Christmas dinner
In many parts of the world, particularly former British colonies, the meal shares some connection with the English Christmas dinner involving roasted meats and pudding of some description.
Christmas dinner in the Philippines is called Noche Buena following Hispanic custom, and is held towards midnight of 24 December.
This is usually served with queso de bola, literally a ball of edam cheese covered in red wax.
The dinner would usually be accompanied by tsokolate or hot cocoa, made with pure, locally grown cacao beans.
Some families prefer tsokolate prepared from tablea or pressed cocoa powder tablets that are either pure or slightly sweetened.
Common traditional dishes served for the main course in the noche buena include: lechón, various types of pancit (noodles), Filipino spaghetti, hamonado, jamón, queso de bola, morcón, embutido, chicken galantina, almondigas (meatballs), paelya (arroz valenciana, bringhe, etc.
), lumpia, menudo, mechado, caldereta, callos, chicken pastel, relyenong bangús (stuffed milkfish), lengua estofado, adobo, and various types of barbecue (inihaw).
Relatives living abroad, especially OFWs, are highly encouraged to return home for the occasion, as it is the most important Filipino Christian holiday of the year.
[19] It is often accompanied by a fish soup prepared from carp leftovers (head or bones), a traditional Czech mushroom dish Kuba or Černá omáčka ("Black sauce") made from dried fruits, nuts, wine and gingerbread.
In Denmark, the traditional Christmas meal served on 24 December consists, according to one representative study, of duck (66% of households surveyed), roast pork with crackling (43%), turkey (8%), or goose (7%).
[21] Fish is also served (often lutefisk and gravlax or smoked salmon), and with the ham there are also different casseroles usually with potatoes, rutabaga (swedes), or carrots.
In this case, dinner on Christmas Eve is a simpler affair, consisting of sausages (such as Bockwurst or Wiener) and potato salad.
[27] Christmas on 25 December is celebrated with a family lunch, also consisting of different types of pasta and meat dishes, cheese and local sweets.
In medieval Catalan cuisine, poultry was served for Christmas dinner, and other dishes with salsa de pago were followed by a course of lamb and bacon stew.
[citation needed] Christmas dinner in the United Kingdom usually consists of roasted turkey, stuffing, gravy, Yorkshire puddings, pigs in blankets,[34][35][36] bread sauce, cranberry sauce, roast potatoes; vegetables (particularly Brussels sprouts, broccoli, carrots, and parsnips) with dessert of Christmas pudding, mince pies (both served with brandy butter, custard or cream) or trifle.
[41] The tradition of turkey at Christmas rapidly spread throughout England in the 17th century,[39] and it also became common to serve goose which remained the predominant roast until the Victorian era.
Traditional Christmas dinner features turkey[52] with stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, and vegetables.
Traditions from the United Kingdom are kept in most states, with others celebrated as well, due to many years of influence from Europe (Spain, Scandinavia, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Germany, etc.)
"[56] Many foreigners are skeptical of this fact, but indeed there is some truth to it: Manitou Springs, Colorado, holds an annual event in which unwanted fruitcakes are tossed in a contest to see who can throw the "gift" the farthest, with the locals building trebuchets and contraptions that are forbidden to have an electric motor.
[57] An elderly gentleman from Tecumseh, Michigan once made national news when he presented his countryman with the fact that he still had a fruitcake his great-grandmother baked in 1878, and thus was over 130 years old.
[citation needed] A typical menu would include any combination of planter's punch, Kentucky bourbon and the cocktails that can be made from it, wines from California, Washington, Virginia, or New York of many varying vintages meant to complement the meal prepared by the host, Prosecco from Italy, hard cider from New England and California, wassail, Puerto Rican or Jamaican rum, champagne and other domestic sparkling white wines, and for individual cocktails the alcoholic version of eggnog, the poinsettia, and the Puerto Rican coquito, a cocktail composed of large amounts of coconut milk and rum.
[59] West of the Mississippi, Mexicans have had a great influence over the way the meal is prepared, including roasting corn in its husk and serving biscochitos.
An Italian American meal for Christmas Eve can be the Feast of the Seven Fishes, Panettone and struffoli are favored desserts in such cases.
[65][66][67] However, due to Christmas falling in the heat of the Southern Hemisphere's summer, meats such as ham, turkey and chicken are sometimes served cold with cranberry sauce, accompanied by side salads or roast vegetables.
Seafood such as prawns, lobster, oysters and crayfish are common, as are barbecued cuts of steak or chicken breasts, drumsticks and wings.
In summer, Australians are also fond of pavlova, a dessert composed of fruit such as strawberries, kiwifruit and passionfruit atop a baked meringue, with whipped cream.
Other Christmas items include a variety of desserts such as lemon tart, nuts pie, chocolate cake and also Panettone.
On Christmas Eve (Noche Buena), the extended family join for a dinner of roast turkey[69] and white rice seasoned with garlic.
Less common desserts include a special marzipan made out of Brazil nuts (due to the scarcity and expense of almonds in Peru) and assorted bowls with raisins and peanuts.
[72] For dessert, panettone and turrón are eaten, which were introduced to Uruguayan cuisine by Spanish and Italian immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries.
