Christmas dinners around the world

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Christmas is almost here, and everybody knows that the Christmas dinner is one of the most crucial parts of the entire holiday. So what happens if you are on holiday on Christmas and the good old traditional dishes that you are used to are not available? Well, as the saying goes, when in Rome, do as Romans do.

Christmas dinner is a big deal wherever you go, and one thing that you can be sure of is that your taste buds won’t be neglected. So here are some of the Christmas meals that you can expect in other parts of the world.

France

As France is known to be the home of fine cuisine, you can expect great things out of a traditional French Christmas dinner. In France, it is called the Réveillon, and it is eaten not only on Christmas eve, but also on the days preceding it. It is a lengthy affair which usually ends at midnight, so it’s definitely not recommended to go with a full stomach.

The food served at Réveillon is exceptionally rich and fancy. You can expect appetizers made of oysters, lobster, foie gras and escargots, and the mail dish is traditionally turkey stuffed with chestnuts. The desert is usually a Bûche de Noël, a rich chocolate buttercream cake, and in Provence there are 13 additional desserts that include various fruit and cakes.

Germany

Dresden Stollen

In Germany, the main Christmas dinner dishes are roast goose and roast carp, so there’s not much room for vegetarians here either, and in some places you might even be served suckling pig roasted whole. The side dishes are an art in themselves: mainly potatoes and cabbage prepared in a variety of artful ways.

The desserts are almost more important than the main dishes, and there are so many of them that you will need to eat less for dinner in order to leave some space in your stomach for all the marzipan, lebkuchen, Dresden Stollen and fruit breads.

Philippines

In Philippines, Christmas dinner is a very serious affair, and a lot of effort is put into preparing the delicious meals. Dinner is usually served late, after the midnight mass, and it consists of the Christmas Ham, the Queso de Bola, a ball of Edam cheese prepared in a special way, spit-roasted pig, stuffed chicken, beef stew and many other delicacies. The dinner is accompanied by hot chocolate made of locally grown cocoa beans.

The Netherlands

In the Netherlands, Christmas dinner can be a bit different than in other countries, because in the gourmet tradition, people cook their own portions right during dinner. The host offers the guests a selection of chopped vegetables, meat, fish and seafood, and the guests will cook their portions in small frying pans, and eat them with side dishes of salad and fruit. Of course, more traditional dinners are also eaten, like roasted game with vegetables, and UK style roast turkey is becoming increasingly popular.

Mexico

Christmas dinner in Mexico varies from region to region, but it always consists of a large number of amazing dishes. Stews are usually served, mostly pozole made of beef or pork and hominy, menudo (beef stomach in broth) with lots of chili sauce, cod fish prepared in different ways, and of course, tamales.

The desserts are also something to look forward to, especially the bunuelos in cinnamon syrup and the sweet tamales with raisins or strawberries.

If you want to get to know more Holiday traditions, check out Top 10 Christmas Destinations, you will also find it useful if you need some inspiration for your next Christmas trip.

Read Also: Five Christmas traditions worth Travelling for

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chuck wrote on January 3, 2011:

Stollen is my favorite cake.

 

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