Vitello tonnato is a popular Christmas dish in Argentina, where it is known as vitel toné. The Piedmontese dish is valued during the summer for its cold serving temperature, and is the legacy of the large Italian immigration to the country.[1]
Panettone (known locally as pan dulce) and turrón are the most popular Christmas sweets in Argentina regardless of socioeconomic status, with 76% of Argentines choosing the former and 59% the latter in 2015.[2]Mantecol, a typical peanut dessert, is also popular, being favored by 49% of Argentines in the same survey.[3]Sparkling wines, ciders and frizzantes concentrate most of their sales during Christmas season; sparkling wine is mostly consumed by small families with high and medium socioeconomic status living in Greater Buenos Aires and the country's largest cities, while cider and frizzantes are popular among lower classes and large families.[3]
Before the Christmas holidays, many kinds of sweet biscuits are prepared. These sweet biscuits are then served during the whole Christmas period and exchanged among friends and neighbours. Also very popular are a preparation of small gingerbreads garnished by sugar icing.
Christmas smorgasbord from Finland, "Joulupöytä", (translated "Yule table"), a traditional display of Christmas food[27] served at Christmas in Finland, similar to the Swedish smörgåsbord, including:
Thirteen desserts (Provence):[29] The thirteen desserts are the traditional Christmas dessert in the French region of Provence. The Christmas supper ends with 13 dessert items, representing Jesus Christ and the 12 apostles. The desserts are traditionally set out Christmas Eve and remain on the table three days until December 27.[32]
Christstollen[33] – Stollen is a fruitcake with bits of candied fruits, raisins, walnuts and almonds and spices such as cardamom and cinnamon; sprinkled with confectioners sugar. Often there's also a core of marzipan.[34]
Pfefferkuchenhaus – a gingerbread house decorated with candies, sweets and sugar icing (in reference to the gingerbread house of the fairy tale Hänsel and Gretel)
Laufabrauð – round, very thin flat cakes with a diameter of about 15 to 20 cm (6 to 8 inches), decorated with leaf-like, geometric patterns and fried briefly in hot fat or oil
Kheer – boiled rice cooked with milk, sugar, saffron and is garnished with nuts such as almonds and pistachios. It can also be made with barley.
Chhena Poda – a dessert made with Chhena (cottage cheese) which is slightly roasted and soaked in sugar syrup. It is garnished with cashew nuts and served. Chhena Poda is popular in the Odisha state of India. It is eaten during the Christmas season but is available throughout the year.
The Koswad is a set of sweets and snacks prepared in the Christmastide by people of the Konkan region. South Indian states such as Kerala have traditions observed of home-brewed wine, mostly grapes but sometimes other fruits as well like Apple & Rose Apple; ethnic recipes of slow-cooked beef fry, Rice & Coconut Hoppers, Lamb stew, Fried Rice Indian and Fusion Style; Desserts such as Falooda, pastry, and a whole array of steamed, boiled or baked sweets, often with coconut, jaggery, sugar and spices such as cardamom & cloves (Achappam, Murukku, Tapioca chip, Sukiyan, Neyyappam).
Cappelletti (Emilia-Romagna and Marche) – a ring-shaped Italianstuffed pasta so called for the characteristic shape that resembles a hat (cappello in Italian).
Torrone (Northern Italy) – a sweet containing whole hazelnuts, almonds and pistachios or only have nut meal added to the nougat.
Veneziana (Milan) – a sweet covered with sugar grains or almond icing.
Zelten (Trentino) – a sweet prepared using rye flour, wheat flour, dried and candied fruits, orange zest, and various spices.
Jamaica
Christmas (fruit) cake or black cake – a heavy fruit cake made with dried fruit, wine and rum.
Sorrel – often served to guests with Christmas cake; Sorrel is made from the same sepals as Latin American drink "Jamaica," but is more concentrated and usually flavored with ginger. Adding rum is traditional at Christmas time.
Rice and peas – a Sunday staple, at Christmas dinner is usually made with green (fresh) gungo (pigeon) peas instead of dried kidney beans or other dried legumes.
Christmas cake – the Japanese style Christmas cake is often a white cream cake, sponge cake frosted with whipped cream, topped with strawberries and with a chocolate plate that says Merry Christmas.[50]Yule Logs are also available.
Christmas cookies - A Christmas sugar cookie's main ingredients are sugar, flour, butter, eggs, vanilla, and baking powder. Sugar cookies may be formed by hand, dropped, or rolled and cut into shapes. They are commonly decorated with additional sugar, icing, Christmas sprinkles. Decorative shapes and figures can be cut into the rolled-out dough using a cookie cutter.
Christmas cupcakes
Crème caramelpudding in Japan - a crème caramel ubiquitous in Japanese convenience stores under the name custard pudding. Made with eggs, sugar and milk, sometimes served with whipped cream and a cherry on top.
Fruitparfait - Made by boiling cream, egg, sugar and syrup to create layers differentiated by the inclusion of such ingredients as corn flakes and vanilla ice cream. Topped with melon, banana, peach, orange, apple, kiwi, cherries and strawberries and whipped cream.
KFCfried chicken – turkey as a dish is virtually unknown in Japan[51] and the popularity of KFC's fried chicken at Christmas is such that orders are placed as much as two months in advance.[52]
Twelve-dish Christmas Eve supper – twelve dishes representing the twelve Apostles or twelve months of the year – plays the main role in Lithuanian Christmas tradition. The traditional dishes are served on December 24.
Menudo – a Christmas morning tradition in northwestern states, Menudo is a tripe and hominy soup. Menudo is often prepared the night before (Christmas Eve) as its cooking time can take up to 5 hours.
Tamales – can sometimes replace the traditional turkey or Bacalao with romeritos, particularly in northern and southern parts of Mexico.
Ensalada Navideña – Christmas salad with apples, raisins, pecans, and marshmallows.
Ensalada de Noche Buena – Christmas Eve salad
Ensalada Rusa – potato salad, particularly popular in northern states.
Romeritos – also a Christmas tradition of the central region, romeritos are small green leaves similar to Rosemary mixed generally with mole and potatoes.
Ponche Navideño – a hot, sweet drink made with apples, sugar cane, prunes and tejocotes. For grown-ups, ponche is never complete without its "piquete" – either tequila or rum
Julepølse – pork sausage made with powdered ginger, cloves, mustard seeds and nutmeg. Served steamed or roasted.
Pinnekjøtt/Pinnekjøt – salted, dried, and sometimes smoked lamb's ribs which are rehydrated and then steamed, traditionally over birch branches
Svineribbe – pork belly roasted whole with the skin on. Usually served with red or pickled cabbage, gravy and boiled potatoes.
Risgrøt – Christmas rice porridge with an almond hidden inside
Julebrus – Norwegian soft drink, usually with a festive label on the bottle. It is brewed by most Norwegian breweries, as a Christmas drink for minors.
Julekake – Norwegian yeast cake with dried fruits and spices
Sosisser – small Christmas sausages
Medisterkaker – large meatballs made from a mix of pork meat and pork fat
Raudkål/Rødkål – sweet and sour red cabbage, as a side dish
Kålrabistappe/Kålrotstappe – Purée of rutabaga, as a side dish
Peparkake/Pepperkake – gingerbread-like spice cookies flavoured with black pepper
Puto bumbong – a purple-coloured Filipino dessert made of sweet rice cooked in hollow bamboo tubes placed on a special steamer-cooker. When cooked, they are spread with margarine and sprinkled with sugar and grated coconut.[53]
On 24 December, Christmas Eve, twelve dishes are served as a reminder of the Twelve Apostles. Polish people often do not eat meat on this day; instead, they choose from a variety of fish and vegetable dishes. The meal begins when the first star is seen.
Bolo Rei (king cake) – a beautifully decorated fluffy fruitcake
Bolo-Rei escangalhado (broken king cake) – it is like the first one, but has also cinnamon and chilacayote jam (doce de gila)
Bolo-Rainha (queen cake) – similar to Bolo-Rei, but with only nuts, raisins and almonds
Bolo-Rei de chocolate – it is like the Bolo-Rei, but has less (or no) fruit, nuts, chilacayote jam and many chocolate chips
Broa castelar – a small, soft and thin cake made of sweet potato and orange
Fatias douradas – slices of pan bread, soaked in egg with sugar, fried and sprinkled with powdered sugar and cinnamon
Rabanadas – they are like fatias douradas, but made with common bread
Aletria – composed of pasta, milk, butter, sugar, eggs, lemon peel, cinnamon powder and salt
Formigos – a delicious dessert made with sugar, eggs, pieces of bread, almonds, port wine and cinnamon powder
Filhós / Filhozes / Filhoses – depending on the region, they may be thin or fluffy pieces of a fried dough made of eggs, honey, orange, lemon, flour and anise, sprinkled - or not with icing sugar
Coscorões – thin squares of a fried orange flavoured dough
Azevias de grão, batata-doce ou gila – deep fried thin dough pastries filled with a delicious cream made of chickpea, sweet potato or chilacayote, powdered with sugar and cinnamon
Tarte de amêndoa – almond pie
Tronco de Natal – Christmas log – a Swiss roll, resembling a tree's trunk, filled with chocolate cream, decorated with chocolate and mini – 2 cm Christmas trees
Lampreia de ovos – a sweet made of eggs, well decorated
Sonhos – an orange flavoured fried yeast dough, powdered with icing sugar
Velhoses – they are like the sonhos, but made with pumpkin
Bolo de Natal – Christmas cake
Pudim de Natal – Christmas pudding, similar to flan
Vinho quente – mulled wine made with boiled wine, egg yolk, sugar and cinnamon
Turkey – on the island of Terceira, turkey has recently taken over as the traditional Christmas dish over Bacalhau, due to the influence of American culture on the island, home to the United States Air Force's 65th Air Base Wing.
Puerto Rico (U.S.)
Arroz con gandules – yellow-rice, pigeon peas, olives, capers, pieces of pork, spices and sofrito cooked in the same pot.
Escabeche – pickled green bananas or cassava and chicken gizzards.
Pasteles – Puerto Rican tamle made from milk, broth, root vegetables, squash, green banana, plantain dough, stuffed with meat, and wrapped in banana leaves.
Hallaca – tamale made from grated cassava and stuffed with meat wrapped in banana leaves.
Pig roast – Puerto Rico is famous for their pig roast. It is also a part (along with arroz con gandules) of their national dish.
Potato salad – most commonly made with apples, chorizo and hard-boiled eggs. Potatoes are sometimes replaced with cassava.
Drinks:
Bilí – Spanish limes or cherries fermented in rum with spices, brown sugar, citrus peels, bay leaves, avocado leaves, often cucumber, ginger, and coconut shells.
Bread pudding – soaked in coconut milk and served with a guava rum sauce.
Dulce de cassabanana – musk cucumber cooked in syrup topped with walnuts and sour cream on the side.
Dulce de papaya con queso – Fermented green papaya with spices and sugar syrup served with ausubal cheese or fresh white cheese.
Flancocho – Crème caramel with a layer of cream cheese and Puerto Rican style spongecake underneath.
Majarete – rice and coconut custard. Made with coconut cream, marshmallows, milk, rice flour, sugar, vanilla and sour orange leaves with cinnamon served on top.
Mantecaditos – Puerto Rican shortbread cookies. Made with shortening, coconut butter, flour, almond flour, vanilla, nutmeg and almond extract. They are usually filled with guava jam or pineapple jam in the middle.
Natilla – Milk, coconut cream and egg yolk custard made with additional cinnamon, cornstarch, sugar, vanilla, lemon zest and orange blossom water. Served in individual ramekins with cinnamon sprinkled on top.
Romania
Cozonac
Romanian Christmas foods are mostly pork-based dishes.[58] Five days before Christmas, Romanians are celebrating the Ignat Day, a religious holy day dedicated to the Holy Martyr Ignatius Theophorus, associated with a practice that takes place especially on villages scattered around the country: the ritual of slaughtering the pigs. And they are using everything from the pigs: from their blood to their ears. Five days later their tables are filled not only with generous pork roasts but also with:
Piftie – pork jelly, made only with pork meat, vegetables and garlic
Lebăr – liver sausages, a local variety of liverwurst
Tobă – head cheese made from various cuttings of pork, liver boiled, diced and "packed" in pork stomach like a salami
Sarmale – rolls of cabbage pickled in brine and filled with meat and rice (see sarma)
Salată de boeuf – a more recent dish, but highly popular, this type of salad uses boiled vegetables and meat (beef, poultry, even ham). It can include potatoes, carrots, pickled red peppers and cucumbers, egg whites bits. Everything is mixed together with mayonnaise and mustard.
Christmas is in the summer in South Africa, so many summer fruits such as watermelon and cantaloupes are enjoyed at this time. Popular desserts include trifle, melktert and peppermint crisp tart. Many people in South Africa hold Braai barbecues for Christmas or New Year's Day.
In Trinidad and Tobago traditional meals consists of generous helpings of baked ham, pastelles, black fruit cake, sweet breads, along with traditional drinks such as sorrel, ginger beer, and ponche de crème. The ham is the main item on the Christmas menu with sorrel to accompany it.[65][66]
Orthodox and Roman Catholic Christians in Ukraine traditionally have two Christmas dinners. The first is a Lent Dinner, it is held on the January 6 and should consist of meatless dishes. The second is a Christmas Festive dinner held on January 7, when the meat dishes and alcohol are already allowed on the table. The dinner normally has 12 dishes which represent Jesus's 12 disciples. Both Christmas dinners traditionally include a number of authentic Ukrainian dishes, which have over thousand-year history and date back to pagan times.
In the United Kingdom, what is now regarded as the traditional meal consists of roast turkey with cranberry sauce, served with roast potatoes and parsnips and other vegetables, followed by Christmas pudding, a heavy steamed pudding made with dried fruit, suet, and very little flour. Other roast meats may be served, and in the nineteenth century the traditional roast was goose. The same carries over to Ireland with some variations.
Stuffing, also known as dressing, particularly in the southern U.S.
See also: Thanksgiving (the dishes tend to be similar)
Venezuela
Hallaca
Hallaca – rectangle-shaped meal made of maize, filled with beef, pork, chicken, olives, raisins and caper, and wrapped in plantain leaves and boiled to cook.
Pan de jamón – ham-filled bread with olives and raisins and often sliced cheese.
Dulce de lechosa – dessert made of cooked sliced unripe papaya in reduced sugar syrup
Ensalada de gallina – salad made of potato, carrot, apple and shredded chicken (hen usually home or locally raised as opposed to store bought chicken)
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