Holiday Treats around the World

Jingle Bells… Jingle Bells… It might be hard to believe, but December is already here – final assignments, papers and exams are catching up with us.

But what would the Winter Break be without all the hard work first? The holly jolly time of the year is knocking on the door and the holidays are coming closer each day. It’s time for family reunions, relaxation, fun and, of course, tasty homemade food. Let’s take a look at what “tasty holiday food” means in some other countries and how the holidays are celebrated around the world.

Christmas is also celebrated in Zimbabwe, where people are predominantly Christians. Although there is no special holiday food, for most people chicken is a delicacy for Christmas. They serve it with rice and “sadza” which is a meal made of corn, and it would be not very difficult for you to prepare. All you have to do is combine water with maize or rice meal, and make a mix about as thick as porridge. It can also be combined with beef stew or another meat.

The aperitif, or appetizer, is served around 7 p.m. in France. The whole family is already in the house waiting for the delicious Christmas dinner. With the food, the French drink wine and “ricard pastis” (French anise-flavored liqueur). A typical Christmas dinner in France contains several courses. They start with salad, homemade bread, oyster, shrimp and “foie gras” (traditional French dish made of the liver of a duck or goose that has been specially fattened). The main dish is usually beef with vegetables and soon after that they serve cheese with salad. They buy a special cake for dessert from a patisserie and drink champagne.

On the 24th of December, Swedish families gather in the late afternoon and have a holiday dinner together. A typical Christmas dinner includes meatballs, ham, sausages, herring, beetroot salad, liver paté and beef, as well as brown and red cabbage. During the evening they spend hours sitting at the table, eating and talking. After that, it is time to open the presents and have some sweets – chocolate, candies, fruit and porridge.

If you would like to prepare a Swedish dish for Christmas, the easiest one would be the meatballs.

Posted by DENICA YOTOVA on Dec 1 2011. Filed under Leisure. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.