Originally published in quality newspapers on December 17, 2009
There’s always been something that really bugged me about Christmas. It’s not the blatant commercialism or that annoying Christmas Shoe’s song, although both those things do strike a nerve. It’s that Christmas, at least in the United States, does not have one ubiquitous culinary centerpiece. Sure there are lots of traditional Christmas foods but no main course that shows up on nearly every family’s table. Thanksgiving, of course, has its turkey but no single beast or fowl is synonymous to the yuletide celebration.
Like some sort of gastronomic rerun, lots of families do turkey and all the trimmings again. Others do a preview of Easter with a ham or leg of lamb. I polled a few of my friends this week and I got virtual grocery list of traditions – roast pork, prime rib, chowder, fondue, lasagna, duck blood soup (okay, that almost makes me hurl, George Piper!), and pizza burgers. Others told me that the main course meant nothing compared to the desserts and side dishes that are must-haves: red velvet cake, cherry pinwheels, and shrimp cocktail. Two of my nephews don’t think its Christmas without their mom’s Pretzel Salad.
At one time, the Christmas Goose rivaled the Thanksgiving Turkey in the holiday fowl wars. The tradition of the Christmas Goose, popular in Dickensian England, made its way to the new world and remained a favorite in the U.S. through most of the 19th Century.
In other parts of the world, folks are not as fickle as we are. They commit to something and stick with it. Here are a few Christmas dinner traditions from around the globe.
Australia
In the land down under, Christmas falls in the heat of the Southern Hemisphere’s summer so it makes perfect sense to throw another shrimp on the barbie instead of heating up the house.
Czech Republic
Our friends in Prague and elsewhere in the Czech Republic gather on Christmas Eve to enjoy fried carp and potato salad.
Slovakia
Oplátky is the traditional Christmas food in Slovakia. This flat wafer-thin waffle is coated with a bit of honey and eaten with a small piece of garlic. The honey and garlic symbolize the sweetness and bitterness of life.
Iceland
If you ever get invited to Iceland for the holidays there’s a good chance that reindeer will be in the menu. I’m not sure if this will get you on the Big Guy’s Naughty List or not so eat at your own risk.
I’ve only spent one Christmas out of the U.S. and that was 1998 when my wife and I traveled the U.K. the entire month of December to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day in Glasgow, Scotland. We had traditional meals that looked and tasted a lot like what we would have had back home except for a few quintessential British favorites like Figgy Pudding.
Our own family has not yet settled on a Christmas dinner tradition. Some years we have our big celebration on Christmas Eve and other years we’ve made it the noon meal on Christmas day. The menu varies. We’ve had a standing rib roast, turkey, and crab legs in recent years and I’ve not yet settled on a menu for next week.
I’m pretty sure I won’t be barbecuing and the prospect of a house that smells like fried carp doesn’t sound like a good idea. The idea of a waffle doesn’t sound half-bad but the honey and garlic combo doesn’t exactly get my mouth watering. Even if I could find it, I’m not willing to inflict the emotional duress that would surely result from me uttering the phrase, “Come on boys, finish up your reindeer.”