Hello Readers! I am happy to present my very first guest post from a writer named Jamie about Christmas food traditions around the world. Merry Christmas!
Christmas Food Traditions Around The World
This holiday season, as you dust off your Christmas dinnerware and start planning your holiday menu – why not consider bringing a little international flavor to the table? While we here in America might serve up a delicious Christmas turkey or honey baked ham, people around the world celebrate the holiday in very different ways. Here are some traditional Christmas dinners from around the world.
Germany
While a traditional German Christmas Celebration might last for 3 days, starting on Christmas Eve, the main meal on Christmas Day consists of a roast duck, goose or beef filet served with potatoes, dumplings, red cabbage and sprouts. Other popular German dishes include macaroni salad, suckling pig, weisswurst, reisbrei (porridge), lebkuchen (spice bars), and several types of bread (stollen).
Mexico
The main Christmas meal is served on Christmas Eve and varies, depending on the region of the country. Commonly served items include a wide variety of local fruits and vegetables including citrus fruits, jicama, beets, bananas, peanuts. In some states, pozole is served. Pozole is a stew made of either pork or beef with hominy in red chile sauce. Menudo is another commonly made stew that is made with beef tripe, hominy Рin a chile sauce. The desert of choice is atole Рa thinned hot chocolate-like pudding with fried bu̱uelos (flour tortillas sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar).
Poland, Ukraine
In many Eastern European countries, an elaborate 12 course dinner is served – one course for each of Christ’s twelve Apostles. The dishes are served on Christmas Eve and are all meatless – as there is a fast coinciding with the holiday that lasts through Christmas Eve until Christmas Day. In Poland and the Ukraine, the meal would start with Kutia, a sweet grain pudding. Poppy seeds are used symbolically throughout the meal because they represent abundance and prosperity.
Denmark
The Danes have a big Christmas Eve dinner as well – serving roasted pork, goose or duck. The meat course is served along with potatoes, red cabbage and gravy. For desert – a rice pudding with an almond hidden inside. Whoever finds the almond wins a prize!
Finland
Joulupöytä is the name of the food board served at Christmas in Finland. It’s similar in nature to the smorgasbord from Sweden. This traditional food board contains many different dishes, the main dish being a large Christmas ham. Fish is also served with the ham, as well as casseroles with liver and raisins, potatoes, rice and carrots.
France
In France, Christmas Eve is celebrated with a réveillon, which is a long dinner party. Commonly served dishes include goose or duck liver (foie gras), oysters, smoked salmon, lobster, roasted duck, goose or turkey with chestnuts and stuffing. For desert, the French serve a cake known as a La Buche de Noel, or Christmas log.
Netherlands
The Dutch host an evening-long event known as a “gourmet,” where small groups of people sit around a gourmet-set and use their own little fry pan to cook their own small portions of food. This sort of DIY approach was borrowed from Indonesia, a former Dutch colony. The host of a “gourmet” will have diced vegetables, meats, fish and seafood all prepared and ready to cook. Sauces, salads, and fruits are also available. Not everyone celebrates Christmas in this manner however; some Dutch celebrate in a more traditional way with roast beef, duck, rabbit, pheasant or ham.
United Kingdom and Ireland
Christmas dinner in the UK and Ireland typically consists of a roast turkey or goose, with ham, roasted potatoes, roasted veggies, stuffing, pigs in blankets, apple sauce – all served up on some fine Christmas dinnerware. And for dessert – Christmas pudding!
Why not start a new family tradition this holiday season by introducing a new dish or two to the menu? Thanks to Real Simple Magazine for some of these ideas. It’s really interesting to see how people all over the world celebrate the holiday. Show your family and friends just how worldly you are with one of these non-traditional American Christmas dishes. Who knows, you might even start a new Christmas dinner tradition of your own!