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| my pretty Christmas tree :) |
Can you believe that Christmas is only two days away? I
certainly can’t. This year has flown by at the speed of sound, and part of me
is grateful for it. Something else I’m grateful for is the fact that Christmas
dinner at the Lewis household will be less traditional than usual.
Basically, it’s just my mom, dad and I this year and after
our enormous and beautiful Thanksgiving meal, we sort of decided that we wanted
to keep things quiet with a tri-tip roast, one of my own personal favorite cuts
of meat. The tri-tip is a cut of beef from the bottom sirloin primal cut, and absolutely amazing.
Just thinking about this year’s non-traditional Christmas
feast got me thinking about Christmas’ around the world. Keep reading to learn more about the various traditions from around the world!
ListVerse of all sources held the answers I had
about international holiday cuisine, from Eastern Europe, to Finland, to Denmark and to the UK.
Eastern Europe
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| Polish traditional Christmas cookies photo: easteuropeanfood.com |
In the areas of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
(e.g., Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania), an elaborate and ritualized meal of twelve
meatless dishes is served on the Eve of Christmas (24th December). Why? This is
because the pre-Christmas season is a time of fasting, which is broken on
Christmas Day. As is typical of Slavic cultures, great pains are taken to
honor the spirits of deceased relatives, including setting a place and dishing
out food for them.
A traditional Christmas meal in the Czech Republic is fried
carp and potato salad. This tradition started
after excessive increase of fishpond cultivation in the Baroque era. Many
households also prepare a great variety of special Christmas biscuits to offer
to Christmas visitors. These preparations take place many days and weeks prior
to the feast and take a long time to decorate with the remainder usually ending
up on a Christmas tree as
a decoration.
Peru
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| Traditional ground beef stuffed Turkey photo: livinginperu.com |
On Christmas Eve (Noche Buena), the extended family join
together for a succulent dinner around the turkey, stuffed with ground beef and
peanuts and decorated with fresh slices of pineapple and cherries; roast
potatoes and apple sauce. The desserts include marzipan and assorted bowls with
raisins, almonds and the panettone, accompanied by a cup of thick hot
chocolate. At midnight, a toast is made, and good wishes and hugs are
exchanged. A designated person runs to put Child Jesus in the Nativity scene.
Then, the family members take their seat in the dinning room while singing
Christmas Carols.
Finland
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| Christmas Ham photo: freedictionary.com |
Joulupöytä (translated “Christmas table”)
is the name of the traditional food board served at Christmas in Finland,
similar to the Swedish smörgåsbord. It contains many different dishes, most of
them typical for the season. The main dish is usually a large Christmas ham,
which is eaten with mustard or bread along with the other dishes. Fish is also
served (often lutefisk and gravlax), and with the ham there are also laatikot,
casseroles with liver and raisins, as well as potatoes, rice, and carrots. The
traditional Christmas beverage is either alcoholic or non-alcoholic mulled wine
(glögi in Finnish).
Canada
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| Turkey, stuffing, potatoes and veggies photo: listverse.com |
In English Canada, Christmas dinner is
similar to that of its colonial ancestor, England, as well as to its neighbor
the United States. Traditional Christmas dinner features turkey with stuffing
(dressing), mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, vegetables and plum
pudding for dessert. Eggnog, a milk-based punch that is often infused with
alcohol, is also very popular around the holiday season. Other Christmas items
include butter tarts and shortbread, which are traditionally baked before the
holidays and served to visiting friends, at various Christmas and NewYear parties,
as well as on Christmas day.
Other ethnic communities may continue to use old world traditions as
well. For example, a Ukrainian Canadian family may eat a traditional Christmas
meal of 12 meatless dishes, or may simply add perogies to a westernized meal.
In French Canada, traditions may be more like those of France.
Denmark
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| Roasted Goose photo: theworldwidewine.com |
In Denmark the traditional Christmas meal served on December
24th consists of either roasted pork, goose or duck. This is served along with
potatoes, red cabbage and plenty of gravy. It is followed with a dessert of
rice pudding, often with an almond hidden inside, the lucky finder of which is
entitled to a present referred to as the almond gift. Traditional Christmas
drinks are Gløgg (pictured above) and traditional Christmas beers, specially
brewed for the season. These usually have a high alcohol percentage.
Netherlands
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| Small portions of veggies, roasted duck leg and roast beef photo: about.com |
Christmas dinner in The Netherlands is a bit different from
customs in neighbouring countries. One typical Dutch tradition is that of
‘gourmet’. This is an evening long event where small groups of people sit
together around a gourmet-set and use their own little frying pan to cook and
season their own food in very small portions. The host has prepared finely
chopped vegetables and different types of meats, fish and prawns/shrimps.
Everything is accompanied by different salads, fruits and sauces. The origin of
gourmet lies most likely in the former Dutch colony Indonesia.
The Dutch also enjoy more traditional Christmas-dinners,
like roast beef, duck, rabbit, pheasant or roasted or glazed ham. This
generally served with different types of vegetables, potatoes and salads. In
recent years, traditions from Anglo-Saxon countries have become increasingly
popular, most notably the UK-style turkey. Pictured above is the Dutch version
of Santa Claus.
France
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| La Buche de Noel photo: alfoledo.com |
In France and some other French-speaking countries, a
réveillon is a long dinner, and possibly party, held on the evenings preceding
Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. The name of this dinner is based on the word
réveil (meaning “waking”), because participation involves staying awake until
midnight and beyond. Common dishes include goose or duck liver (foie gras);
oysters; smoked salmon; lobster; roasted duck, goose or turkey with chestnuts
and stuffing; and, for dessert, a traditional christmas cake called “La Buche
de Noel” (Christmas log), a cream cake that comes in different flavours
(chocolate, hazelnut…) and which has the shape of a log. The beverage served is
traditionally Champagne. In Provence, the tradition of the 13 desserts is
followed: 13 desserts are served, almost invariably including: pompe à l’huile
(a flavoured bread), dates, etc.
New Zeland
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| Pavlova mirror.co.uk |
The Christmas customs of New Zealand are largely identical
to the United Kingdom due to its status as a former British colony, the ethnic
Caucasian population being almost exclusively British or Irish in descent, and
the still pervasive British cultural influence on the country courtesy of
constant movements of people between New Zealand and the UK. Christmas dinner
consists of roast turkey, roast vegetables, stuffing (or dressing, as it is
known in North America), cranberry sauce. Alternatively, roast ham may be
offered as a main course and lamb is also very popular.
One important exception from British dinner is the absence
of goose, as it is not raised in New Zealand and the government prohibits
importing foreign meat products. Desserts are almost without exception mince
pies or Christmas pudding (or plum pudding) and brandy butter, inherited from
British practices. Enjoyment of non-British Christmas foods, such as stollen
from Germany, Bûche de Noël from France, and panettone from Italy, was
virtually unheard of in New Zealand until the late 1990s and is still extremely
rare today. Due to New Zealanders celebrating Christmas in the summer, it is
also common to barbecue, and eat seasonal fruit such as cherries and
strawberries. Pictured above is a Pavlova – a typical New Zealand meringue
based pudding often served at Christmas (and throughout the year).
United Kingdom
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| wishbone google images |
Christmas dinner in the United Kingdom (and Commonwealth
nations) is usually eaten in the afternoon. Dinner in the United Kingdom and in
Ireland usually consists of roast turkey or roast goose (although duck is
common alternatives depending on the number of diners), sometimes with ham or,
to a lesser extent, pork; roast potatoes; vegetables (usually boiled or
steamed), particularly brussels sprouts; stuffing; chipolatas or pigs in
blankets; cranberry sauce; with dessert of Christmas pudding (or plum pudding)
and brandy butter.
A common tradition in the United Kingdom is to use the
turkey’s wishbone to make a wish. Two people pull opposite ends of the wishbone
until it breaks, with the person holding the larger fragment of the bone making
a wish. The dessert of a British Christmas Dinner is almost always Christmas
Pudding. Mince pies, a Christmas Cake or a Yule Log may also be eaten.
What are your favorite traditional or non-traditional
holiday meals? What are you doing this year?
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