Christmas Food Around the World

Ah Christmas time again. The time of stuffing your face and suffering from heartburn. When you watch TV, it is all about the food at Christmas time. Having lived in a few countries, I have had Christmas dinners in different shapes and sizes consisting of lots of different dishes. A good time to

Growing up in the Netherlands, Sinterklaas was a bigger event than Christmas, but it didn't really come with food. Unless you count candy as food, there are the spiced biscuits also known as pepernoten, the taai taai or ginger biscuits and lots of marzipan. Christmas dinner was usually a cook your own in the fondue pot. Lots of fun guaranteed especially when the bits of meat got lost in the grease.

Photo by Thomas under Creative Common Licence

As a foreign exchange student, I was introduced to the American Christmas dinner, which we have come to know all to well around the world. There is the turkey with the stuffing and the sides of mashed potatoes, veggies and cranberry sauce, (mostly still in the shape of the tin it was bought in) culminating with pecan or pumpkin pies for desserts.

Photo by Kenny Miller under Creative Common Licence

When I nannied in France I was invited for a Christmas breakfast which just happened to be at 1am. Yip, you got that right. It was a breakfast right after Christmas mass, with sleepy eyes and yawns and all. I vaguely remember some foie gras, a buche de noel, lots of bread with cheese and even more wine.

Photo by Distopiandreamgirl under Creative Commones Licence 

When I met a Filipino/ Canadian man a long long time ago, I had a Pinoy/Canadian Christmas dinner which was largely the same as an American turkey dinner, but we also had a pancit, which is a noodle dish with sliced veggies and meat.

Photo by Bufflinghead under Creative Common Licence

And then there is of course the English Christmas dinners. Think lots of mulled win, laced with sloe gin or rum, hams, chickens, veg and roast potatoes finished off with a flaming Christmas pudding and perhaps some minced pies.

Photo by Simon Cocks under Creative Common Licence

Oh I can barely wait.