List of Christmas dishes

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An oven-roasted brine-soaked turkey

Fruit cake

Albania[]

• Byrek me kungull dhe arre – Traditional Albanian pumpkin and walnut pie cooked usually on Christmas Eve, especially in Catholic families.

Argentina[]

Vitello tonnato is a popular Christmas dish in Argentina, where it is known as vitel toné. The Piedmontese dish is valued during the summer for its cold serving temperature, and is the legacy of the large Italian immigration to the country.^[1]

Panettone (known locally as pan dulce) and turrón are the most popular Christmas sweets in Argentina regardless of socioeconomic status, with 76% of Argentines choosing the former and 59% the latter in 2015.^[2] Mantecol, a typical peanut dessert, is also popular, being favored by 49% of Argentines in the same survey.^[3] Sparkling wines, ciders and frizzantes concentrate most of their sales during Christmas season; sparkling wine is mostly consumed by small families with high and medium socioeconomic status living in Greater Buenos Aires and the country's largest cities, while cider and frizzantes are popular among lower classes and large families.^[3]

• Vitel toné^[4][5][6]
• Turrón^[6][7]
• Pan dulce^[8]
• Asado (beef, chicken, calf, lamb, suckling pig)^{[9][10][11][12]}
• Clericó (or clericot), a sangria-like beverage that combines wine with chopped fruit.^[13]
• Cider (apple, pineapple) and sparkling wine^[6][11]
• Budín^[10][11]
• Salads^[6][10]
  • Russian salad^[14]
  • Waldorf salad^[6]
  • Fruit salad^[10]
• Pionono^[6][14]
• Matambre^[14]
• Lengua a la vinagreta^[14][15]
• Garrapiñadas, dried fruits and comfits^{[10][11][15][2]}
• Mantecol^[2]
• Sandwiches de miga^[15]
• Pavita^[2]

Australia[]

Candy Cane can be hung as edible decorations.

• White Christmas, a sweet slice made of copha and mixed fruit
• Cold ham and cold turkey^[16]
• Seafood and salads^[16]
• Roast chicken, ham and turkey^[16]
• Stuffing^[17]
• Christmas cake or Christmas pudding^[16]
• Custard
• Gingerbread in Christmas shapes
• Christmas damper – in wreath or star shape, served with butter, jam, honey or golden syrup. Made in the Australian bush in the 19th century.^[18]
• Lollies, such as rocky road; rum balls; candy canes
• Champagne^[19]
• Eggnog^[20]
• Trifle
• Pavlova^[17]
• Prawns
• Mince pie
• Christmas cookies

Belgium[]

• Cougnou (with various like cougnolle), sweet bread in the form of the infant Jesus^[21]

Brazil[]

Panettone

• Lombo à Califórnia – pork loins
• Rabanada – French toast
• Leitão assado – roasted piglet
• Peru – roast turkey
• Farofa
• Pavê – trifle
• Ham
• Bacalhau – codfish
• Brazil nut
• Arroz à grega
• Potato salad
• Salpicão – chicken salad with raisins
• Panettone
• Crème caramel
• Mousse
• Cider
• Grape juice
• Wine

Canada[]

Gingerbread house

• Bûche de Noël
• Butter tarts
• Candy canes
• Christmas pudding
• Eggnog
• Fruitcake
• Mince pie
• Cranberry sauce
• Roasted turkey
• Shortbread
• Stuffing
• Trifle

Chile[]

Pan de pascua

• Cola de mono – (literally, "monkey's tail") a Chilean Christmas beverage, with aguardiente, milk, coffee, and flavoured with vanilla and cloves^[22]
• Pan de Pascua – Chilean Christmas sponge cake flavoured with cloves and with bits of candied fruits, raisins, walnuts and almonds.^[23]
• Roasted turkey
• Ponche a la romana – eggnog-style beverage made of champagne and pineapple-flavoured icecream.

Colombia[]

Colombian Buñuelos

Colombian natilla

Colombian Christmas dishes are mostly sweets and desserts. Some of the most popular dishes include:

• Buñuelos
• Natilla
• Manjar blanco
• Hojaldres
• Brevas dessert with cheese
• Christmas cookies
• Sweet bread filled with fruits like raisins and raspberries.
• Lechona (rice baked inside a pig, with peas, the meat of the pig and other delicacies)
• Tamales
• Ponqué envinado (red wine cake)
• Turkey
• Pernil de Cerdo (pork leg, usually roasted)
• Potato salad
• Panettone

Cuba[]

• Crema De Vie – Cuban eggnog, made with condensed milk, rum, sugar syrup, lemon rind, cinnamon, and egg yolk.
• Majarete – corn pudding made with coconut milk, fresh corn, cornstarch, milk, water, vanilla, cinnamon and sugar
• Platillo Moros y Cristianos
• Lechon asado
• Turrón

Czech Republic and Slovakia[]

Christmas cookies (vánoční cukroví)

• Kapustnica – Christmas cabbage soup
• Fried carp
• Potato salad with mayonnaise, hard-boiled eggs and boiled vegetables
• Vánoční cukroví – Christmas cookies
• Fruitcake
• Gingerbread
• Kuba – groats and mushrooms

Before the Christmas holidays, many kinds of sweet biscuits are prepared. The Christmas cookies are then served during the whole Christmas period and exchanged among friends and neighbours. Very popular is also a preparation of small ginger breads garnished by sugar icing.

Denmark[]

Danish Christmas meal

• Æbleskiver – traditional Danish spherical pancakes (a type of doughnut with no hole), sprinkled with powdered sugar and served with raspberry or strawberry jam
• Sylte – a form of head cheese, a terrine or meat jelly made from pork, traditionally pig's head was used
• Julesild – spiced pickled herring often flavoured with Christmas spices such as cloves and allspice
• Boiled whole potatoes
• Brun sovs (brown sauce) – a traditional dark gravy, used to cover meat dishes like roasted pork and duck (flæskesteg, andesteg) and the boiled potato
• Brunede kartofler – caramelised potatoes
• Julebryg – Christmas beer^[24]
• Gløgg – mulled red wine combined with spices, sugar, raisins and chopped almonds typically served warm
• Risalamande – rice pudding. A dish made from rice, whipped cream and almonds, served cold with cherry sauce (kirsebærsauce)^[25][26]
• Flæskesteg – roast pork with cracklings
• Andesteg – roast duck with apple and prune stuffing
• Rødkål – red cabbage pickled, sweet-sour red cabbage served hot as a side dish
• Christmas cookies – Vaniljekranse, klejner, jødekager, pebernødder, honningkager, brunkager and finskbrød
• Konfekt, marzipan, caramelised fruits, nougat and chocolate-covered nuts
• Ground nuts

Dominican Republic[]

• Moro de guandules con coco – rice with pigeon peas and coconut milk
• Ensalada verde – Iceberg lettuce, onions, cucumber and tomatoes salad
• Ensalada Rusa - Russian salad included with beets and corn
• Pasteles de hojas – Root tamales, Christmas tradition adopted from Puerto Rico
• Empanada
• Pastelon - Casserole
• Pig roast
• Pollo al horno – roasted chicken
• Telera – Dominican bread similar to Mexican telera

Drinks:

• Anisette – Anise-flavored liquor
• Guavaberry - a drink from the Lesser Antilles historic Saint Martin natives now a part of the Dominican Republics Christmas tradition
• Ponche crema - Rum eggnog
• Jengibre – Allspice, cinnamon, lemon and ginger tea
• Mandarin Liqueur - Mandarin peels fermented with rum and sugar

Desserts:

• Buñuelos - Fried cassava dough balls covered in spiced flavored syrup
• Turrón - Honey and almond nougat. Tradition from Spain
• Vaniljekranse – Danish butter cookies
• Fruits and nuts - a variety of nuts, fresh and dried fruit

Finland[]

A Karelian pasty

Mulled wine

Christmas smorgasbord from Finland, "Joulupöytä", (translated "Yule table"), a traditional display of Christmas food^[27] served at Christmas in Finland, similar to the Swedish smörgåsbord, including:

• Christmas ham with mustard (almost every family has one for Christmas)
• Freshly salted salmon (gravlax graavilohi) and whitefish graavisiika
• Pickled herring in various forms (tomato, mustard, matjes or onion sauces)
• Rosolli (cold salad dish with diced beetroot, potato and carrot – some varieties also incorporate apple)
• Lutefisk and Béchamel sauce^[27]
• Whitefish and pikeperch
• Potato casserole^[27] (sweetened or not, depending on preference)
• Boiled potatoes
• Carrot casserole^[27]
• Rutabaga casserole (lanttulaatikko)^[27]
• Various sauces
• Assortment of cheese, most commonly (leipäjuusto) and Aura (aura-juusto)
• Christmas bread, usually sweet bread (Joululimppu)
• Karelian pasties, rice pasties, served with egg-butter (Karjalanpiirakka)

Other meat dishes could be:

• Karelian hot pot, traditional meat stew originating from the region of Karelia (Karjalanpaisti)

Desserts:

• Rice pudding or rice porridge topped with cinnamon, sugar and cold milk or with mixed fruit soup (riisipuuro)
• Joulutorttu, traditionally a star-shaped piece of puff-pastry with prune marmalade in the middle
• Gingerbread,^[27] sometimes in the form of a gingerbread house or gingerbread man (piparkakut)
• Mixed fruit soup or prune soup, kissel (sekahedelmäkiisseli, luumukiisseli)

Drinks:

• Glögg or mulled wine (glögi)
• Christmas beer (Jouluolut); local manufacturers produce Christmas varieties^[28]
• "Home beer" (non-alcoholic beer-like drink, similar to the Russian beverage kvass) (kotikalja)

France[]

Foie gras en cocotte

• Oysters^[29]
• Foie gras^[29]
• Smoked salmon
• Scallops
• Champagne
• Crêpes (Brittany)^[30]
• chapon (roasted chicken)
• dinde aux marrons (chestnut-stuffed turkey)
• Ganzeltopf (goose) (Alsace)^[29]
• Bûche de Noël.^[31]

Kouglof

• Kouglof (Alsace)
• Thirteen desserts (Provence):^[29] The thirteen desserts are the traditional Christmas dessert in the French region of Provence. The Christmas supper ends with 13 dessert items, representing Jesus Christ and the 12 apostles. The desserts are traditionally set out Christmas Eve and remain on the table three days until December 27.^[32]
• Walnut
• Quince cheese^[32]
• Almond
• Raisin
• Calisson of Aix-en-Provence
• Nougat blanc
• Nougat noir au miel
• Apple
• Pear
• Orange
• Winter melon
• Fougasse (Provençal bread)

Germany[]

A Christmas Stollen

• Christstollen^[33] – Stollen is a fruitcake with bits of candied fruits, raisins, walnuts and almonds and spices such as cardamom and cinnamon; sprinkled with confectioners sugar. Often there's also a core of marzipan.^[34]
• Pfefferkuchenhaus – a gingerbread house decorated with candies, sweets and sugar icing (in reference to the gingerbread house of the fairy tale Hänsel and Gretel)
• Printen^[35]
• Oblaten Lebkuchen
• Springerle
• Weihnachtsplätzchen (Christmas cookies)
• Carp
• Roast goose
• Venison – e.g. meat of roe deer usually served with red cabbage, brussels sprout and lingonberry sauce
• Herring salad – salad of pickled or soused herring, beetroot, potatoes, apple
• Kartoffelsalat (potato salad) with Wurst (sausages) is traditionally eaten in northern Germany for supper on Christmas Eve
• Schäufele (a corned, smoked ham) usually served with potato salad in southern Germany for dinner on Christmas Eve
• Weisswurst – sausages with veal and bacon, usually flavored with parsley, lemon, mace, onions, ginger and cardamom
• Feuerzangenbowle
• Glühwein (hot spiced wine)

Greece[]

• Kourabiedes
• Melomakarono
• Diples
• Christopsomo (Christmas bread)
• Pork or turkey^[36]

Guatemala[]

• Tamales
• Ponche (Christmas fruit punch served hot with much fruit)
• pavo (turkey)
• Buñuelos (fluffy sweet dessert made with corn with maple syrup)
• chicken (prepared with different stuffings and accompanied with various side dishes such as salads or rice)

Hong Kong[]

• Ginger bread
• Roasted turkey
• Roasted chicken

Hungary[]

Töltött káposzta

• Fish soup (halászlé) various recipes
• Stuffed cabbage (töltött káposzta)
• Roast goose
• Roast duck
• Pastry roll filled with walnut or poppy seed (bejgli)
• Bread pudding with poppy seed (mákos guba or bobájka)
• Szaloncukor

Iceland[]

Möndlugrautur

• Hamborgarhryggur – a smoked, cured pork roast.
• Ptarmigan – gamebird in the grouse family
• Hangikjöt
• Oven-roasted turkey
• Möndlugrautur – a Christmas rice pudding with an almond hidden inside (the same as the Swedish Julgröt)
• Caramelised potatoes, Icelandic. Brúnaðar kartöflur (same as in Danish cuisine).
• Pickled red cabbage
• Smákökur – small cookies of various sorts
• Laufabrauð – round, very thin flat cakes with a diameter of about 15 to 20 cm (6 to 8 inches), decorated with leaf-like, geometric patterns and fried briefly in hot fat or oil

India[]

Christianity is not a major religion of India, but Christians in India celebrate Christmas by enjoying several dishes, such as Allahabadi cake, Candy canes, Plum cakes etc. Some of the popular dishes eaten during Christmas in India are:

• Allahabadi cake.^[37]
• Christmas cake – a type of fruit cake.^[38]
• Mathri – a traditional flaky biscuit.
• Gulab Jamun – a traditional sweet prepared with khoa.
• Jalebi
• Kheer – boiled rice cooked with milk, sugar, saffron and is garnished with nuts such as almonds and pistachios. It can also be made with barley.
• Chhena Poda – a dessert made with Chhena (cottage cheese) which is slightly roasted and soaked in sugar syrup. It is garnished with cashew nuts and served. Chhena Poda is popular in the Odisha state of India. It is eaten during the Christmas season but is available throughout the year.
• Chocolate covered fruit
• Dumplings – dumplings filled with Indian spices with a sweet or savoury filling.
• Tarts
• Neureos – a kind of dumpling made of semolina, khoa and nutlet.
• Roast chicken
• Bebinca – a dessert popular in Goa which is eaten during Christmas season.
• Biryani
• Stew – stews prepared with chicken, mutton, fish.
• Candy canes
• Aloo Dum
• Vindaloo – a spicy Goan curry with pork made during Christmas.
• Fruits, such as apple, orange, guava.
• Mixed nuts
• Cupcakes
• Drinks, such as cider, ginger ale, etc.

Church services are also held in churches throughout India, in which Christmas dinners are held which include dishes such as Allahabadi cake, candy canes, christmas cookies.

Indonesia[]

• Klappertaart^[39]
• Poffertjes^[39]
• Ayam Rica^[39]
• Jaha Rice
• Turmeric and lime fish

Italy[]

• Panettone (Milan)^[40][41]
• Pandoro (Verona)^[42]
• Panforte (Tuscany)^[43]
• Prosecco (Veneto)^[44]
• Spumante (Piedmont)^[44]
• Struffoli (Naples)
• Pastiera (Naples)
• Duck a L'Orange

Jamaica[]

• Christmas (fruit) cake or black cake – a heavy fruit cake made with dried fruit, wine and rum.
• Sorrel – often served to guests with Christmas cake; Sorrel is made from the same sepals as Latin American drink "Jamaica," but is more concentrated and usually flavored with ginger. Adding rum is traditional at Christmas time.
• Curry goat
• Rice and peas – a Sunday staple, at Christmas dinner is usually made with green (fresh) gungo (pigeon) peas instead of dried kidney beans or other dried legumes.
• Christmas ham
• Chicken
• Pine and ginger

Japan[]

• Christmas cake – different from the British Christmas cake or American fruitcake, the Japanese style Christmas cake is often a white cream cake, sponge cake frosted with whipped cream, topped with strawberries and with a chocolate plate that says Merry Christmas,^[45] though yule logs are also available.
• KFC fried chicken – with turkey as a dish being virtually unknown in Japan^[46] the popularity of this item at Christmas is such that orders are placed as much as two months in advance.^[47]

Lithuania[]

• Twelve-dish Christmas Eve supper – twelve dishes representing the twelve Apostles or twelve months of the year – plays the main role in Lithuanian Christmas tradition. The traditional dishes are served on December 24.
  • Poppy milk (aguonų pienas)
  • Slizikai ( or kūčiukai) – slightly sweet small pastries made from leavened dough and poppy seed
  • Auselės (Deep fried dumplings)
  • Herring with carrots (silkė su morkomis')
  • Herring with mushrooms (silkė su grybais')
  • Spanguolių kisielius – cranberry and milk sauce dessert

Malaysia[]

• Bolo Rei – a type of cake
• Chap chye – a vegetable stew
• Steamboat – a hotpot dish for communal dining. Not to be confused with Steamboat
• Devil's curry – from the Eurasian tradition
• Egg salad
• Vindaloo – a spicy Goan curry made usually with pork
• Semur (Indonesian stew)
• Christmas pudding
• Candy canes

Malta[]

• Panettone – from the Italian tradition
• Fruitcake – from British Influence
• Christmas/Yule log (cake) – a log (similar to a tree's) that is made from chocolate and candied fruits
• Mince Pies – from British Influence
• Timpana – traditionally served as a starter
• Roast Turkey – from British Influence

Mexico[]

Christmas roast

• Meat
  • Roasted turkey – stuffed, roasted turkey served with gravy.
  • Glazed ham – ham glazed with honey or sugar dressed with cherries and pineapples.
  • Jamón (Spanish Dry-Cured Ham)
  • Lechon
  • Seafood
    • Bacalao – cod Basque style. Traditionally eaten in the central and southern states of Mexico.
    • Shrimp – cocktail or prepared in Torrejas (dried shrimp pancakes)
    • Octopus – cocktail
    • Crab
• Stews
  • Menudo – a Christmas morning tradition in northwestern states, Menudo is a tripe and hominy soup. Menudo is often prepared the night before (Christmas Eve) as its cooking time can take up to 5 hours.
  • Pozole – hominy soup with added pork
• Salads & other side dishes
  • Tamales – can sometimes replace the traditional turkey or Bacalao with romeritos, particularly in northern and southern parts of Mexico.
  • – Christmas salad with apples, raisins, pecans, and marshmallows.
  • – Christmas Eve salad
  • – potato salad, particularly popular in northern states.
  • Romeritos – also a Christmas tradition of the central region, romeritos are small green leaves similar to Rosemary mixed generally with mole and potatoes.
• Sweets
  • Buñuelo – fried sweet pastry
  • Capirotada – bread pudding
  • Turrón
  • Cocada – coconut candy
  • – pineapple upside-down cake. Turned-over cake with cherries and pineapples.
  • – cake
  • Mantecados and polvorones – crumbly cakes
  • Marzipan, almond cakes
  • Pan dulce – sweet rolls
  • Churros
• Fresh Fruit
  • Tejocotes
  • Guayabas
• Drinks
  • Champurrado – thick hot chocolate
  • Chocolate – hot chocolate
  • Cidra – apple cider
  • Atole – corn based drink
  • Rompope – similar to eggnog
  • – a hot, sweet drink made with apples, sugar cane, prunes and tejocotes. For grown-ups, ponche is never complete without its "piquete" – either tequila or rum

New Zealand[]

A homemade Christmas pavlova decorated with pomegranate seeds and Chantilly cream.

• Pavlova
• Ham
• Turkey
• Strawberries
• Christmas Pudding
• Christmas mince
• Wine
• Trifle
• Lollies such as Warheads and candy canes
• Potato salad
• Peanuts
• Cherries
• Seafood

Norway[]

Scandinavian-style gingerbread

• Akevitt – Akvavit, a spirit flavored with spices like caraway and aniseed
• Gløgg – mulled wine
• – pork sausage made with powdered ginger, cloves, mustard seeds and nutmeg. Served steamed or roasted.
• Lutefisk – fish preserved with lye that has been washed and boiled
• /Pinnekjøtt – salted, dried, and sometimes smoked lamb's ribs which are rehydrated and then steamed, traditionally over birch branches
• Svineribbe – pork ribs roasted whole with the skin on, rather than spare ribs
• Julegrøt – Christmas rice porridge with an almond hidden inside
• Julebrus – Norwegian soft drink, usually with a festive label on the bottle. It is brewed by most Norwegian breweries, as a Christmas drink for minors.
• Julekake – Norwegian yeast cake with dried fruits and spices
• – small Christmas sausages
• – large meatballs made from a mix of pork meat and pork fat
• / – sweet and sour red cabbage, as a side dish
• – Purée of rutabaga, as a side dish
• / – gingerbread-like spice cookies flavoured with black pepper
• Lussekatter – St. Lucia Buns with saffron
• Multekrem – a dessert consisting of cloudberries and whipped cream

Panama[]

• Arroz con Pollo
• Tamales
• Ham
• Turkey
• Grapes
• Fruit cake
• Egg nog
• Potato salad
• Spaghetti

Paraguay[]

• Apple cider
• sometimes covered in vinaigrette
• Cider
• Clericó (citric alcoholic Drink made out of a mix of fruits and wine)
• Roasted chicken
• Potato salad
• Roast pork
• Sopa paraguaya

Philippines[]

Large bibingka from the Philippines

• Bibingka – traditional dessert made with rice flour, sugar, clarified butter and coconut milk. baked in layers and topped with butter and sugar.^[48]
• Caldereta
• Ham^[49]
• Mechado
• Menudo
• Morcon
• Pancit – Filipino style noodle dish made with sliced meat and vegetables
• Puto bumbong – a purple-coloured Filipino dessert made of sweet rice cooked in hollow bamboo tubes placed on a special steamer-cooker. When cooked, they are spread with margarine and sprinkled with sugar and grated coconut.^[48]
• Queso de bola (edam cheese)^[49]
• Salads (either fruit, coconut or garden)
• Lechon

Poland[]

12 dishes are served as a reminder of the 12 Apostles on Christmas Eve, 24 December. Polish people don't eat meat on this day, instead they choose from variety of fish and vegetable dishes. The meal begins when the first star is seen.

Barszcz with Uszka

Makowiec

• Barszcz (beetroot soup) with uszka (small dumplings) - a classic Polish Christmas starter.
• Pierogi with sauerkraut and forest mushrooms; filled with cottage cheese and potatoes
• Zupa rybna – fish soup
• Żurek – soup made of soured rye flour and meat
• Zupa grzybowa – mushroom soup made of various forest mushrooms
• Bigos – savory stew of cabbage and meat
• Kompot – traditional drink a light, refreshing drink most often made of dried or fresh fruit boiled in water with sugar and left to cool and infuse.
• Gołąbki – cabbage rolls
• Pieczarki marynowane – marinated mushrooms
• Kartofle gotowane – simple boiled potatoes sparkled with parsley or dill
• Kulebiak – with fish or cabbage and wild mushrooms filling
• Ryba smażona or ryba po grecku – fried fish laid under lyers of fried shredded carrots, onions, root celery and leek
• Sałatka jarzynowa – salad made with boiled potatoes and carrots with fresh peas, sweetcorn, dill cucumber, and boiled egg, mixed with mayonnaise.
• – type of flat and rather hard pancake that is soaked in warm milk with poppy seeds. Eaten in eastern regions such as around * Białystok
• Makowiec – poppy seed roll

Portugal[]

Bolo-Rei

• Bacalhau – codfish
• Cabrito assado – roasted goat
• Borrego assado – roasted lamb
• Polvo cozido – boiled octopus
• Carne de Vinha d' Alhos – mainly served in Madeira – pork dish
• Bolo de mel – mainly served in Madeira - Cake made with molasses
• Bolo Rei (king cake) – a beautifully decorated fluffy fruitcake
• Bolo-Rei escangalhado (broken king cake) – it is like the first one, but has also cinnamon and chilacayote jam (doce de gila)
• Bolo-Rainha (queen cake) – similar to Bolo-Rei, but with only nuts, raisins and almonds
• Bolo-Rei de chocolate – it is like the Bolo-Rei, but has less (or no) fruit, nuts, chilacayote jam and many chocolate chips
• Broa castelar – a small, soft and thin cake made of sweet potato and orange
• Fatias douradas – slices of pan bread, soaked in egg with sugar, fried and sprinkled with powdered sugar and cinnamon
• Rabanadas – they are like fatias douradas, but made with common bread
• Aletria – composed of pasta, milk, butter, sugar, eggs, lemon peel, cinnamon powder and salt
• Formigos – a delicious dessert made with sugar, eggs, pieces of bread, almonds, port wine and cinnamon powder
• Filhós / Filhozes / Filhoses – depending on the region, they may be thin or fluffy pieces of a fried dough made of eggs, honey, orange, lemon, flour and anise, sprinkled - or not with icing sugar
• Coscorões – thin squares of a fried orange flavoured dough
• Azevias de grão, batata-doce ou gila – deep fried thin dough pastries filled with a delicious cream made of chickpea, sweet potato or chilacayote, powdered with sugar and cinnamon
• Tarte de amêndoa – almond pie
• Tronco de Natal – Christmas log – a Swiss roll, resembling a tree's trunk, filled with chocolate cream, decorated with chocolate and mini – 2 cm Christmas trees
• Lampreia de ovos – a sweet made of eggs, well decorated
• Sonhos – an orange flavoured fried yeast dough, powdered with icing sugar
• Velhoses – they are like the sonhos, but made with pumpkin
• Bolo de Natal – Christmas cake
• Pudim de Natal – Christmas pudding, similar to flan
• Vinho quente – mulled wine made with boiled wine, egg yolk, sugar and cinnamon
• Turkey – on the island of Terceira, turkey has recently taken over as the traditional Christmas dish over Bacalhau, due to the influence of American culture on the island, home to the United States Air Force's 65th Air Base Wing.

Puerto Rico[]

• Arroz con gandules – yellow-rice, pigeon peas, olives, capers, pieces of pork, spices and sofrito cooked in the same pot.
• Ensalada de pulpo - octopus salad.
• Escabeche – pickled green bananas or cassava and chicken gizzards.
• Macaroni salad – with canned tuna and peppers.
• Morcilla - blood sausage.
• Pasteles - Puerto Rican tamle made from milk, stock, root vegetables, squash, green banana, plantain dough and stuffed with meat.
• Hallaca - Puerto Rican tamale made with milk, stock, cassava and stuffed with meat.
• Pastelón – sweet plantain "lasagna".
• Pig roast – Puerto Rico is famous for their pig roast. It is also a part (along with arroz con gandules) of their national dish.
• Potato salad – most commonly made with apples, chorizo and hard-boiled eggs. Potatoes are sometimes replaced with cassava.

Drinks:

• Bilí – Spanish limes or cherries fermented in rum with spices, brown sugar, citrus peels, bay leaves, avocado leaves, often cucumber, ginger, and coconut shells.
• Coquito – spiced coconut eggnog.
• Coquito de guayaba - spiced guava eggnog with cream cheese or coconut milk added.
• Piña colada
• Rum punch – rum, orange liqueur, grenadine, ginger ale, grapefruit juice served with fruit, lemon and lime slices.
• La Danza – champagne with passion fruit juice, orange liqueur, lime juice, lemon juice, and strawberry juice.

Dessert:

• Arroz con dulce – Spiced coconut and raisin rice pudding.
• Bread pudding – soaked in coconut milk and served with a guava rum sauce.
• Dulce de cassabanana – musk cucumber cooked in syrup topped with walnuts and sour cream on the side.
• con queso – Fermented green papaya with spices and sugar syrup served with ausubal cheese or fresh white cheese.
• Flancocho – Crème caramel with a layer of cream cheese and Puerto Rican style spongecake underneath.
• – rice and coconut custard. Made with coconut cream, marshmallows, milk, rice flour, sugar, vanilla and sour orange leaves with cinnamon served on top.
• Rum cake
• Tembleque – a pudding made with cornstarch, coconut cream, sugar, milk, orange blossom water and coconut milk.
• Turrón – Sesame brittle or almond brittle.
• Mantecaditos – Puerto Rican shortbread cookies. Made with shortening, coconut butter, flour, almond flour, vanilla, nutmeg and almond extract. They are usually filled with guava jam or pineapple jam in the middle.
• Natilla - Milk, coconut cream and egg yolk custard made with additional cinnamon, cornstarch, sugar, vanilla, lemon zest and orange blossom water. Served in individual ramekins with cinnamon sprinkled on top.

Romania[]

Cozonac

Romanian Christmas foods are mostly pork-based dishes.^[50] Five days before Christmas, Romanians are celebrating the Ignat Day, a religious holy day dedicated to the Holy Martyr Ignatius Theophorus, associated with a practice that takes place especially on villages scattered around the country: the ritual of slaughtering the pigs. And they are using everything from the pigs: from their blood to their ears. Five days later their tables are filled not only with generous pork roasts but also with:

• Piftie – pork jelly, made only with pork meat, vegetables and garlic
• Lebăr – liver sausages, a local variety of liverwurst
• Caltaboș – sausages made from organs
• Cârnaţi – pork-based sausages
• Sângerete – blood sausages
• Tobă – head cheese made from various cuttings of pork, liver boiled, diced and "packed" in pork stomach like a salami
• Sarmale – rolls of cabbage pickled in brine and filled with meat and rice (see sarma)
• Salată de boeuf – a more recent dish, but highly popular, this type of salad uses boiled vegetables and meat (beef, poultry, even ham). It can include potatoes, carrots, pickled red peppers and cucumbers, egg whites bits. Everything is mixed together with mayonnaise and mustard.
• Cozonac, the Romanian equivalent of panettone or sweet bread.

• Strong spirits: Palinka, Rachiu, Ţuică

San Marino[]

Bustrengo

• Bustrengo

Serbia[]

• Fish soup for Christmas Eve
• Koljivo – boiled wheat which is used liturgically in the Eastern Orthodox and Greek Catholic churches
• Česnica – Christmas soda bread with a silver coin to bring health and good luck baked in the bread.

South Africa[]

Christmas is in the summer time in South Africa, so lots of summer fruits like Watermelon and cantaloupes are enjoyed around the time. Popular desserts include trifle, melktert and peppermint crisp tart. People in South Africa love to Braai, and would do that for Christmas or New Year’s Day.

• Beef tongue
• Gammon
• Potato Salad
• Garden Salad
• Turducken
• Turkey
• Braaivleis
• Boerewors
• Potjiekos
• Breyani
• Bobotie
• Meatballs
• Fried chicken
• Trifle
• Fruitcake
• Christmas pudding
• Ice cream
• Melktert
• – fridge tart made with peppermint crisp, caramel treat and tennis biscuits
• – fridge tart
• Cookies
• Hertzoggies
• Lamingtons
• Watermelon
• Melon
• Mango
• Pineapple
• Strawberries
• Peanuts
• Lollies such as candy canes

Spain[]

• Jamón (Spanish dry-cured ham)
• Meat
  • Roasted turkey
  • Roasted lamb
  • Seafood
    • Langostinos – (king prawn)
    • Shrimp
    • Lobster
    • Crab
    • Gilt-head bream
• Sweets
  

  Turrón
  • Turrón
  • Yema – egg-based dessert
  • Mantecados and polvorones – crumbly cakes
  • Marzipan – almond cakes
  • King cake known as roscón de Reyes in Spanish and tortell in Catalan.
  • Churros^[51]

Sweden[]

Julbord Christmas dinner in Sweden

• Julbord^[52] - Christmas smorgasbord ("Christmas table"), a catch-all term for all the dishes served during Christmas Eve:
  • Köttbullar – Swedish meatballs
  • Julskinka – Christmas ham
  • Dopp i grytan ("dipping in the kettle") – dipping bread slices in the ham broth after boiling the Christmas ham.^[53]
  • Prinskorv – small hot dog sausages
  • Fläskkorv – big pork sausage
  • Isterband – smoked fresh pork sausage
  • Revbensspjäll – spare ribs
  • Inlagd sill – pickled herring (usually of different types)
  • Gravad lax – lox
  • Janssons frestelse ("Jansson's Temptation") – warm, scalloped potato casserole with anchovies
  • Vörtlimpa – Swedish rye bread with grated orange peel made for Christmas, with or without raisins.
  • Knäckebröd – dry crisp bread
  • Rödkål – sweet and sour red cabbage, as a side dish
  • Grönkål – sweet and sour kale as a side dish
  • Brunkål ("brown cabbage") – cabbage flavoured with syrup hence the name
  • Rödbetor – sliced beet root
  • An array of cheeses – bondost, herrgårdsost, prästost, mesost (hard goat milk cheese)
• Lutfisk^[54] – lye-fish (whitefish) that has been boiled served with white gravy
• Julmust – a traditional, very sweet, stout-like, Christmas soft drink, originally intended as an alternative to alcohol beverage called Mumma
• Glögg – mulled wine
• Knäck or Christmas Butterscotch – Christmas toffee^[55]
• Pepparkakor (Gingerbread) – brown cookies flavoured with a variety of traditional Christmas spices
• Julost – Christmas cheese
• Julgröt – Christmas rice pudding with an almond hidden inside
• Lussekatter – Saint Lucy saffron buns
• Limpa bread – orange and rye spice bread

Trinidad and Tobago[]

In Trinidad and Tobago traditional meals consists of generous helpings of baked ham, pastelles, black fruit cake, sweet breads, along with traditional drinks such as sorrel, ginger beer, and ponche de crème. The ham is the main item on the Christmas menu with sorrel to accompany it.^[56][57]

• Christmas ham
• Sorrel
• Pastelles also known as Hallacas
• Ponche de crème – a version of eggnog
• Black cake

Ukraine[]

Orthodox and Roman Catholic Christians in Ukraine traditionally have two Christmas dinners. The first is a Lent Dinner, it is held on the January 6 and should consist of meatless dishes. The second is a Christmas Festive dinner held on January 7, when the meat dishes and alcohol are already allowed on the table. The dinner normally has 12 dishes which represent Jesus's 12 disciples. Both Christmas dinners traditionally include a number of authentic Ukrainian dishes, which have over thousand-year history and date back to pagan times.

• Kutya
• Uzvar^[58]
• Varenyky
• Borscht
• Deruny^[59]

United Kingdom and Ireland[]

Christmas pudding

In the United Kingdom, what is now regarded as the traditional meal consists of roast turkey with cranberry sauce, served with roast potatoes and parsnips and other vegetables, followed by Christmas pudding, a heavy steamed pudding made with dried fruit, suet, and very little flour. Other roast meats may be served, and in the nineteenth century the traditional roast was goose. The same carries over to Ireland with some variations.

• Beef Wellington (alternative main course)^[60]
• Brandy butter
• Bread sauce
• Brussels sprouts^[61]
• Candy canes
• Chocolate yule log
• Christmas cake
• Christmas ham (usually a honey or marmalade glazed roast or boiled gammon joint)
• Christmas pudding^[62]
• Cranberry sauce^[63]
• Devils on horseback^[64]
• Dundee cake (traditional Scottish fruit cake)
• Gingerbread^[65]
• Gravy^[66]
• Hot chocolate
• Mince pies^[67]
• Mulled wine^[68]
• Nut roast (a popular vegetarian alternative)
• Pigs in a blanket (Chipolata sausages wrapped in bacon)
• Roast turkey^[67]
• Roast beef
• Roasted chestnuts^[69]
• Roast duck
• Roast goose
• Roast pheasant
• Roast parsnips and carrots
• Roast potatoes (occasionally roasted with goose or duck fat)^[70]
• Spiced beef (traditionally served in Northern Ireland and Eire)
• Stuffing
• Trifle^[71]
• Tunis Cake
• Twelfth Night Cake (traditionally eaten on the final day of Christmas)^[72]

United States[]

Roast turkey

Christmas ham

• Apple cider
• Boiled custard
• Candy canes
• Champagne, or sparkling apple cider
• Chocolate fudge
• Christmas cookies
• Cranberry sauce
• Eggnog
• Fish as part of the Feast of the Seven Fishes
• Fruitcake
• Gingerbread, often in the form of a gingerbread house or gingerbread man
• Christmas ham
• Hot buttered rum
• Hot chocolate
• Mashed potato
• Mixed nuts, chestnuts, ,
• Oyster stew, composed of oysters simmered in cream or milk and butter.
• Persimmon pudding
• Pie
  • Apple pie
  • Pecan pie
  • Pumpkin pie
  • Sweet potato pie
• Yams/sweet potato casserole (with marshmallow)
• Red velvet cake
• Russian tea cakes
• Tom and Jerry
• Roast turkey, less often roast duck, goose, chicken or pheasant
• Stuffing, also known as dressing, particularly in the southern U.S.

See also: Thanksgiving (the dishes tend to be similar)

Venezuela[]

Hallaca

• Hallaca – rectangle-shaped meal made of maize, filled with beef, pork, chicken, olives, raisins and caper, and wrapped in plantain leaves and boiled to cook.
• Pan de jamón – ham-filled bread with olives and raisins and often sliced cheese.
• Dulce de lechosa – dessert made of cooked sliced unripe papaya in reduced sugar syrup
• Ensalada de gallina – salad made of potato, carrot, apple and shredded chicken (hen usually home or locally raised as opposed to store bought chicken)
• Pernil^[73] – commonly referred to as roast pork

See also[]

• Christmas dinner
•  Food portal
•  Holidays portal

References[]

External links[]

• Christmas recipes at Curlie