Exploring Christmas dinners around the world
and learning how to enjoy them sustainably...
Overview
As the festive season approaches, thoughts of holiday feasts often take centre stage. Christmas dinner traditions differ vastly across the globe, offering a window into diverse cultures. In this blog, we take you on a culinary journey through Christmas dinners around the world, highlighting how these traditions can inspire us to embrace sustainability in our holiday feasts.
As well as this, we will provide sustainable tips for enjoying each nation’s Christmas dishes with the planet in mind.
Let’s start our journey in Europe…
Poland
In Poland, Christmas Eve dinner is the most important celebration of the year. Although this meal is reserved for close family, in the Christmas spirit of hospitality to strangers, the dinner table always has one empty place in case an unexpected guest drops by!
The supper, which traditionally includes twelve dishes and desserts, can last for over two hours. During the meal, all the guests should taste a bit of everything but as Poland is more than 80 per cent Catholic, the Wigilia meal is meat-free. A main course of fish, most famously carp, is meant to bring good fortune.
Let’s take a look at what the twelve courses might consist of…
- Barszcz, a beetroot soup sometimes known as red borscht, made with fermented ingredients.
- Carp, the centrepiece which is often accompanied by hot sauerkraut with dried mushrooms, a vegetable salad or potatoes.
- Herring is another classic Christmas Eve dish. The most popular recipes are herring fillets (soused, usually called matjas) in oil or with cream, sour apples or chopped onions, and they are usually served with root vegetable salad or potatoes.
- Pierogi are dumplings and are an indispensable part of the Christmas Eve supper in all parts of Poland. The Christmas version of pierogi is stuffed with cabbage, or with sauerkraut and mushrooms.
Desserts
- Sernik is a simple plain vanilla-style cheesecake.
- Poppy seed cakes are eaten by Poles all year round, but the traditional Christmas poppy seed cake is a bit different. The layers of the dough should be thinner than usual and the cream thicker.
Sustainable tip: opt for seasonal vegetables and explore plant-based alternatives to traditional fish dishes to reduce your environmental impact.
Italy
Italians have a saying: “Natale con i tuoi, Pasqua con i vuoi” – Christmas with the family, Easter with who you like. The Christmas menu can vary massively from region to region, and even household to household. Although the food eaten at Christmas varies throughout Italy, the Feast of the Seven Fishes is a Christian practice that’s still observed in many homes on Christmas Eve. At least seven varieties of fish are usually eaten, with some families enjoying up to 20 different dishes. One traditional Christmas Eve dish is capitone (eel), although it’s becoming less popular.
After feasting on Christmas Eve, Christmas dinner on the 25th December begins with pasta in brodo (pasta in broth) a common starter across Italy, but particularly in the north. Guests in Northern Italy might then expect to be served lo zampone, the skin of a pig’s foot filled with spiced mincemeat, whilst pasticcio al forno (baked pasta) is eaten in central or southern regions, with a classic lasagne Bolognese in the north-east.
Italians aren’t generally big on desserts, but when it comes to Christmas, sweet breads such as panettone and pandoro are popular across the country.
Sustainable tip: replace overfished species with sustainable seafood choices certified by the MSC. Consider making your own sweet bread to reduce packaging waste.
Spain
Most families eat their main Christmas meal on Christmas Eve before going to a service. The traditional Spanish Christmas dinner always used to be pavo trufado de Navidad which is turkey stuffed with truffles. In Galicia, north-west Spain, the most popular meal for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day is seafood. This can be all kinds of different seafood, from shellfish to lobster.
Finally, eating twelve grapes at midnight on New Year’s Eve is both a tradition and a superstition in Spain. It is said that each of the twelve grapes symbolises a lucky month ahead. While the goal of getting the 12 grapes down in time can spark a contest of who is más macho around the table, the biggest challenge is more likely to be not choking as the grapes are swallowed!
Germany
In Germany the meat of choice tends to be duck or goose which is then stuffed, usually with apples. The trimmings for this dish would be red cabbage, sprouts and potato dumplings. Typical German Christmas drinks include glühwein (mulled wine) or eggnog.
Bratapfel is the traditional dessert served at this time of year, made from apples stuffed with nuts and marzipan. However, alternative creamy desserts such as trifles and compotes are also popular.
Sustainable tip: reduce food waste by using all parts of your poultry and try making your own mulled wine using seasonal ingredients.
Denmark
The Danes love baking throughout the year and December is no exception. In preparation for the Yule time celebrations, various sweet concoctions are baked including pebernødder, ‘peppernuts’. The tiny cookies are served as snacks in the whole month of December, and their name comes from the white pepper included in the recipe. Kleiner is a traditional Christmas snack, a small piece of dough shaped and twisted like a small knot or diamond and then deep-fried until it is crisp and golden. Then there are Æbleskiver – spherical fried dough balls that are dipped in strawberry jam and icing sugar!
When it gets to the main event, Christmas Eve is celebrated with a buffet of pickled herring, liver pate, tartelettes with white asparagus and chicken in white sauce, and rye bread, along with heavier dishes of duck, goose, turkey or pork belly, along with kale, a salad of pickled red cabbage, caramelised potatoes, boiled potatoes and a thick meat gravy. To wash everything down, Danes drink schnapps and dark pilsner beer.
Dessert is traditionally risalamande – a rice pudding with cream, vanilla and almonds served with a cherry sauce. The person who finds the whole almond gets a present called a mandelgave (almond present). Traditionally the little present was a marzipan pig.
Moving away from Europe and over to the rest of the world to see some more unusual Christmas delicacies…
Greenland
This country is home to some rather unusual Christmas delicacies. Firstly, whaleskin, mattak, or the raw flesh of auks (a type of Arctic bird) is served for dinner.
For dessert they might have Christmas porridge, usually served with butter and cinnamon.
Sustainable tip: for an eco-conscious nod to Greenland, consider making a plant-based porridge with Fairtrade spices.
Now it’s time to travel across Asia & Oceania to explore more Christmas dinners around the world…
Philippines
Most Filipinos are Christians with about 80% of people being Catholics. Because of this, Christmas is the most important holiday in the Philippines. On Christmas Eve, Nochebuena, Filipinos host a big, open house celebration with family, friends and neighbours dropping by.
Most households have several dishes laid out including lechon (roasted suckling pig), ham, fruit salad, steamed rice and rice cakes known as bibingka and puto bumbong.
Sustainable tip: you could substitute pork with plant-based roasts and incorporate seasonal fruits for a sustainable twist.
Japan
KFC, the American fast-food chain, provides the cuisine of choice in Japan – in particular the bucket of fried chicken. This tradition is fairly new having first been adopted in 1974. Who knew that Colonel Sanders would become the face of Japanese Christmas dinner!
Sustainable tip: instead of fast food, prepare homemade fried chicken, tofu or seitan dishes to reduce packaging and waste.
India
In line with their culture, Indians often eat a curry for their Christmas dinner. In particular, a curry called sorpotel (made from offal) or duck curry. Alternatively, sliced beef tongue is another delicacy served on occasions such as Christmas.
Sustainable tip: you could swap out offal-based dishes for plant-based curries using lentils or jackfruit.
New Zealand
In New Zealand, in line with their reputation for BBQs, you will often find barbequed lamb on offer for their Christmas dinner. This is accompanied with vegetables, potatoes, and stuffing.
Sustainable tip: focus on free-range meats or vegetarian options, and incorporate homegrown produce into your BBQ.
Africa and the Caribbean are the next stops in our journey to experience Christmas dinners around the world…
Kenya
In Kenya, the big Christmas meal is nyama choma. Nyama choma is Kenya’s unofficial national dish, meaning barbecued meat in Swahili. The meat is usually roasted goat or beef, served throughout the country from roadside shacks to fine dining restaurants. It is often paired with local beer and side dishes such as ugali, or cornmeal.
People often make their own beer to drink, and different tribes also have special dishes they make. If you live in a city, you might have a western Christmas cake, but these aren’t very common in rural areas.
Jamaica
Sustainable tip: the Jamaican tradition of minimising food waste is a practice worth adopting – repurpose leftovers creatively. Try a plant-based curry for a lighter environmental impact.
Lebanon
Kebbeh pie is a feature of a traditional Lebanese Christmas dinner, accompanied with nutty rice and traditional Lebanese sides such as hummus, tahini and lamb rotis. Buche de Noel is often served as a pudding, a traditional French dessert based on rice flour and anise.
Christmas dinners around the world can be both exciting & delicious! It’s amazing to see such a range in culture when celebrating this festive time of the year, in all corners of the globe.
Sustainable tip: experiment with vegan kibbeh made from lentils or chickpeas. Incorporate seasonal grains and nuts for a lower ecological footprint.
United Kingdom
The traditional roast dinner is the most common Christmas dinner dish served in the UK over the festive period. Whether that includes roast turkey, roast beef or a vegan alternative, it is equally delicious…
Other Christmas foods include mince pies & Christmas pudding. Yule log is also a popular choice, especially with the younger generations, compared with older generations enjoying the traditional Christmas pudding.
Sustainable tip: minimise food waste by planning portions carefully, and consider plant-based mains like a nut roast or stuffed squash. Use leftovers creatively to avoid binning excess food.
Here’s to a happy and eco-conscious Christmas!