Festive food from around the world

[Paradiseflycatcher]

If you are not British, what is your favourite festive foods? I love to learn about celebration food from other countries and cultures. Not just Christmas related of course, but that as well. Are there some favourite things you like to make or buy?

For lunch on Christmas Day at about 2pm: my vegan partner has a nut roast and I splash out on goose (fnarr fnarr), we always have roast potatoes, Brussels sprouts, sage and onion stuffing (made separately from the bird so he can have some), red cabbage with apple and spices, mashed parsnips with nutmeg, gravy, peas, carrots, cauliflower, Christmas pudding and double cream. I usually drink cider and he drinks beer.

Later on in the day, mince pies (the sweet ones), Christmas cake (a rich dark fruit cake), cheese and crackers and chutney, maybe some pate or something. More cider, more beer.

Omg word blindness. I missed the word NOT in your post. Sorry!!!!!

Laufabrauð - Icelandic thing, means 'leaf bread' but that's because of the patterns in it. It's like a thin disc of dough fried in fat until crispy. It's really good!

A special Icelandic festive drink is fizzy malt (which tastes like sweet beer minus the alcohol) mixed with fizzy orange soda. It's much better than it sounds but still kind of weird. Everyone has it for Christmas, especially children.

Sugared potatoes - you boil them and then cook briefly in a frying pan with melted sugar so they have like a caramel coating. They seem wrong but they are nice.

One traditional Christmas meat is ptarmigan but they are very small so not very practical - most people have ham. We often have goose and reindeer as well.

I'm really interested too

My dh has a German father and Christmas was the only German thing they did when he was wee.

The only things we carry on are smoked salmon on pumpernickel and spiced pickled red cabbage (which mil makes perfectly).

They also get stollen from Aldi.

And they always had Christmas with presents on Christmas Eve. Our new family tradition is a lovely meal on Christmas Eve (dc now all adults) and then lighting the advent wreath and talking about what we're thankful for over the year. We do Santa (yes really!!) on Christmas morning and then a traditional turkey roast (with the red cabbage!).

A classic Icelandic Christmas dinner is a ham (or smoked lamb) with sugared potatoes, Waldorf salad, red cabbage and Ora canned peas (these are strange when you are used to frozen or fresh peas, but they grow on you). Malt & appelsín to drink.

For pudding most traditional is probably risalamande, an import from Denmark. Creamy rice pudding with cherry sauce and someone finds the hidden almond, which is like finding the coin in the Christmas pudding.

My sister lives in Germany (although British) and Lebkuchen are by far the best Christmas tradition that she's introduced to us. Although you can buy them in all the supermarkets now which spoils it a bit.

My DH is Mexican and they have lots of delicious winter/Xmas food. I've tried to recreate most of them here but they're never quite the same.

Tamales, special corn flour steamed in corn husks or banana leaves depending on region - with chilli beef, ground sweetcorn, pineapple, cheese and chilli strips etc as the filling inside. With salsa for the savoury ones. I am mad about them and have them year round when we are there (or did when we lived there) but they are a festive season speciality.

Bunuelos - like a flour tortilla fried and then dusted with cinnamon sugar or sugar or syrup. They are amazing, so unhealthy but amazing.

www.isabeleats.com/mexican-bunuelos/#:~:text=Bu%C3%B1uelos%20are%20a%20dessert%20made,throughout%20Mexico%20and%20Latin%20America.

Atole is a hot (usually) chocolate drink, rompope is an alcoholic drink which is like eggnog I suppose.

This thread is really interesting.

Interesting replies! I've definitely learned of some new food and drinks from this thread, particularly the Icelandic ones, some of which are things I've never heard of before, sugared potatoes for instance.
Thank you all for sharing. Hope some more folk will post on here

I'm in the US and have developed a sincere love for pumpkin pie and pecan pie. I also love sweet potatoes. I mash them with butter and molasses (no marshmallows).

I also love all the cookies that are a traditional part of the Christmas season dessert offerings. My favorites are kifles or nut horns, made with a very rich yeast pastry that includes sour cream and butter, with a chopped walnut, sugar, and egg white filling. The dough is cut in long triangles, filled, and then rolled into crescents. Hermits are another favourite, as well as spritz cookies, macaroons, and snowballs.

New Year's food is also nice. We always do a bean based dish with some sort of pork - usually a huge slow roasted shoulder of pork with red beans and rice, and a big green salad. Pork or ham are pretty traditional, as are beans of various kinds.