Christmas dishes in different countries

The holidays are a time for reflection, for stepping back and taking time to appreciate those closest to us. People show their appreciation, at the most basic level, spending time with family and friends around a table of delicious foods.

Here’s what’s served at Christmas dinner in different countries.

Colombia

At Christmastime here, you’ll find the traditional Colombian buñuelos. You’ll also see a lot of natilla and hojuelas.

India

Catholic and other Christian communities in India celebrate the season with kuswar, Christmas sweets ranging from kidiyo to cookies and fruitcakes. The main dinner will likely include biryani with lamb, mutton curry, and other common Indian dishes.

Italy

In southern Italy, the usual Christmas Eve meal is the “Feast of the Seven Fishes,” also called La Vigilia. The meal is traditionally made up of only fish or shellfish — seven varieties. Seafood pasta dishes are part of the menu, of course.

Philippines

Christmas dinner in the Philippines is a sweet feast. Christmas ham is sweetened with honey, and crispy roasted pig has a caramelized skin. There is often Filipino sweet spaghetti. Other major dishes may include baked chicken.

Denmark

Denmark’s Christmas dinner is now often built around roast duck and goose, but traditionally it consisted of roast pork. A meal is not complete without dessert — ris à l’amande or risengrød. Both are made with a peeled almond hidden inside the serving bowl, and the person who finds it receives a present.  

Japan

With only 1% of Japan’s populZation identifying as Christian, Christmas has become a commercial rather than religious event, particularly for the younger generations. 

That’s right – instead of slaving away in front of an oven for hours at a time to try and feed the 5000, the Japanese turn up on Christmas Day with a bucket of the colonel’s finest fried chicken.

South Korea

In what seems like a radical U-turn from Japan’s commercialised holiday is South Korea’s decidedly non-consumerist Christmas affair. 

A staple dish at the centre of the Korean Christmas feast is the brilliant beef bulgolgi, which originated in Korea’s Goguryeo era (circa. 37 B.C. to 668 A.D.) and is made from sweetly-marinated strips of barbecued beef. Accompanying side dishes are often extensive and varied, but most commonly include sweet potato noodles and the quintessentially Korean pickled cabbage: Kimchi.

Spain

In Spain there is a large Christmas Eve dinner as well as a Christmas Day lunch. Seafood is traditional, but roast turkey is also popular. Spain’s traditional holiday sweets include turron, or nougat, which can either be brittle or soft, and polvorones, which are a soft, crumbly shortbread cookies.

Jamaica

Jamaicans take pride in their cooking and enjoy making Christmas to share with family and friends. Curry goat is the main dish at many Jamaican Christmas dinners, but roast beef, chicken stew, or curry chicken may also be at the table. Rice and peas is a common vegetable course, and rum punch is likely to be served.