For many people, sharing traditional food with loved ones is a great thing on Christmas Day. But have you ever wondered what the rest of the world is preparing to celebrate the holiday season? From the sumptuous spreads of Italian and Mexican to the festive Christmas feasts of the Philippines, we’ll take you on a culinary journey around the world to taste some of the most popular Christmas food.
Top 8 popular Christmas food from around the world
Christmas fried chicken (Japan)
In Japan, Christmas time is the season for KFC. The tradition began in the 1970s after Japan’s first KFC opened and held a Christmas ‘party barrel’. Since there weren't many Christmas traditions at the time, this one caught on quickly and became incredibly popular food.
Since then, many Japanese families have celebrated Christmas with fried chicken meals, often placing orders with the restaurant up to two months in advance.
Pavlova - the most popular Christmas food in Australia and New Zealand
Traditional Christmas food around the world are often warm, hearty feasts. However, Christmas is celebrated differently in Australia and New Zealand because it happens during the sweltering summer there. Many Australians and New Zealanders enjoy salads, barbecues, and seafood (grilled prawns are a favorite).
Some families still like to feast on a traditional British Christmas meal, featuring roast ham or turkey, Christmas pudding, and mince pies. Other popular desserts include pavlova (a meringue-based treat), trifle, and White Christmas, which is made with coconut, dried fruit, and cereal rice bubbles.
Feast of the Seven Fishes (Italy)
The next traditional and popular food on Christmas day, introduced by Italian is the Feast of the Seven Fishes. This is a tradition that came from Southern Italy, now become even more popular among Italian Americans. It is a combination of seven seafood dishes, symbolic of the number seven, which is the most repeated number in the bible. You also get some popular dishes such as baked cod, fried calamari, fried shrimp, octopus salad, Baccala (salt cod), linguine with clam or lobster sauce, and shrimp cocktails.
Christmas goose - the most popular Christmas food in Germany
The Christmas goose is a traditional food on Christmas day around the world dating back to the Middle Ages, eating goose was originally tied to St. Martin’s Day, but now eventually became a part of the Christmas meal. The goose is served with red cabbage, dumplings, gravy, and sauerkraut. It is stuffed with chestnuts, onions, apples, and prunes and seasoned with mugwort and marjoram. The oldest known recipe for this dish appears in a cookbook published in 1350, named ‘Das Buch von Guter Speise’.
Christmas pudding (England)
This Christmas dessert, steeped in tradition around the world, is known by many names. Whether you call it plum pudding, figgy pudding, 'pud,' or Christmas pudding, this delicacy holds a significant place in English Christmas traditions.
Apart from Britain, you may also find it in Ireland and certain parts of the US. Despite its name, plum pudding doesn’t actually contain plums. In the pre-Victorian era, 'plums' referred to what we now call raisins, and since dried fruits are a crucial component of this pudding, it earned its name accordingly. The ingredients for this dessert include suet, eggs, molasses, spices, and dried fruits. Just before serving, Christmas pudding is set alight with brandy immediately.
Bûche De Noël (France)
La Bûche de Noël is a dessert that symbolically represents the Yule Log – a wooden log that was traditionally brought into the home, sprinkled with wine, and then burned on Christmas Eve. In the 1940s, when this practice started to fade, this dessert took on its role. Often made from sponge cake and chocolate buttercream, La Bûche de Noël closely resembles a real log. Various variations of the dessert have emerged. You can now find recipes ranging from tiramisu to cran-raspberry mascarpone, caramel cream to Meyer lemon.
Bacalao (Mexico)
Salted cod, also known as bacalao, is uncommon in most countries during the holidays, but it’s a popular and staple Christmas food of Mexican. Meats and fish needed to be salted and preserved before refrigeration. Today, this is no longer the case, but the practice still exists. And when the fish is rehydrated and cooked in the case of bacalao, the result is tender and delicious. This Bacalao a la Mexicana was prepared by the Mexican and included ancho, tomato, chiles, onions, almost, potato, and olives. It warms you up and is incredibly filling.
Puto bumbong (Philippines)
Christmas dinner in the Philippines is a grand affair including many traditional food. One of the biggest stars is the delicacy called puto bumbong, a sweet, glutinous mixture of black and white rice that appears purple. The rice is soaked in salt water overnight, then inserted into a tube of bamboo, then steamed and served with butter, sugar, and shredded coconut. Roasted suckling pig is also a a popular food of any Christmas meal in the Philippines, as well as Christmas ham.
Other traditional dishes include Filipino-style spaghetti, which is made with a very sweet sauce; pancit malabon, a yellow noodle dish flavored with annatto seeds; and buko pandan, which is pandan-flavored gelatin mixed with coconut and cream.
Popular Christmas food, traditions, and more
Christmas traditionally honors the birth of Jesus Christ, but it has evolved to become a secular celebration. It not only includes delicious Christmas food from around the world, such as Italian, Mexican, or the Philippines cuisine, but also incorporates many cultural traditions globally. There are Christmas parades in Manila, Sweden's famous Gävle Goat, New Zealand's crimson-flowered Pohutukawa trees, and many more.
And who could forget Santa Claus? You know, the jolly, bearded man from the North Pole who delivers presents to good children around the world on Christmas Day.
Whether you're religious or not, Christmas is a time of hope, light, joy, goodness, and family. It's a time to come together and "be merry." If you don't believe us, just check out all the songs, movies, poems, and stories about the holiday!
We all cherish Christmas traditions—building snowmen, watching holiday films, kissing under the mistletoe, caroling, and sledding in the snow. We can't wait!
Set up your Christmas party with professional catering services
With Christmas just around the corner, it's time to start planning your menu, creating a shopping list, and preparing anything you can in advance to streamline your holiday meal preparations. If the mere thought of all these tasks leaves you feeling exhausted, you might benefit from hiring a professional catering service for your Christmas party. With professional catering, you can treat your guests to an incredible array of delicious foods without having to lift a finger.
- Impress your guests with delectable food: You can trust that your catering team will impress your guests with scrumptious main dishes, sides, and desserts. Your selected meal will be served piping hot and ready to eat, as the catering team has perfected the dishes through many preparations.
- Have more time for socializing: With meal planning, preparation, and setup taken care of, you can enjoy the festivities at your Christmas party without having to worry about the details. You can sit back and chat the night away with your guests while your catering team serves the meal and handles the cleanup.
- Add variety to your holiday spread: With a wide array of menu options available, professional catering allows you to diversify your holiday spread.
If you're ready to enhance your Christmas holiday and maximize your enjoyment of the festivities this season, consider hiring a professional catering team to assist you. Pasta Fresca can help you make the most of your Christmas festivities this holiday season. Feel free to contact us to learn about our catering service .
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