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Westerners place great importance on Christmas. For them, it is the most meaningful, grand, and meticulously prepared holiday of the year. They clean their houses starting in November, decorate Christmas trees, prepare gifts, and especially always save their energy for the most important meal on the evening of December 24th. Each country has its own unique dishes to mark the end of the old year.
Roasted wild chicken and wild boar.
Before turkeys – originally from the Americas – migrated to Europe, during Christmas, people in Europe, especially in France, were extremely fond of roasted game meats such as hares, wild chickens, and wild boar. They had many different ways of preparing them, but during the year-end family gatherings, Europeans traditionally made roasted wild chickens and wild boars stuffed with various fillings such as vegetables, nuts, and dried fruits.
Traditional Christmas-themed roasted chicken with stuffed filling.
Roast goose
Just like wild chicken, roast goose is also a popular Christmas dish in Germany. They call it "weihnachtsgans," and the goose is stuffed with a mixture of apples, dried plums, chestnuts, European herbs, etc., and then roasted until the whole kitchen is filled with the aroma of goose meat.
The Germans reserve this goose dish for the most important meal of the year.
This is a German tradition of celebrating the end of the year that has existed since the Middle Ages and is still maintained today. Roast goose is served with red cabbage and round potato cakes to wish for a prosperous new year.
Stollen cake and pudding
This is a type of sweet pastry filled with candied fruits and nuts, topped with icing sugar. Stollen is extremely popular in Germany. Other Western countries also have similar pastries called puddings. However, puddings do not contain icing sugar and are often soaked in multiple layers of alcohol for weeks, even months.
The cake, sprinkled with white powdered sugar, looks like clusters of falling snow.
Mulled wine
Most Europeans enjoy cooking wine as a celebratory dish at the end of the year, with its distinctive and captivating aroma. They cook red wine with oranges, spices like cinnamon, star anise, cloves, and herbs such as rosemary and thyme. This drink has a light, fruity aroma and very little alcohol, and is served warm.
Cooked wine is a drink reserved for lively parties.
Egg and milk (eggnog)
For those who don't drink wine, this rich and creamy eggnog cocktail is the perfect choice. It's the second most popular Christmas drink after cooked wine. The eggnog is made from beaten eggs with sugar and liqueur, then slowly topped with warm milk. A drizzle of chanility whipped cream on top makes the drink look like a glass filled with white snow.
Egg cocktail, a popular drink in English-speaking countries.
Smoked lamb, oatmeal, meatballs, and dried cod marinated in vinegar.
Unlike Western European countries, the cold Nordic regions, with their year-round temperatures, have unique traditional dishes to celebrate Christmas.
Icelanders choose smoked lamb served with boiled potatoes, beans, pickles, and sauces, while people in Norway opt for dried cod marinated in vinegar and served with various sauces to entertain guests. The carefully prepared smoked lamb is sometimes even boiled, and the cod is preserved for a long time in ice and snow before cooking.
Smoked cured lamb
In Finland, oatmeal is considered an indispensable tradition at the end of the year. A special type of rice is cooked over low heat with milk, butter, and cinnamon, then mixed with raisins, nuts, and served with fresh fruit such as blueberries…
This seemingly simple dish features prominently on the most extravagant feast table of the year in Sweden. Instead of making meatballs the usual way with ground pork, they have many more unique ways of preparing them.
Meatballs are made from a mixture of minced chicken and beef with various spices and are fried or baked according to taste. They are served with mashed potatoes, pickled cucumber jam, and sauces and pasta.
Steamed buns and soup
In Poland, people don't eat meat at the Wigilia party. This is the Christmas Eve party that the people of this country look forward to so much.
They will eat steamed buns, turnip soup, carp, pickled cabbage, dried fruit juice, bread, etc., with the wish for abundance and prosperity. This is also one of the most religious countries and places great emphasis on the ritualistic aspects of the year-end feast.
Poles eat soup and wontons.
Seafood party
Italians celebrate Christmas with a very joyful and lively feast, the Feast of the Seven Fishes, which includes all kinds of seafood such as fish, shrimp, squid, oysters, octopus, etc.
After a hearty seafood meal, the locals will offer guests slices of Panettone bread. This is a sweet bread filled with fruit candy, chocolate, raisins, nuts, etc. They continue to treat guests with nougat candy, zeppole donuts, and other treats.
A seafood feast with a distinctly Southern European Italian flair.
Pork wrapped in a blanket and Trifle.
England is known for its simple and unpretentious cuisine. Christmas celebrations here aren't as extravagant or lavish as in many places with richer culinary traditions. However, their Christmas dishes are still very interesting and satisfying.
"Pork wrapped in a blanket" is a playful name for smoked bacon wrapped around sausages. The sausages "covered in a blanket" look is quite amusing. Their savory dishes also included roast turkey, roast goose (in the days before turkeys), a few vegetables, and potatoes…
Trifle is a dessert made from sponge cake, custard, chanility cream, jelly, and fruit. The cake base is spread with cherry sauce and light liqueur, then layered with cake, jelly, fruit, and cream.
A magnificent dessert specially made for Christmas.
As we can see, while Western countries share similarities in how they celebrate Christmas, each country has its own distinct culinary style. Join Travellive in raising a glass to another Christmas season for all of us.
Wishing our readers a warm Christmas season filled with delicious food!
