A global Christmas feast
Christmas is celebrated in many different ways around the world and each country has its favourite dishes for the festive table.
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hristmas is upon us again soon and while putting up a tree and decorations is a common way to mark the event, it is also a time to prepare some special festive dishes for the time-honoured tradition of the family Christmas meal. Here in Phuket there are people from almost every part of the world who celebrate Christmas with their local traditions. Almost every nationality has it’s own beloved Christmas dish, without which, it just wouldn’t feel the same. So lets take a look at some of the myriad of different traditional Christmas foods that hail from all parts of the globe. Since we are an English-language newspaper, let begin with some of Britain’s hallowed Christmas foods. In Britain the main Christmas meal is usually eaten at lunch time on Christmas Day. The centrepiece of the meal is a roast turkey with a stuffing flavoured with herbs and served with roast potatoes, parsnips, carrots, Brussels sprouts and “pigs in a blanket” – small sausages wrapped in bacon. All of this is served with lashings of warm gravy and often some cranberry sauce. For desert there is the traditional Christmas pudding; a dense, dark pudding full of dried fruits, citrus peel and almonds which is boiled or steamed for several hours before being served with a brandy custard.
A traditional English-style Christmas meal. In much of Europe the Christmas meal is eaten on Christmas Eve, it can depend on family or local traditions, but many people also have a big Christmas day meal as well. In Germany a roast goose is the central dish and is usually served with dumplings, braised red cabbage or stewed kale. Germans also love their sweets – with lebkuchen (gingerbread), marzipan shaped into potatoes, and the traditional fruit cake stollen are washed down with plenty of glühwein (mulled wine) and eierlikör (egg liqueur). More is more when it comes to the Scandinavian julbord (Christmas table) which consists of a Christmas ham, boiled and glazed with eggs, breadcrumbs and mustard. Another favourite is Dopp i grytan (dipping in the kettle), where hunks of bread are dunked in the fatty ham broth. Add to that some boiled whitefish, a rich selection of smoked, cured and pickled meats and cabbage flavoured with sweet, dark syrup, which
Christmas Turkey is a favourite in many countries. is accompanied with a glass of glögg (mulled wine) or Akvavit – a strong spirit flavoured with caraway or dill. As you would expect from the food-loving Italians There are three traditional Christmas meals on the 24th, 25th, and 26th of December. Christmas Eve dinner is traditionally a light meal with no meat and a lot of seafood. Plenty of swordfish, tuna, salmon, octopus salad, baccalà (salted cod) are served with simple pasta dishes and meatless antipasti. In Italy the Christmas Day meal is typically meat-based. First, the Natale lunch begins with a classic antipasto spread featuring dry cured meats, salami, cheeses, olives, artichokes and more. The first course is a pasta dish, varied in different
Don’t forget to put Christmas crackers on the table. regions, such as lasagne or ravioli. The main event is the meat, commonly roasted veal, baked chicken, sausages or braised beef. Here in Asia, despite a there being fewer Christians (except in The Philippines which is predominantly Catholic) Christmas is still celebrated. The Christmas meal in Korea includes traditional Korean dishes like sweet potato noodles, bulgogi (barbecued beef), rice cake soup and kimchi. Christmas is also widely celebrated in Japan and the marketing whizzes at KFC seem to have cornered the market, with their fried chicken considered a staple Christmas dish. Japanese Christmas cake is also quite different to its European cousins, consisting of a light sponge cake
topped with whipped cream and strawberries or other fruits. Christmas Eve dinner in Vietnam includes as it does a traditional chicken soup or won tons in chicken broth, sticky rice, banh xeo (rice crepes), Char Siu Bao (pork buns), taro puffs and roast goose or duck. In India a variety of Christmas cake called Allahabadi is popular and made with maida, eggs, clarified butter, sugar, petha, marmalade, nuts, ginger and fennel. Many other sweets flavoured with typical Indian spices are also popular. With its devout Christian population, the Philippines celebrates Christmas in a big way, the main meal is eaten late on Christmas Eve, usually after midnight mass. A whole roast pig with crispy skin and tender
meat is the pinnacle of Filipino Christmas dishes, taking pride of place on the table, but other barbecued meats are also very popular. Filipino style spaghetti with tomato sauce, ground beef or pork, cheese and a little sugar is another staple, as is Hamonado – pork or chicken cooked in pineapple juice. Bibingka (rice cake) and the purple puto bumbong are Filipino delicacies sold outside churches just in time for the influx of people going home after attending mass. In Australia and neighbouring New Zealand, Christmas falls in the middle of the hot summer and although the traditional English-style meal is common, often with a roast ham or turkey, seafood is also very popular. Australians love to “throw a shrimp on the barbie” and anything else that can be barbecued usually appears on the table too. The origin of Pavlova, a meringue like cake topped with fresh fruit and cream, is a hotly debated issue between the two countries, but nevertheless it is a favourite Christmas dessert. So whatever your background, Christmas is a great reason to host a lively celebration with your family and friends. If you are a dab hand in the kitchen, you could even try cooking some of these classic Christmas dishes from around the world or for an easier meal, visit one of the fantastic restaurants advertised on this page for a fabulous Christmas feast!