Christmas Food Traditions Around The World
What’s on your festive menu this year?
Ever wondered what people around the world are eating while you’re tucking into your Christmas dinner? Are we the only nation to endure sprouts on Christmas day? Is everyone as obsessed about gravy as us? We wondered the same. So we took a (virtual) trip to look at traditional Christmas food around the world to inspire the festive season. Starting with Southern Italy…
A seafood celebration in Southern Italy
For many, you wouldn’t think a feast of fish is particularly Christmassy. Instead, it might conjure up memories of warm sun, sand between your toes, and excellent sushi. But in Italy, namely Southern coastal cities, and some parts of North America, the Feast of the Seven Fishes is as classic as carving turkey and fighting over the last pig-in-blanket. This tradition comes to light after a full day of fasting on Christmas Eve where, in the early hours of the morning after midnight mass, a great feast is served. Although there are no specific must-use fish for the celebration, what’s found on the table will vary from city to city, from eel and squid to clams and salted cod, alongside an array of pastas, desserts and antipasti.
Masa in Mexico
If you’ve ever taken on cooking Christmas dinner, you’ll be well aware of the extra-special dishes you only make a few times a year. In Mexico, and many Central and South American cultures, tamales are a core, comforting food served for such events, including Christmas. During the festive period, family and friends come together for tamalada, a tamale-making production line-style party where everyone can join in the fun, young and old. Although every family has their own recipe, tamales start with masa, a dough made of corn flour, stuffed with delicious seasoned meat, beans, cheese and even sweet ingredients. It’s then wrapped and steamed in a corn husk and served ready to unwrap, just like a Christmas present.
A holiday classic in Armenia
In Armenia, Ghapama is served in autumn and around the Christmas period, especially between New Year and Armenian Christmas on the 6th January. This buttery, baked stuffed pumpkin could class as a dessert, side or main dish, but how people enjoy it really depends on them. Using a tasty combination of nuts, dried fruit, Basmati rice, and a mix of honey and cinnamon, it’s so good it even has a song written about it.
For a more savoury and year-round dinner idea, why not try our stuffed butternut squash recipe here?
Tradition-rich Kutia in Ukraine
As an essential Christmas Eve dish, Kutia is a must for many tables across the Ukraine. This sweet porridge of grains, honey, dried berries, nuts and poppy seeds comes from a long, long line of ancient tradition and is the first thing tasted on Christmas Eve. Afterwards, families can enjoy the rest of the 12 dishes for Svyata vecherya (supper prepared to commemorate Jesus’ 12 disciples). As a strongly symbolic dish, rituals can vary from household to household, from throwing a spoonful first at the ceiling and window for happiness and good harvest, to leaving spoons on the table for the spirits of family members that have passed on. Similar varieties of this dish are also found on tables across Poland, Russia, Belarus, Romania, Greece and more.
Christmas comes early in the Philippines
In the Philippines, Christmas is a highly anticipated and greatly celebrated time of year, showcasing seasonal music, bright, colourful lanterns, and delicious food as early as September. A particular best-selling street food is the fluffy sweetened rice cake Bibingka, baked in terracotta pots lined with banana leaves. Traditionally, Bibingka is made by soaking and fermenting glutinous rice before grinding it into a batter with coconut milk, water and sugar, though modern methods often use normal rice flour. This is then topped with ingredients like sliced salted egg, cheese, butter, sugar and coconut, and best enjoyed warm.
Slow-roasted Pernil in Puerto Rico
In the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico, cooking the Christmas roast low and slow is a family tradition. While the main celebration is on Christmas Eve or La Nochebuena, preparing the Pernil can begin days earlier. A large pork joint is marinated with a mix of oregano, salt, olive oil, peppercorns, garlic, and other spices. Then it’s slow-roasted until the meat is tender enough to fall off your fork, and the skin turns into deliciously golden chicharrones (crackling). Pernil is traditionally served with ‘arroz con gandules (orange rice with pigeon peas) and pasteles’, which are a Puerto Rican version of tamales wrapped in banana leaves.
Panettone with Brazilian flair
Everyone loves a Panettone at Christmas, but in Brazil they naturally give this sweet bread dessert a South American twist. With its light and fluffy texture, the Panettone is studded with plump raisins, candied fruits, and hints of citrus zest. But what really sets the Brazilian version apart is its tropical twist, with exotic fruits including coconut, pineapple, and guava. Then it’s all about the dressings, pour on a mixture of chocolate and cream and then top that with ice-cream and caramel.
A delightful Danish dessert
It’s all about the rice in Denmark’s traditional festive dessert, Risalamande. The name is derived from the French ‘Riz à l’amande’, meaning rice with almonds. Creamy rice pudding mixed with vanilla and crunchy almonds is topped by a warm cherry sauce, adding a burst of fruity sweetness. On Christmas Eve, a whole almond is added and whoever finds it first will receive an extra gift. It’s traditional for children to leave a bowl of Risalamande outside for Nisser, the Christmas elves. Finding an empty bowl in the morning is proof that Nisser are real.
It’s always Braai time in South Africa
In South Africa, you don’t need a special occasion to break out the Braai. But on Christmas Day, many families will gather around an open fire outdoors to barbecue the festive feast. And no Braai is complete without Boerewors, a traditional South African sausage made of beef, pork or lamb that’s rolled into a continuous spiral. By law, Boerewors must be at least 90% meat with no more than 30% fat. It is often served with pap, a hearty porridge made with polenta or mealie-meal.
A warm start to the day in Finland
This dish is simple but super warming – which is just as well as the average temperature in Finland is -4°C. Finnish rice porridge is traditionally eaten for breakfast on Christmas Eve. It was once made from barley or grit, but it now tends to be made from rice. It’s boiled with milk or made in the oven (depending on where you are) – and served with cinnamon and sugar, a plum sauce, or a mix of boiled dried fruits. In some cases, a blanched almond is hidden in the pot. If you’re lucky enough to find it in your bowl, you’re granted good fortune for the coming year.
Rice is twice as nice in Nigeria
There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to Christmas in Nigeria, except that rice is a core ingredient for feeding friends, family and loved ones. As one of the most popular Nigerian meals, Jollof rice is a star at the festive table, especially as it’s quick to cook, packs in tonnes of flavour, and you can make plenty enough for leftovers or for guests to take away. Likewise, fragrant fried rice is often served up with tasty side dishes, like chicken stew, fried plantains, salad and coleslaw.
Fancy trying something a little different this year? Find our Jollof rice recipes here.
Deliciously diverse dishes in India
With such a diverse mix of traditions and culture, a Christmas menu in India is never boring. Some households may enjoy a plate of Nga Atoiba Thongba – a type of fish curry with potatoes and pears – served alongside steamed rice. For others it might be a chicken or mutton biryani. Wherever it’s celebrated, tables are often laden with meats, breads, sticky and spiced rice sides, and plenty of sweets – like plum Christmas cakes and kheer rice pudding, flavoured with coconut, raisins and nuts.
Our Kheer rice pudding will add something a bit special to the table, the full recipe can be found here.
Hangi-ing about in New Zealand
Unlike the jumper-clutching, breath-fogging mornings of Christmas as we know it, New Zealand’s festive celebration comes in the middle of summer. Rather than having a hot lunch sitting around a table, many New Zealanders opt for a BBQ or seaside picnic, heroing local produce and sublime seafood, served with refreshing salads and flavour-punching rice sides.
For Maori families, a traditional hangi could be the preferred way to come together to celebrate the day. Hangi is a method of underground cooking where baskets of meat and vegetables, wrapped in flax or banana leaves, are placed on top of preheated stones, covered with a wet cloth and buried in the earth for several hours.
Family, spice and style in Jamaica
In Jamaica, Christmas is a time for family, friends and getting together with loved ones – and food is at the heart of this tradition. For most Jamaicans, Christmas morning starts with a traditional breakfast of boiled bananas, ackee, saltfish and breadfruit. Then for dinner, the real stars of the table are lovingly prepared dishes like baked ham studded with pineapple, curried goat, stewed pork and oxtail – all served with rice and seasonal gungo peas. And you can’t be expected to enjoy a slice of rum-soaked black cake without a glass of sweet sorrel wine (Jamaica’s version of mulled wine) on the side.
Are you tempted to swerve the sprouts this year? We hope our Christmas dinners around the world inspired you.
