wasn’t alone in my fondness for this beloved symbol of the Christmas season. It was proof that the fruitcake, with its centuries-old history, still has staying power.

Some food historians trace the beginning of the fruitcake to the Sumerians, an ancient civilization dating back to 4500 BC. They’re believed to have made dense, sweet cakes packed with fruits, nuts and honey — precursor of the fruitcake as we know it today. Others trace the fruitcake’s origin to the Egyptians, who would bake the cake as a way of preserving fruits and nuts. On the other hand, during the Roman Empire, bakers would mix fruits, nuts, and barley with honey and serve the cake at weddings and as an offering to the gods.