On this day Saint Nicholas, “Sinterklaas,” arrives in Holland. Cities have parades where he comes riding in on a white horse, on a barge, or even on a motorcycle. He wears a bishop’s hat and a red cape. This starts the Christmas season. That evening, adults have parties and exchange gifts, while children set out shoes filled with carrots and hay for Saint Nicholas’s horse. In the morning they find them filled with gifts. This day, called samiclaus in Swiss German, is also important in Switzerland, where good children get chocolate as well as nuts and fruit in their shoes.
This holiday, also celebrated in states such as Minnesota where there are many Scandinavian communities, honors an Italian martyr named Saint Lucia. Like many winter festivals, its central feature is lights. In Sweden, and Swedish-American homes in the Midwest, a young girl, one of the daughters of the family, dresses in a white gown and a crown of lighted candles. She and the other children then parade to their parents’ bedroom or to the breakfast table carrying a tray of coffee and saffron buns called lussekatter for breakfast.
COLORS
White (the color of the candles and girl’s dress) and yellow for the saffron bread.
In Grenada and other Caribbean islands, people eat fish served with a leafy vegetable called callaloo, and a variety of other vegetable dishes after attending church.
Central and South American
In Chile, a rich stew with many sorts of fish and seafood is typical for Christmas Eve. Similarly, Venezuelans, Panamanians, and most people from Central America have a large meal late on Christmas Eve. In these countries, stews of beef and vegetables preceded by soups, perhaps of fish but equally likely made from avocados, squash, or other vegetables, are popular.
French and French Canadian
In parts of France, it is usual to have a Christmas Eve meal that begins with oysters and includes other delicacies such as goose liver pâté. Among French Canadians, the meal is called the reveillon. After Midnight Mass, tourtiere, a pie filled with pork or a mixture of pork and beef, is served. Turkey and goose are also popular.
In southern France, the meal known as Le Gros Souper, the Big Supper, concludes with thirteen desserts. These are not necessarily cakes and pies in the American sense of desserts but nuts, candies, and both fresh and dried fruits, as well as baked goods. Nougat, a candy made from almonds, egg-whites, and honey is always included.
Italian
Italians typically fast during the day, then have a meal of fish after Midnight Mass. At its most complex, this is a feast of seven fishes cooked in seven different ways, symbolizing the seven sacraments. In northern Italy, this is often simplified by making fish stews with seven sorts of fish.
Although the Christmas Eve meal is large, northern Italians also eat a big celebratory meal on Christmas Day, often a beef roast.
Gift-giving and parties are the two basic customs of the Christmas season, but cultures and communities differ a great deal in the particular days chosen for exchanging gifts and serving the important meals of the season, and, most of all, in the range of customs and traditions.
dried fruit
All European countries and countries where Europeans have settled use dried fruit extensively at Christmas in cookies, breads, puddings, pies, and simply for eating out of hand.
spices
Christmas baked goods are typically spiced, sometimes with expensive spices such as cardamom or saffron. Cinnamon, cloves, ginger, allspice, and nutmeg are the most common spices for Christmas baking.
baked goods
Every culture has some sort of baked good, usually a bread, pie, or cake, that is made only at Christmas. In addition, cookies and candies of every type are given as gifts and served often at Christmas gatherings.
meat and poultry
Christmas dinner or one of the other main Christmas meals always features a large piece of meat. National and regional customs generally determine the choice, which ranges from a large bird such as a turkey or goose to a large roast of beef, lamb, ham, or, occasionally, venison.
nuts
Because nuts are in season in late fall in the northern hemisphere, they are traditional at Christmas. They are often placed in large bowls so guests can help themselves. They also appear in many traditional cookies and cakes. Almonds are especially important in European baking. They are used in nougat, turron, marzipan, and almond paste. Hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans, and pine nuts are a vital ingredient in many breads and cookies.
fruit
Like nuts, fresh fruit is often placed in large bowls. Oranges and tangerines are particularly important in Europe, but in general the idea is to display the showiest fruit.
fish
In some cultures, fish is important on Christmas Eve and fish luxuries such as oysters or smoked salmon are common adjuncts to Christmas.
luxuries
Whatever is rare and luxurious is appropriate for Christmas. In many poorer countries, this may simply be meat that is too expensive to buy at other times. In wealthier nations, fine wines, liqueurs, cheeses, chocolates, and exotic game birds are all once-a-year treats reserved for Christmas.
Virtually all cultures have some foods that are essential for Christmas. For example:
Australian, British, Canadian, Irish, and South African
Roast turkey or goose, rarely roast beef, is the centerpiece of the Christmas meal, with stuffing, small sausages, Brussels sprouts, and bread sauce as common side dishes. Christmas pudding, occasionally called plum pudding, follows, with either brandy butter or a custard sauce. Mincemeat pies are also served. Smoked salmon before dinner and Stilton cheeses after the pudding are special treats. All alcoholic drinks are popular; however, port and sherry are traditional choices, often brought as gifts.
French and French Canadian
Goose liver pâté or oysters are a special treat, with turkey or goose or lamb as the main dish of the Christmas meal. People from southern France have a tradition of serving desserts, including macaroons, cookies, and dried fruits. Many French and French Canadians use buche de noel, a rolled génoise cake decorated to look like a log with chocolate bark and meringue mushrooms, as the centerpiece of the dessert table.
Among French Canadians, roast lamb or venison is often served with pureed chestnuts as the centerpiece. Tourtiere, a pork pie, is served at any time throughout the Christmas and New Year season. Plum pudding is popular although generally served with caramel sauce, not the hard sauce or custard typical of English-speaking countries.
German
Goose, hare, or venison are served for Christmas dinner. There are many cookies baked at home, including pfeffernuuse, a spicy molasses cookie, and spritz, a butter and sugar cookie. Marzipan molded into seasonal shapes or as part of a cake or cookie is typical. The tradition of making gingerbread houses comes from Germany, and bakers there excel in making very elaborate ones, often turning their shop windows into gingerbread villages.
Icelandic
Smoked lamb is the traditional Christmas meat in Iceland. On St Thorlak's Day, December 23 skate cooked in the broth from the lamb is the traditional meal, often cooked by the men of the household. Another Christmas specialty is a thin bread called "snowflake bread" in English because of the elaborate patterns on its surface.
Italian
Christmas foods vary from region to region in Italy, but two baked specialties from northern Italy are now also popular in America— panettone, a raisin bread baked in a tall pan that gives it a characteristic shape, and panforte di siena, a mixture of nuts, dried fruit, spices, and honey baked into a round disc, about ½-inch thick.
Jamaican and other Caribbean
Jamaicans eat goat or chicken at Christmas. (See recipe for Jerk Chicken.) They also have several British dishes, including Christmas pudding and fruitcakes. Throughout the Christmas season Jamaicans drink sorrel, a punch made with rum and an infusion of the sepals of a species of hibiscus. This is popular also in Trinidad and Guyana and some other Caribbean islands.
Latin American
In Latin America, the meat for Christmas is often beef (in Argentina, Chile, or Uruguay) or pork (in Central American countries). Turkeys and pigeons are popular in Peru and some other places. In Mexico and Central America, tamales are made for Christmas, as at other festive times.
Scandinavian
Butter cookies are popular for Christmas, as are cookies flavored with cardamom or ginger, or sweetened with currants, raisins, or prunes. Some form of rice pudding is also popular, often spiced and containing a charm or coin that will bring good fortune to the person who finds it. Many small fish dishes are served as first courses or snacks, including dishes of pickled herring, fish roe, sardines, and smoked fish. Carrots and red cabbage are both popular, while in Finland a rutabaga casserole is a standard side dish. Norwegians serve the Christmas meal as a buffet and include specialties such as jellied pigs’ feet, reindeer meat, fish balls, and a preserved fish called lutefisk. In Sweden and Finland, a whole ham is served for Christmas dinner. Many of these Scandinavian foods are also popular in Minnesota and other midwestern states where Scandinavian immigrants have settled.
Hot spiced wine warms Christmas guests in Scandinavia, Germany, Switzerland and other northern countries. The tradition dates from medieval times, when wine was sold extremely young and needed help from sugar and spices to make it palatable.
Spanish
Nougat and turron, made from almonds and honey are essential for Christmas in Spain and Puerto Rico. Spain also has many other almond confections including marzipan shaped into shells, fish or religious symbols, and cookies such as polverones.
COLORS
Red and green (reminiscent of holly) and, to a lesser extent, white are associated with Christmas. Gold and silver typifying luxury are also important.
The food eaten on this day is the same as that for Christmas Day. Sometimes people make a second Christmas dinner on Boxing Day if they are entertaining a different group of people. In other cases, they may make a relaxed meal using some of the many Christmas foods.
Gifts are sometimes given at Kwanzaa. On the penultimate day of Kwanzaa, December 31, there is a feast, the Kwanzaa Kuramu, which is celebrated not only with large amounts of food but also with speeches and music designed to focus everyone on ancestors and black culture.
COLORS
Red, green, and black, the colors of the Kwanzaa candles, are also featured in other Kwanzaa decorations.