Culinary Themes
Christmas Dinner in Other Lands
We have discussed Christmas foods in other countries before, mostly from the US, the United Kingdom and Europe. Let’s put these Christmas-centered regions aside and see how the rest of the world celebrates the Christmas Holiday.
Australia
Christmas day occurs in their Summer, so Aussies serve cold meats such as ham, turkey and chicken accompanied by side salads. Barbecues are a way of life, especially seafood such as prawns, cuttlefish, and barramundi (freshwater fish) as well as lamb, steak and chicken. Favorite desserts are pavlova, (fruit atop a baked meringue) and panettone, which introduced years ago by Italian immigrants. A dense Christmas cake or pudding is served with with a small treat baked inside,
Brazil
In Brazil, the Christmas meal is served on Christmas Eve featuring roast turkey or pork loin, accompanied by garlicky kale, bowls of spicy rice and platters filled with ham and fresh salad, luscious fruits and Brazil nuts. Other traditional dishes reflecting the Portuguese and African heritage are Bacalhau, a fish dish made from dried salted cod and farofa - raw manioc flour roasted with butter, salt, bacon or smoked meat.
Colombia
The main dish can be pork, ham or Ajiaco Bogotano, a hearty chicken soup. Colombian Christmas dishes are mostly sweets and desserts, Some of the most popular dishes include: bunuelos, cheese fritters, Natilla a rich, custard, hojaldres, fried bread, brevas, (figs) with cheese, and cookies.
Peru
On Christmas Eve the extended family join together for a dinner of roast turkey stuffed with ground beef and peanuts,
decorated with fresh slices of pineapple, and white rice seasoned with garlic. Roast potatoes and uncooked sweetened apple puree are often served as well. The main dessert is panettone. Other desserts include marzipan made out of Brazil nuts and assorted bowls of raisins, peanuts. Hot chocolate is the favorite drink.
Jamaica
Christmas dinner baked ham is a staple on the Jamaican table along with spicy rice and fresh pigeon peas. Other main dishes are curried goat and jerk or coconut chicken. The Christmas cake (black cake) is an important part of the Jamaican Christmas, a heavy fruit cake made with dried fruit, wine and rum. Another favorite is sorrel drink, made from red sorrel petals into a a cold ice tea.
Dominican Republic
The big celebration is on Nochebuena, Christmas Eve. The dinner taken then is the most
substantial. Christmas Day is for left overs and recuperation. It starts with pasteles en hojasa tamales filled with meat, chicken, fish, cheese or vegetables or a mixture of some of these. The main dish is roast pork or chicken served with rice and pigeon peas in coconut milk and a corn pudding. Other traditional sides are Russian potato salad American style macaroni salad and a green salad. Afterwards there is a substantial fruit platter of oranges, apples, bananas, grapes, and mangos or cheese and guava fruit.
Phillippines
Filipinos are proud to proclaim their Christmas celebration to be the longest and merriest in the world. It begins formally on December 16 with attendance at the first of nine pre-dawn or early morning masses and continues on nonstop until the first Sunday of January, Feast of the Three Kings, the official end of the seaso
n. Christmas dinner is held before midnight of December 24. Food is in abundance, often served buffet style. The centerpiece is often the hamón a cured ham or pan-fried roast pork. served with edam cheese. The banquet table will also include ox tails in peanut sauce, lumpia, their signature spring roll, pancit, a noodle dish made with sliced meat and vegetables, a fish escabeche, an adobo dish, stuffed chicken, and mechado (beef stew). Unique to the Philippines are bibingka a grilled sweetened rice cake and puto bombing, traditional dessert made with rice flour, sugar, clarified butter and coconut milk, baked in layers and topped with butter and sugar. A rich thick cocoa is the favorite drink.
Portugal
As in Spain, the traditional Christmas meal in Portugal is eaten during the evening of Christmas Eve and consists of codfish with vegetables and boiled potatoes, boiled eggs, chickpeas, and onions, all accompanied with generous amounts of olive oil. This is usually followed by shellfish, roasted goat or roasted lamb or boiled octopus. Every house has a substantial table set in the living room full with traditional food, cakes, fried cookies, nuts and other goodies. The traditional Christmas cake is 'Bolo Rei' (‘King Cake') and is placed in the center of the table. People drink port wine, and eat 'azevias' and 'felhozes' (sweet empanadas and fried dough). The party lasts until the early hours of the morning! On Christmas Day the living room table remains untouched and people continue to enjoy their leftovers, celebrating a Christmas Day lunch together.
Iceland
The Christmas dinner is eaten on Christmas Eve at 6 PM, "the day of stocking up". The
main dish varies much between families. The most common is probably Hamborgarhryggur, a thick ham steak. Other special dishes are smoked and boiled lamb, Þorláksmessa - fermented (putrified) skate or shark served with potatoes, lamb fat and salted pork ribs, along with wild birds such as ptarmigan and puffin and roast goose, accompanied with peas, red cabbage and onions. For dessert, they serve a Christmas almond rice pudding topped with raisins, cinnamon and sugar. Cookies are very popular, especially ginger cookies and biscuits. Gulag, hot spiced wine is the drink of choice.
Hhmmhh, by now you should be considering some of these international dishes for this Christmas. I think that I will take a pass on the icelandic foods, especially considering that it takes days to clear the air of the ammonia smell from Þorláksmessa and wild sea birds, Puffin, Cormorant and Black Backed Gull taste like stinky old fish. Boiled lamb doesn’t excite me either. Think I’ll stick to the Gulag.
Australia
Christmas day occurs in their Summer, so Aussies serve cold meats such as ham, turkey and chicken accompanied by side salads. Barbecues are a way of life, especially seafood such as prawns, cuttlefish, and barramundi (freshwater fish) as well as lamb, steak and chicken. Favorite desserts are pavlova, (fruit atop a baked meringue) and panettone, which introduced years ago by Italian immigrants. A dense Christmas cake or pudding is served with with a small treat baked inside,
Brazil
In Brazil, the Christmas meal is served on Christmas Eve featuring roast turkey or pork loin, accompanied by garlicky kale, bowls of spicy rice and platters filled with ham and fresh salad, luscious fruits and Brazil nuts. Other traditional dishes reflecting the Portuguese and African heritage are Bacalhau, a fish dish made from dried salted cod and farofa - raw manioc flour roasted with butter, salt, bacon or smoked meat.Colombia
The main dish can be pork, ham or Ajiaco Bogotano, a hearty chicken soup. Colombian Christmas dishes are mostly sweets and desserts, Some of the most popular dishes include: bunuelos, cheese fritters, Natilla a rich, custard, hojaldres, fried bread, brevas, (figs) with cheese, and cookies.
Peru
On Christmas Eve the extended family join together for a dinner of roast turkey stuffed with ground beef and peanuts,
decorated with fresh slices of pineapple, and white rice seasoned with garlic. Roast potatoes and uncooked sweetened apple puree are often served as well. The main dessert is panettone. Other desserts include marzipan made out of Brazil nuts and assorted bowls of raisins, peanuts. Hot chocolate is the favorite drink.Jamaica
Christmas dinner baked ham is a staple on the Jamaican table along with spicy rice and fresh pigeon peas. Other main dishes are curried goat and jerk or coconut chicken. The Christmas cake (black cake) is an important part of the Jamaican Christmas, a heavy fruit cake made with dried fruit, wine and rum. Another favorite is sorrel drink, made from red sorrel petals into a a cold ice tea.
Dominican Republic
The big celebration is on Nochebuena, Christmas Eve. The dinner taken then is the most
substantial. Christmas Day is for left overs and recuperation. It starts with pasteles en hojasa tamales filled with meat, chicken, fish, cheese or vegetables or a mixture of some of these. The main dish is roast pork or chicken served with rice and pigeon peas in coconut milk and a corn pudding. Other traditional sides are Russian potato salad American style macaroni salad and a green salad. Afterwards there is a substantial fruit platter of oranges, apples, bananas, grapes, and mangos or cheese and guava fruit. Phillippines
Filipinos are proud to proclaim their Christmas celebration to be the longest and merriest in the world. It begins formally on December 16 with attendance at the first of nine pre-dawn or early morning masses and continues on nonstop until the first Sunday of January, Feast of the Three Kings, the official end of the seaso
n. Christmas dinner is held before midnight of December 24. Food is in abundance, often served buffet style. The centerpiece is often the hamón a cured ham or pan-fried roast pork. served with edam cheese. The banquet table will also include ox tails in peanut sauce, lumpia, their signature spring roll, pancit, a noodle dish made with sliced meat and vegetables, a fish escabeche, an adobo dish, stuffed chicken, and mechado (beef stew). Unique to the Philippines are bibingka a grilled sweetened rice cake and puto bombing, traditional dessert made with rice flour, sugar, clarified butter and coconut milk, baked in layers and topped with butter and sugar. A rich thick cocoa is the favorite drink.Portugal
As in Spain, the traditional Christmas meal in Portugal is eaten during the evening of Christmas Eve and consists of codfish with vegetables and boiled potatoes, boiled eggs, chickpeas, and onions, all accompanied with generous amounts of olive oil. This is usually followed by shellfish, roasted goat or roasted lamb or boiled octopus. Every house has a substantial table set in the living room full with traditional food, cakes, fried cookies, nuts and other goodies. The traditional Christmas cake is 'Bolo Rei' (‘King Cake') and is placed in the center of the table. People drink port wine, and eat 'azevias' and 'felhozes' (sweet empanadas and fried dough). The party lasts until the early hours of the morning! On Christmas Day the living room table remains untouched and people continue to enjoy their leftovers, celebrating a Christmas Day lunch together.
Iceland
The Christmas dinner is eaten on Christmas Eve at 6 PM, "the day of stocking up". The
main dish varies much between families. The most common is probably Hamborgarhryggur, a thick ham steak. Other special dishes are smoked and boiled lamb, Þorláksmessa - fermented (putrified) skate or shark served with potatoes, lamb fat and salted pork ribs, along with wild birds such as ptarmigan and puffin and roast goose, accompanied with peas, red cabbage and onions. For dessert, they serve a Christmas almond rice pudding topped with raisins, cinnamon and sugar. Cookies are very popular, especially ginger cookies and biscuits. Gulag, hot spiced wine is the drink of choice. Hhmmhh, by now you should be considering some of these international dishes for this Christmas. I think that I will take a pass on the icelandic foods, especially considering that it takes days to clear the air of the ammonia smell from Þorláksmessa and wild sea birds, Puffin, Cormorant and Black Backed Gull taste like stinky old fish. Boiled lamb doesn’t excite me either. Think I’ll stick to the Gulag.
