Merry Christmas Month! It’s Festive Friday and this week we’re looking at some Christmassy foods from around the world! Who’s up for a culinary adventure?
Netherlands
Usually a traditional Christmas meal in the Netherlands starts with shrimp cocktail, soup, and game meats like goose, venison, or pheasant. A traditional Dutch Christmas dish is Kerstkrans bread, filled with dried fruits and almond paste in the middle. Better than fruitcake for sure!
Iceland
Believe it or not, the Icelandic locals typically feast on puffin (a very adorable bird) or… reindeer! But maybe they can spare Rudolph?
Australia
It’s a warm and summery holiday Down Under! It’s common to have a picnic outside for Christmas, and they likely throw some shrimp on the barbie as well. For dessert, Pavlova is a common Christmas sweet.
Egypt
Longing for an Egyptian Christmas? You’ll actually have to wait a couple of weeks! They still use the Coptic Calendar, so Christmas lands on January 6 instead. The traditional meal consists of stewed lamb with rice. Instead of cinnamon and allspice, garlic is the seasoning of choice.
Japan
The vast majority of the Japanese people are either Shinto or Buddhist; a very small percentage are Christian or other religion, so Christmas is not an officially recognized holiday. But they do have a special food tradition–KFC! KFC’s Christmas Chicken Dinner can be ordered months in advance, and it comes with Champagne and cake!
America
Christmas has a distinctive scent and flavor in the United States. Cinnamon, cloves, allspice, cranberries, pumpkin, and more give the season its flavor! Christmas cookies are a must, and Christmas beverages include mulled cider, peppermint mochas, hot cocoa with marshmallows, and eggnog (traditional, but not for everyone). There’s nothing better to me than cocoa with marshmallows, sugar cookies, and a little Christmas music!
How do you celebrate Christmas from the food perspective? Do you have any traditional treats?
In Italy, Panettone and Pandoro are the traditional sweets for the season. Panettone is a sweet, bread cake filled with raisins and candied fruit, while Pandoro is plain and more brioche-like, dusted in confectioner’s sugar.
Yum! Will we be tasting these Italian sweets at the Ladies’ Christmas Party?