🍽️ Christmas dishes of the world: top 10 holiday treats

On the eve of the New Year holidays, every family faces the same questions: what to serve on the New Year's table, what dishes to surprise guests and family members with. Year after year, this problem with an asterisk gives many people pause. Of course, you don’t have to worry and cook everything traditional, for example, Olivier, herring under a fur coat, sandwiches with red caviar. Well, if you want something like that, then you will like our article.

In addition to the fact that it is very interesting to find out what people eat in different countries during the Christmas holidays, it is also useful: you can get ideas.

Great Britain 

Many of us have been familiar with the festive table of this country since our school days. After all, every English textbook was full of pictures of dishes from Great Britain. But today we’ll talk in more detail about some dishes.

The British honor their traditions, so Christmas is invariably a family holiday when everyone gets together. And, what is surprising for us, they sit down to the festive Christmas table in advance, from about 12 to 14 o'clock.

A traditional dish is stuffed turkey. The bird is stuffed with oranges, lemons or apples. When preparing such a delicacy, it is very important to monitor the temperature of the turkey. The owner, who is waiting for guests, is assigned several important tasks at once. Among other things, he will need to cut up the bird and put it on plates for the guests.

Sometimes turkey can be replaced with goose and the same products used for stuffing. Or add pear, quince, figs, prunes to this list.

No less tasty is a dish called beef Wellington. For this dish, the most important thing is to find a good beef tenderloin. The dish itself is meat stuffed with mushrooms, wrapped in puff pastry. It even sounds incredibly delicious!

Sausages wrapped in bacon can be served as an appetizer. Actually, all the ingredients of the dish are clear from the name itself. Often sausages wrapped in bacon are not served as a separate dish, but placed around a stuffed turkey.

Now let's talk about the sweetest part of the dinner – desserts. Of course, this is a pudding to which almonds and vanilla are added.

The second most popular sweet is gingerbread cookies. I think there is nothing surprising here; in many countries this has long become a Christmas tradition.

The British prefer beer or punch as alcoholic drinks. And in some families they brew their own beer. In turn, punch is a drink made from strong alcohol with the addition of fruit juice or pieces of pulp.

Germany

What dishes has Germany prepared for us for the Christmas table? Some of them coincide with their almost neighbor England. This is, for example, stuffed goose or gingerbread. Dumplings are also served with meat as a side dish – steamed balls of yeast dough. But nevertheless, Germany also had its trump cards up its sleeve.

Potato salad is not a salad at all, but a side dish. Which is familiar to many of us. It consists of chopped and boiled potatoes combined with various additives. For example, it is combined with onions, bacon or pickled cucumbers. Mayonnaise can be poured on top. 

Of course, there is a place on the German table for incredibly tasty and aromatic Christmas strudel. Why Christmas and not a simple strudel? And all because in honor of the holiday, in addition to apples and raisins, pine nuts and dates are added here.

Mulled wine is a popular drink here. You can try this drink at any Christmas market in Germany.

And what could be more wonderful than trying all these dishes in Germany itself, taking your favorite four-legged tail with you? You can find out more about how to travel with a pet here.

China

Now let's talk about China, which is so distant and at the same time close to us. Although the dates for celebrating the New Year do not coincide with those usual for us, nevertheless, the dishes here are treated no less responsibly. 

Fish is a must on the table, and all because its sound coincides with the word “excess” (yú). They steam it here. And when choosing, they most often choose carp, crucian carp or catfish.

The next dish is of particular interest due to its name. Longevity noodles are an invariable part of the New Year's table, as well as other holidays, especially birthdays. It differs from the usual one in length; it is not cut or broken into shorter pieces, which is why it symbolizes longevity.

Chinese dumplings – jiaozi. They are reminiscent of the ones we are used to; minced pork, shrimp, fish, minced chicken, vegetables and more are used as fillings. 

Niangao cake made from glutinous rice, chestnuts, sugar, Chinese dates and lotus leaves is consonant with the phrase “to rise higher every year” (年糕). That's why he is very popular in China.

As we can see, the Chinese are very diligent in selecting dishes for the New Year's table. Apart from the taste characteristics, the nation also pays special attention to the meaning of the name of the dish.

Now let's take a trip to the other end of the globe – to Brazil.

Brazil

Let's start with the fact that in Brazil it's the other way around. And during the New Year it is summer here. Calendarly, this season begins on December 21. As in other countries, the culprit of the holiday table is turkey with spices, beans or fruits.

Feijoada, beloved by Brazilians, is also served on the festive table. The constants in this dish are black beans and meat, often giblets. But you can also add rice or farofa – fried cassava – as an accompaniment.

Every member of a Brazilian family should eat at least a spoonful of lentil soup to ensure good luck and prosperity. If you want more luck, be sure to eat the whole soup.

Brazilians love to eat palm hearts. Although this sounds crazy to us, it is served and sold here in a variety of variations. For example, in a store you can buy it in a jar, pickled like cucumbers. Therefore, you should not be surprised that local housewives make pies with this very palm tree.

But instead of the usual sparkling drink, residents of the carnival country prefer a cocktail called caipirinha. This is a drink made from local vodka – cachaca, with the addition of Sprite and lemon juice. 

In Brazil, the national cuisine is very diverse; it suits everyone. You can read about it here.

Australia

Another country with hot New Year holidays is Australia. Here Christmas and New Year also fall in the middle of summer. There are no strict rules regarding what dishes to serve. Each housewife decides for herself what she will treat her family and guests with. 

Here we list the main and most common options for treats. First, it's a ham that's glazed and baked in the oven. Secondly, turkey, which has already been mentioned more than once in our article. Christmas pudding is served for dessert.

But there are a couple of unique holiday dishes in Australia. For example, steak with pineapple. Yes, yes, you may say: “Well, what’s wrong with that? We also cook meat with pineapple.” But here the steak is made not from meat, but from fish. A good combination for this dish would be salmon steak, pineapple, orange juice and bell pepper. In principle, everything is not difficult to find in our stores. So you can easily add a touch of Australia to your holiday dinner.

Did you know that New Zealand is considered the birthplace of our beloved Pavlova cake, but the dessert is especially popular in Australia. That's why people here also like to treat themselves to this delicious dish at Christmas. It is made from meringue, whipped cream, and the top layer is made from berries or pieces of tropical fruit. For example, in Australia they prefer strawberries with passion fruit pulp.

Of course, cooking dishes from different countries is, first of all, an opportunity to travel without leaving home. And what better way to start than with a holiday menu? And add a touch of magic to such a journey.