When it comes to Christmas, we think about family, friends, new year’s resolutions, and more than anything, we think about the food! For many of us, Christmas lunch or dinner entails the traditional roast turkey, sage stuffing, mashed or roasted potatoes, green beans and if you’re from the US, the coveted, sweet potato casserole. This is Christmas dinner as we know it, and though delicious, there is a whole world of Christmas meals and traditions that we have yet to explore.

So this year, yufeed is bringing you Christmas meals from around the world. To get more insight, we started by asking various yufeed users what their holiday meals consisted of.

Many of us forget that Christmas is also widely celebrated in the Middle East and North Africa, two parts of the world where the cuisines are quite vast. After speaking to Zeina from Jordan and Pamela from Lebanon, we learned that though Turkey is not uncommon to have as a main meal, one of the main dishes served is stuffed chicken with a stuffing known as the ‘hashweh’; this is typically rice based (as opposed to bread), mixed with minced meat and mixed spices. Though the exact recipes will vary from country to country and household to household, many of them will usually include ingredients such as pomegranates and/or pine nuts.

In Iraq, a Christmas main course would typically entail a ‘lamb ouzi’, a slow cooked leg of lamb (or shoulder) served over a bed of spiced rice and topped with roasted nuts, such as pine nuts and almonds. For this recipe, check out ‘lamb ouzi’ on yufeed. And in Egypt, a stuffed duck is what would be considered most traditional.

To gain more insight on Middle Eastern cuisine check out our blog: Introduction to Middle Eastern Cuisine.

Moving on to other parts of the world, Norma from Mexico says that savoury meat or vegetable-based tamales are the main event at Christmas dinner. In fact, she says that it is not uncommon for families to host tamale-making parties in the days leading up to Christmas. For those of you that aren’t familiar with how to make tamales, they truly are a labour of love, and the idea of turning the entire process into its own gathering is a true embodiment of what the season is all about.

Many of our users from the United Kingdom have said that though a turkey dinner is not uncommon at Christmas, many households substitute with a roast beef or goose, and in some parts, a roast salmon (as is also the case in New Zealand) – all of which make for great eye-catching centre pieces and are definite crowd pleasers all around.

Another yufeed user, Nibal, married to a Greek Cypriot, reminded us that a roast lamb is almost always the main meal at any Greek Christmas dinner, in fact, it is the main meal at pretty much any Greek event. The lamb is slow cooked to perfection and typically seasoned with lots and lots of lemons, and paired with roasted potatoes, which you guessed it, are also flavoured with lots and lots of lemons! 

Ann told us that cheese fondue is common across households in Belgium which means that not only are your friends guaranteed a delicious meal, but it also means that the host can stay at the table and hang out with her guests.

A few more European surprises to share; for one thing, it was a delight to learn just how many Europeans typically enjoy seafood over Christmas. Italians for example like to celebrate the Feast of the Seven Fishes. Traditionally, the dinner consists of a seven-course menu featuring seafood dishes like carp, octopus, clams, mussels and even eel. However, many households have their own variations of this feast. For example, Marisa, another yufeed user from Italy says that her family Christmas meal consists of the Italian classic, Spaghetti Allo Scoglio, an Italian seafood pasta that consists of clams, mussels, squid, fresh cherry tomatoes, garlic, parsley, salt, pepper and chili flakes. Very simple but so good!

In addition to Italy’s Feast of the Seven Fishes, did you know that in France, people like to savour seafood over the holidays? The common choices being oysters, prawns and lobster. Similarly, in Sweden, Christmas dinner is celebrated with a three-course meal consisting of fish (typically pickled herring) – dissimilarly however, this course is then followed by cold cuts, sausages and finally, the much loved Swedish meatballs, usually paired with mashed potatoes and gravy.

There you have it readers, Christmases from around the world – to name a few! So, if you feel like doing something a little different this year, we hope these suggestions help!

Thank you to the yufeed users for sharing some of your holiday traditions and we hope the rest of you enjoy reading about them as much as we enjoyed learning about them.

Here’s wishing you all a very happy holiday season.

Check out the yufeed app for some of your favourite holiday recipes.