In the heart of winter nestles the warmest season of the year. It may be a time of reflection on the months we are leaving behind, but it is still a time full of moments of joy.
Near a brightly decorated tree or a traditional boat, a hefty dose of gifts, a few handfuls of wishes and a brave dose of love is perhaps the best recipe to spend the holidays with the people we love and savor the dishes of the days.
Certainly, wherever we are in the world, there are unique customs and dishes that make the holidays special.
In Germany we hide a pickle in the tree and eat rabbit, in Italy we wait for a witch to bring gifts and enjoy seafood and in Norway we hide brooms and eat lamb. So let's take a trip around the world, through the flavors and customs of each country.
Norway – Gledelig Jul
Have you ever wondered where the iconic Christmas image of a burning fireplace came from?
Norway didn't celebrate Christmas until at least 1000 AD, but it is the home of the Yule Log, otherwise known as the Christmas log that was burned at the winter solstice celebration. The ancient Norse believed that the Sun was a wheel that comes close to the Earth and then moves away. In their ancient language the wheel was called hweol until the word took its present form. Even today, burning the Christmas tree is considered good luck, but it is not the strangest Norwegian custom.
The more unorthodox custom also has its roots in paganism, when it was believed that with the winter solstice witches and evil spirits came to Earth. So, on Christmas Eve, tradition wants them to hide the witches' favorite means of transport, the broom, in the safest part of the house.
In Norway, the Christmas table takes on a formality. Every company, every school and of course every home sets its own festive table, where everyone necessarily wears their best. A typical dish is the Smalahove, boiled lamb's head offered as a first course, followed by ribbe, spiced oven-roasted pork ribs served with sauerkraut or rakfisk, i.e. trout baked in butter. The usual dessert is the julekaka, a sweet bread with raisins and cardamom.
Extra tip: in 1946, the composer Alf Proysen wrote Musevisa, the song of the mice. This traditional music tells the story of a family of mice, where the father mouse warns the children to stay inside the house, away from the traps and the cold. The cute tune quickly became a favorite and remains beloved to this day as the Christmas tune. Appreciate it!
Czech Republic – Veselé Vánoce
Many are used to fasting on Christmas Eve during the day, expecting to see a vision of a golden pig on the wall of their house before the festive table, which is considered a sign of good luck.
On a traditional Czech table, fish dominates. As a first course, fish soup and Kuba, a type of risotto with barley and mushrooms. But the favorite dish of the holidays is fried carp with potato salad. By custom, many families buy the fish alive and keep them for weeks in their bathtub, like pets, until it's time to cook them. Now, there are many who release the carp in a river on Eve, instead of eating them.
The little Jesus, Jezisek, is the one who brings the gifts, leaving them under the tree. The children eat in a different room from the one where the tree is, and when the food is finished, they hear a bell ring, a sign that Jesus has magically left the gifts.
In the Czech Republic there are many superstitions and one related to single women. Those who hope to know love, have only to throw a shoe over their shoulder. If the toe of the shoe faces the door of the house, then they will accept a marriage proposal in the following year.
Ireland – Nollaig Shona Dhuit
Forget milk and cookies! In Ireland Santa accepts for a treat mince pies, sweet tarts filled with raisins, apples and spices, and a Guinness. Irish holiday dinners are just as delicious. For a first course, they prefer smoked salmon and prawns, and then the roast turkey or goose is served, which is also more traditional.
The main Irish tradition is to leave a tall thick candle burning next to the largest window of the house all night on Eve, as a welcome to the Virgin Mary and Joseph.
The day after Christmas, on the day of St. Stefanou, it is considered a tradition to go to football matches or horse races. But there is another tradition that has its roots in antiquity, the feast of the sparrow, during which a sparrow was killed and carried around on a piece of holly. Nowadays no sparrows are killed, but boys and girls dressed in traditional clothes, go around the streets holding a long pole with a holly on top and sing a song about the sparrow to the accompaniment of violins, harmonicas and accordions.
Iceland – Gleðileg jól
In Iceland, Christmas can get really playful, because for 13 days before Christmas, 13 characters come down from the mountains to play with the world. The Yule Lads, otherwise known as the Christmas Trolls, visit children across the country every night. Children leave their shoes outside their window and in the morning they find presents, if they are wise, or rotten potatoes, if they are naughty. Troll names hint at the trouble they cause. So we have: Stekkjarstaur (the lame of the fold), Giljagaur (the imp of the ravine), Stúfur (the tiny one), Þvörusleikir (the carver of spoons), Pottasleikir (the scraper of the pot), Askasleikir (the carver of dishes) . , Kertasníkir (one who begs for candles). After completing their purpose and teasing the world, from Christmas day onwards they depart to return to their mountain.
Also, it is customary to give a piece of clothing as a gift, because it is said that if you don't wear something new on Christmas Day, a cat will come and eat you. It is as common to give clothes as it is to give books as a Christmas present.
The Hangikjot it is the favorite holiday dish. It is finely chopped smoked lamb or horse meat, which after boiling, is served with a creamy sauce and has a special taste. And if you want to know why it's so delicious, the secret lies in smoking dried lamb dung!
Greenland – Juullimi Pillvarit
In both Greenland and Iceland conifers do not grow. Iceland decorates a pole dressed with rowan branches, but in Greenland Christmas trees are imported directly from Denmark. They decorate them with candles and shiny ornaments but also with kamik, miniatures of the traditional sealskin boots).
And all this may sound expected, however the food is nothing out of the ordinary. The preferred delicacy for Christmas is the mattak, whale skin with a thin strip of blubber on it. It's supposed to taste like coconut, but because it's too hard to chew, the piece is swallowed as is. Also from the table is not missing kiwi, raw meat from Moose (a bird that lives in the arctic), which is buried in sealskin until it reaches the point of decomposition to be eaten. I know, it sounds strange, but in Greenland it is considered one of the best delicacies.
Austria/Germany – Frohe Weichnachten
Although both countries share many customs, they each maintain their own. Of course, St. Nicholas to be celebrated as St. Santa in both countries, but in Austria he has an evil alter ego, Krampus.
Krampus, with the body of a goat, the form of a monster and big horns, takes to the streets from the day of St. Nikolaou and terrifies both young and old. The children prepare two lists of everything good and bad they have done during the year. On the one hand, they are waiting for the day after Ag. Nikolaus to receive gifts and sweets and on the other hand, they are afraid of what Krampus will come to take back on Christmas day.
Christmas revues in Austria are classic. Roast turkey with stuffing or goose is the most popular dish followed by a hearty slice Sachertorte.
Krampus is of course not unknown in Germany, at least in the south, but for the Germans, St. Nikolaos who is one with Ag. Santa is more important.
So on December 5th, children clean and shine their shoes and leave them by their bedroom door. The next morning, by magic, they find sweets, nuts and small gifts in the shoes.
In Germany, home of the Christmas tree, a custom related to it cannot be missed. Along with the rest of the ornaments, a pickle is hanging somewhere between the branches. Whoever manages to find her wins an extra gift.
Christmas dinner does not include pickles. Roast rabbit, duck or goose, stuffed with sausage, potatoes and coleslaw is preferred. The table closes deliciously with a piece Stollen, a bread with dried fruits.
Sweden – God July
Sweden is home to a very unorthodox custom.
When in 1958 Swedish television first played the episode "Donald Duck and his friends wish you a merry Christmas", television was a new kind of luxury that had just entered homes and only two channels were broadcasting, but the episode caused a sensation . Viewers demanded it be played again and so every Christmas Eve since then, families gather around the television to watch cartoons. It is estimated that even today at least 40 percent of Swedes follow this strange custom, but it is not their only strange custom. The video from 1960 is here.
The most eccentric custom is perhaps the Yule Goat, a 13-meter high effigy of a goat that has been erected since 1966 in the center of Gavle town, leading to another tradition, that of trying to burn it. From 1966 to the present day, it has burned successfully 29 times – the last one was in 2016.
And with so many strange customs, it is impossible for the traditional table not to deviate from the established. In the julbord, the Christmas dinner, the protagonist is the julskinka, a lightly smoked leg of pork, eaten either like a ham, or put in the oven for a while, accompanied by meatballs, pasta salad and herrings marinated in a mustard sauce or ättika (a type of vinegar) with chopped vegetables and spices.
Italy – Buon Natale
Forget Santa Claus and Christmas Day. In Italy all the action is on January 5th, Epiphany Eve. Based on the legend, the witch Belfana flies on her broomstick and visits all the children to leave gifts and sweets in their stockings from 13The century. Like St. Basil, Belfana is coming down the chimney and waiting to find her treat.
The Christmas table is called anyway Vigilia, or feast of the 7 fishes, and includes a variety of fish and shellfish. Octopus, anchovies, cod and mussels are among the most loved, but what is considered the most loved is the eel. In Italy, fish is even combined with pasta to close the table deliciously with panettone the Tiramisu.
Spain – Feliz Navidad
In the past, the traditional Christmas dishes were the Pavo truffado de Navidad, turkey stuffed with truffle or the Pularda asada, that is, includes tapas and fish dishes. But one thing cannot be missing from any table: the Turon, the Spanish mandolato made of honey, sugar, egg whites and almonds.
Perhaps one of the strangest Christmas customs is Spanish. The Tio de Nadal, is a piece of wood, with two small thin legs, a smile and a red hat. The children, from December 8 until Eve, must feed it, wet it with a little water and keep it warm under a blanket. On the Eve, however, things get out of hand. The children have to hit Tio with a pole, singing traditional songs to him. After the wood is saturated with wood and tunes, having served its purpose, it is thrown into the fire.
But it is not only children who play at Christmas in Spain, but also adults. On December 22, everyone is standing in front of the TV or next to the radio, waiting for the draw of El Gordito (the fat one), of the Christmas lottery. Basically everyone buys one, and it's not at all uncommon for the people of a village to all buy one together, expecting to become very rich. And the lucky number is announced by children singing. I mean, like this...
