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Food has always been at the centre of Christmas tradition, and sitting down to a fantastic spread on Christmas Day is as much a part of Christmas as decorating the tree and singing carols. Over the centuries, the ancient winter solstice festival, to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new, has combined with the Christian message. This midwinter festival used to be celebrated with extravagant feasts, and some of the traditions we associate with Christmas, such as decorating houses with holly and mistletoe, were originally part of pagan celebrations. Grand Elizabethan households would have feasted on roasted swans and gilded peacocks at Christmastime. In the 19th century, boar's head and goose were often on the menu, but more recently turkey has become the centrepiece of the Christmas meal for many people in the UK. For dessert, plum porridge was the original Christmas pudding, thought to date back to ancient times, when the winter festival was celebrated with gruel. Later, this heavily spiced 'pottage' often had alcohol added, as well as sugar and dried fruit. Around the start of the 18th century, people started eating something more like the type of Christmas pudding we know today. It's traditionally served flaming with brandy, accompanied by brandy sauce or butter.
France In France, the spread is often quite similar to the traditional British Christmas meal, with turkey and cranberry sauce, mince pies and pudding. But in some regions fish such as sole or carp may be the focus of the meal. It's the mouth-watering pastries that help to make a French Christmas unique. The bûche de Noël, a cake rolled and filled with chestnut cream, then coated in home-made marzipan is a fine example. Legend has it that these cakes were created in the late 19th century by Parisian pastry chefs who were inspired by the burning of yule logs throughout the night of Christmas Eve. Germany The Germans are famous for their festive treats of spiced biscuits and cakes such as gingerbread and stollen. The first stollen was baked in 14th-century Dresden and shaped to resemble the Christ child in swaddling clothes. This fruit-laden cake is slow to rise, distinctly dry and dense in texture, aromatic and flavourful - the perfect accompaniment to a cup of coffee after a night of Christmas Eve worship and revelry. Scandinavia In Scandinavian countries, baking is traditionally an important part of the preparations for Christmas. Often the family will get together to make gingerbread or 'pepparkakor' in the shape of stars, hearts and moons, pigs and other figures, or gingerbread houses. In Finland, this custom has been going since the 15th century and in Norway the sudden thaw, which follows the year's first heavy snows, is called the 'biscuit thaw', because it's said to be caused by the heat of all the ovens baking biscuits! Greenland Greenland has one of the most unusual Christmas menus. After coffee, cakes and carols, a delicacy called 'mattak' is passed around. This is whaleskin with a strip of blubber inside. It's supposed to taste like fresh coconut, but is too tough to chew so Greenlanders usually just swallow it. Christmas is the one night of the year in Greenland when the men traditionally look after the women, serving their coffee and stirring it for them. Portugal and Spain In many parts of Portugal and Spain, the Christmas menu focuses on seafood. Gathered around a nativity crèche, Portuguese families feast on the national holiday dish of dried codfish, called bacalhau. In Spain, dinner may include white sea bass roasted with breadcrumbs, olive oil, onions and lemons. In Portugal, a dessert called rabanadas is served at Christmastime, made from slices of white bread soaked in eggs and wine, dredged in sugar, and fried until crisp. Another favourite is bolo rei, a circular cake coated in glazed fruits, crushed nuts and sugar icing. In Spain, almonds and marzipan are used to make many of the traditional sweets. For example, turrón is a sweet similar to nougat, made from honey and almonds, and it originates from pre-Christian Mediterranean cultures.
In several countries across Europe the birthday of St Nicholas, 6 December, is an important day of celebration, particularly for children. St Nicholas was a Catholic bishop who is said to have been especially kind to children. In Slovakia, children are given sweets on this day if they have been good, or coal, potatoes and onions if they have been naughty. In the Netherlands, people celebrate St Nicolas's day with hot punch or milk chocolate and boiled chestnuts eaten with butter and salt. Dutch people often eat 'oliebollen' over the festive season, which are bite-size flour and raisin pastries deep-fried and sprinkled with sugar. Greece In Greece, people celebrate 1 January to honour St Basil, the Greek Santa Claus. On this day, children receive gifts and a lucky silver coin is baked into a sponge-like cake called vasilopeta. When serving the dish, the first slice is set aside for St Basil and the second slice for Christ. The following slices go to members of the family in descending order of age. Ukraine In the Ukraine, there is an old custom of fasting for 39 days before the Nativity. Families wait until they see the first star in the sky to begin a 12-course supper, one course in honour of each of the 12 apostles. The courses include fish, borscht (beetroot soup), cabbage stuffed with millet, cooked dried fruit and a special Christmas-Eve delicacy known as kutya, which is made from wholewheat grains soaked for hours, and seasoned with honey and crushed poppy seeds. Latvia A special Latvian Christmas meal would usually be cooked brown peas with bacon sauce, small pies, cabbage and sausage. In Latvia, it's traditional for Father Christmas to bring presents on each of the 12 days of Christmas starting on Christmas Eve. Latin America In many Latin American countries, Christmas meals are based around turkey, which is native to the Americas. Traditionally the turkey dinner is served on Christmas Eve and will be prepared and spiced differently in different regions of Latin America. For example, in Brazil the turkey is marinated in rum, with onions, garlic, tomatoes, lime juice and other spices, and it may be served with coloured rice and vegetables. Ethiopia The Ethiopian Christmas celebration, known as Ganna, takes place on 7 January. Food served at this time usually includes 'injera', a sourdough pancake. The injera acts as both plate and fork. 'Doro wat', a spicy chicken stew, might be the main meal, served in beautifully decorated baskets. A piece of the injera is used to scoop up the stew.
So, wherever you may be in the world over this year's festive season, enjoy your feasting and celebrations. And have a Merry Christmas! Felices Navidades! Joyeux Nöel! Hyvaa joula! God jul! Jutdlime pivdluarit ukiortame pivdluaritlo! Sretan Bozic! Zalig Kerstfeest! Kala Christouyenna! Boas Festas! Srozhdestvom Kristovym! Fröhliche Weinachten!