When it comes to Christmas dinner it isn’t normal for us to have the same kind of dinner like every year. But aren’t we a bit curious about what other cultures eat during the most wonderful time of the year? Here we share some Christmas food traditions from around the world.
Food Traditions from Spain to USA
Spain for example, where most families eat their main Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve before the service in the church. It is traditional for most Spanish people to eat ‘pavo trufado de Navidad’ which is turkey stuffed with mushrooms. On Christmas day, seafood is really popular in this country. From lobster to shrimp, they eat it all.
Image: Pavo trufado de Navidad
In Italy, most families avoid meat on Christmas Eve in favour of The Feast of the Seven Fishes. They eat seven different kinds of fish to celebrate the midnight birth of Jesus. The long tradition of eating seafood on Christmas Eve dates from the Roman Catholics. But why seven kinds of fish and not eight? That’s because seven is the most repeated number in the Bible. It appears over 700 times!
Image: The Feast of the Seven Fishes
In Germany, where roast goose and red cabbage are the main course on the Christmas table, legend has it that those who do not dine well on Christmas Eve will be haunted by demons. So you may want to think twice when you want to leave the Christmas table early in Germany!
Image: Roast goose and red cabbage
We all know that in the USA it’s roast all the way. A typical American Christmas feast contains lots of meat, especially turkey and roasts, mashed potatoes and gravy, lots of gravy. They usually end their feast with a homemade pumpkin pie.
Image: American Christmas meal
The Dutch Christmas dinner isn’t that different from an American Christmas feast. Mostly on the first day of Christmas it is exactly the same, but the Dutch do have their own food tradition on the second Christmas day. That tradition is called: gourmet. The people in the Netherlands gather around their gourmet grilling devices and put them right on the Christmas table. You can see gourmet as a mini barbeque on the table. Everyone gets a little pan and spatula to prepare themselves vegetables and tiny pieces of meat. Gourmet is a fun way and popular to celebrate Christmas. About 45% of Dutch families gourmets on Christmas.
Image: Dutch gourmet
I don’t know about you, but I am already hungry and excited for Christmas right now. Writing about food traditions around the world makes me want to eat! The Grid BCN wishes you all a Happy Christmas and may you enjoy your family tradition and feast into 2017!
