Christmas is around the corner, and you must be looking out for dining options. The festival is all about creating good memories with your family and friends. Gatherings and parties are coming your way. We have suggested a few festive food experiences offered around Europe and the US.
Both countries offer great food during Christmas month. Whether you think of sipping cocktails in a pop-up pod beside the Thames, saying “skol” aboard a Swedish steamboat, or dining on three Michelin-starred food in the Italian mountains, here are some of the best festive food ventures to have a go this season.
First, let's talk about European treats. We will talk about the different famous dishes to have around Christmas.
Spain
Christmas dinner is the most enormous feast of the year in Spain. Turkey stuffed with truffles is a famous dish in the city for Christmas dinner. People have it at the Christmas Eve meal. Apart from it, other famous dishes are lobsters and lamb or a suckling pig.
However, most families opt for soups, hams, pates, cheese, and seafood. People prefer having fish stew at the feast. Some of the other popular foods embellishing Christmas tables and found in recipes during the holidays comprise Nueces (walnuts), mandarins (mandarins), and datiles (dates).
Finland
The people of Finland stay busy cooking and eating gargantuan dishes. There are a variety of dishes cooked there in the season. Yet, there are three most essential dishes that people can see on the Finnish Christmas table. These are oven-baked ham, rutabaga casserole, and mixed beetroot salad.
Finnish can't imagine their Christmas eve without ham. They need to have ham on their dish table. One of the Christmas rituals they follow is baking ham in the oven. They serve it with homemade mustard. And if there is any leftover ham, they add it to pea soup. You can also try out these authentic tastes of Finnish dishes.
Portugal
The Portuguese version of the family dinner on Christmas Eve is a celebration. This means refraining from eating any fat or hard-to-digest meat; they look out for tasting well-prepared fish. You can expect the famous Portuguese Bacalhau (salted cod) on the table. And also, people from a few other areas will pick out Polvo (octopus).
Besides that, you can also taste many tasty appetizers, such as Rissois de Camarao and Bolinhos de Bacalhau. Also, you can enjoy the delicious Christmas cake. You can expect your Portuguese hosts to ask you to go all out with a flavor of its female version without candied fruit, the Bolo Rainha.
France
The French people celebrate it on Christmas Eve or in the early morning of the 25th. A French dinner always begins with a special drink, apéritif. You can expect a glass of champagne or another glittering wine (Saumur, Vouvray, Touraine). Along with it, taste some amuse-bouches (entertain-mouths). Foie gras is the star of all munchies.
Moreover, you can taste oysters, generally served raw, or smoked salmon. The main course is a meat dish, usually roasted. The French will opt for either a turkey, a capon, a guinea fowl, or a pheasant. They are full of yummy chestnuts and served with mushrooms and some vegetables.
Well, you might feel full with these dishes only. But, wait there's more to try out. The typical French Christmas meal is not complete without a platter of smelly cheese and a delicious Buche de Noel.
Ireland
Ireland is bitterly cold on Christmas night. So, make sure to eat well to prepare yourself for the chilly night. Having turkey for Christmas dinner is very common, though some prefer to have the traditional goose.
A lot of people like to enjoy roasted ham. Along with it, they go for bread stuffing, mashed potatoes, roast potatoes, gravy, and sometimes cranberry or bread sauce. Plus, you can enjoy beef; they spice it up for several days. You can eat them hot or cold as per your choice.
For dessert, they prepare a round cake with lots of caraway seeds. Or you can have pudding with brandy butter or sherry sauce, mince pies, or just a piece of Christmas cake.
Norway
Norway celebrates Christmas with a big dinner on 24 December. The popular dishes are lamb ribs, stockfish, and sometimes cod. However, most people prefer to eat ‘Ribbe’ – roast pork belly. It gets served with boiled potatoes, prunes, sausages, meat cakes, lingonberries, and pickled cabbage. People eat rice porridge is at Christmas Eve either as a meal at lunchtime or as a dessert.
Denmark
The people of Denmark celebrate Christmas with lots of tasty food and alcohol. The classic Danish Christmas meal includes roast pork, boiled potatoes, red cabbage, and gravy.
In addition, roast duck and goose are popular dishes. Every half an hour or so, people call out to raise a toast. The classic dish riz à l’amandisa is a must-try dessert. It is a cold rice pudding with almonds, whipped cream, vanilla, and hot cherry sauce. Further, you can try out the Risengrød (hot rice pudding).
Germany
You will get roast carp and roast goose for Christmas dinner. Also, you can try out typical side dishes including roast potatoes and different forms of cabbage such as Brussels sprouts, kale, and red cabbage. People love to have lots of sausages (such as Bockwurst or Wiener) and potato salad.
Christmas pastries and sweets are also compulsory. It includes various fruitcakes and fruited breads such as Christstollen and Dresdener Stollen. Also, you can try marzipan, spice bars (Lebkuchen), and several types of bread.
Belgium
Most of the families eat (Kerstavond in Flemish and le réveillion de Noël in French), on christmas eve. It is a kind of special dish. Their meal starts with a drink (apéritif) and ‘nibbles’,. Then, the starter course has seafood and stuffed turkey.
For dessert, they have Kerststronk (Flemish) or la bûche de Noël (Walloon). Furthermore, you can visit the Christmas market there. And enjoy some Smoutebollen/oliebollen (deep fried sweet dumplings). Also, sip some jenever (gin) or Glühwein (hot wine).
Switzerland
The famous and main Christmas meal is the Christmas ham and scalloped potatoes with melted cheese and milk baked in. Instead of cheese, people like to add thin slices of meat dipped into a shared pot of steaming broth. They enjoy it with other veggies. Walnut cake and Christmas cookies are there for desserts.
Slovakia
The star dish of the Slovak's Christmas Eve dinner is the common carp. But the process to get it from the river (or carp farm) to the table is not so easy. The tradition states that Christmas carp must first swim in the family bathtub for at least a day or two before being killed, washed, and prepared.
Apart from this fish, two more things are there which contain a mythical meaning. And you will find them at every Slovak Christmas table. These are sliced apples and Christmas wafers. Also, you can see poppy seeds and peas everywhere.
Romania
People of Romania use pork to make all parts of the Christmas meal. Their Christmas is incomplete without pork products. They make sausage and ham recipes. The specialties like Toba, Muschi, caltabos, and chisca are the main appetizers.
Piftia is one of the most delicious Romanian dishes. They prepare it traditionally with smoked pork leg and garlic. Moreover, they eat it with traditional Romanian braided bread, colacii. Also, you can enjoy lots of homemade pickles.
Bulgaria
The Bulgarian Orthodox church suggests 13 different meals for Christmas Eve. And all of them are vegetarian. Сарми (Sarmi) is a popular dish to have around Christmas. You can use leaves from grapes or white cabbage to load them with onion, rise, and parsley. You can also fill them with minced meat, but then it won’t fit in for the vegetarian Christmas meals.
Boiled wheat and stews are also popular dishes. Bulgarians also relish their Коледна питка (Kolenda Pitka), a traditional white bread. You can get a bunch of walnuts on every Christmas table.
As per the traditions, each member of the family cracks a walnut. They believe that it decides their fate for the next year. And if the walnut is a good one the next year will be full of conquest, a bad one indicates bad luck.
Greece
Pork is the famous meat to eat in Greece for Christmas dinner. Veal is another treat that has to be served at the Greek Christmas table. Beef stews are also great to taste. They taste even better when served with cognac, apricots, and plums. Then, at last, the Christmas cookies such as melomakarona and kourabiethes are there as desserts.
That was a lot about the delicacies of Europe. Now, let's move on to some of the treats of the US. Have a look at the famous dishes of different states of the US which they enjoy during Christmas.
California
The Christmas appetizers include crab cakes, a spicy roast, and pomegranate sugar pies. They serve crab cakes with mayonnaise. Furthermore, baked potatoes are also a great option. There are also options for vegetarians. They can have kale with pancetta and porcini.
Most people also make roasted pork with white wine. Also, you can try the pickles. For desserts, you can try cornbreads and sugar pies with pomegranate juice.
Florida
The famous dish for Christmas eve is Turkey. People often consider getting large enough to feed the entire family. They make it very tender and juicy. And they enjoy it with fresh orange and lemon juice.
Roasted Lamb, Beef, and Pork are popular dishes to have on Christmas eve. You can also expect a lot of people to have seafood. Florida has wonderful spots where you can have luscious seafood.
Hawaii
In Hawaii, a Christmas feast is kind of typical. The major attraction of the dinner is the Kalua pig. It is basically pork roasted in an underground oven called an imu. Side meals include poke as an appetizer, poi, lomi-lomi salmon (a side dish made with fresh tomato), and laulau, pork, and fish wrapped in a taro leaf. They bury it to get cooked.
You can get the authentic flavor of Hawaiian dishes. And last in order but not of importance, for dessert in Hawaii, they have haupia, a classic coconut milk-based Hawaiian dessert served in gelatin-type cubes on squares of ti leaf.
New Jersey
One of the famous traditions of Italy is the feast of the seven fishes. And when Italians resettled to the States, especially New Jersey, they carried with them this delicious Italian-American custom. They follow the custom till now.
Christmas Eve is a vigil or fasting day to the Italians, and the platters of seafood reflect the ritual of celibacy from red meat until the actual dinner of Christmas Day itself. The feast developed in Southern Italy. And it commonly comprises seven different seafood meals.
So, people can enjoy the fresh seafood there. They can have a variety of fish and seafood. Also, you can get to eat pasta, soup, and a side salad.
Kentucky
The people of Kentucky love to hunt deer. And it is a popular food source for hunters and their families for ages. Their love for hunting deer is the same for cooking and eating it. The popular dish you can have in Kentucky is venison.
Venison remains fresh for a longer period of time. Additionally, people utilize it in a variety of ways for future use. Kentuckians manage to make everything from roast. It includes sausage and meat, and it is a popular dish for their Christmas dinners. Also, people like to have fried chicken.
Nevada
This Christmas meal is a Latin American masterpiece that has emigrated north of the border into Nevada. The popular dish is a mixture of hearty vegetables and beef. The soup is soulful to taste. And it will warm you right up on a chilly Christmas night.
Conclusion
That was all about the popular dishes of the different regions. We hope you have gathered a lot of information about the feast of different areas.
