With Christmas just a few days away, we've rounded up some of the most traditional feasts served around the world during the festive season that might make you rethink your own festive menu.
Christmas dinner in Italy
Let's not start our journey too far away. In Italy, the feast varies depending on the region, but one that is especially common in the southern part of Italy is called Seven Fishes. It consists of seven seafood dishes, symbolic of the number seven, which is the most repeated number in the Bible. Some popular dishes are baccala (salted cod), baked cod, fried calamari, fried shrimp, linguine with clam or lobster sauce, octopus salad, and shrimp cocktail.
Christmas dinner in Poland
For our Polish neighbours, Christmas is actually a meat-free day. Dinner in Poland is called wiglia and it begins when the first star appears in the sky. Nothing is allowed to be eaten until all family members have exchanged wishes for health and prosperity. Traditionally, 12 dishes are served for dinner, representing the 12 apostles. These include the very popular red borscht with tiny dumplings, mushroom soup, carp, herring, pierogi, stewed sauerkraut, cabbage rolls, kutia (wheat berry pudding), gingerbread, poppy seed cake and dried fruit.
Christmas dinner in Venezuela
Let's fly a little further afield. In South America, more specifically in Venezuela, the most traditional Christmas food is hallaca. Hallaca takes a lot of time to prepare and is only made during the holidays. Traditionally, family and friends begin preparing the ingredients in the morning, which include pork, chicken, raisins, olives, capers, onions and pimentos, which are folded in corn dough and then wrapped in a banana leaf.
Christmas dinner in Japan
The Japanese love to treat themselves to some KFC at Christmas. The fast food restaurant is becoming so popular that Christmas orders are placed up to two months in advance. The tradition began in the 1970s after the first KFC opened in Japan and the owner decided to sell a Christmas "party keg." Since there were no real Christmas traditions in Japan before, this exploded.
Christmas dinner in Greenland
One Christmas food we'd probably all have to get used to is eaten in Greenland. Two of the country's most special dishes are whale meat and reindeer meat. A delicacy that is almost always on the table is mattak, a strip of whale blubber coated with whale skin.
Christmas dinner in Ethiopia
In Orthodox Ethiopia, Christmas, or as they call it Ganna, is celebrated on January 7. Most people fast during the 43 days before Christmas. On January 7, dinner usually includes rooster doro wat, a meat stew, hard-boiled eggs in sauce, and injera, a flatbread that serves as a base for toppings and is used in place of typical utensils to scoop the food.
Christmas dinner in Australia
In Australia, Christmas is already very different from here, because you have up to 40 degrees outside. This means that there is much more grilling and eating outside than sitting around a cozy fire with a roast. Australians usually have ham as a main course, but seafood is also very popular, especially "shrimp on the barbie", which is basically grilled shrimp cooked on the barbecue. However, they also share British traditions like Christmas pudding and mince pies.
Wherever you celebrate and whatever your traditional Christmas feast looks like, TripLegend wishes you a happy and reflective Christmas. If you want to learn more about national dishes and food habits in other countries, click here. here.