#restaurant #starter #restaurantstarter #instagram #socialmedia #community #inspiration #forkknifesuccess #christmas #tradition #international
In his song, Andy Williams speaks from the heart of millions of Christmas-enthusiasts.
Already in October one can find gingerbread and Santa Clauses made of chocolate in the shelves of supermarkets worldwide. However, the real feeling will only appear by the end of November, when all cities are enlightened and „Last Christmas“ is played for the first time of the year on the radio.
For this special season, we want to introduce you to some great traditions and dishes from all around the world. As our team consists of 4 nationalities, we would like to bring you their special customs a little closer.
Feliz Navidad! Let’s start with Argentina, the home country of our lovely PR manager Laura.
At Christmas, the weather is warm in Argentina. Despite the missing snow, houses are beautifully decorated with lights and wreaths. Just like in some European countries, it is popular to put a Christmas crib – Spanish „pesebre“ - near the tree. The main Christmas celebrations take place on Christmas Eve and many Catholics go to a mass in the late afternoon.
Contrary to European families, Christmas meal is served at around 11pm. A popular dish is „Pionono“. The sponge cake is wrapped up around tuna or chicken with sliced cheese, tomatoes, artichokes and mayonnaise.
There is also a dessert version of pionono, made with dulce de leche (sweet milk spread). You can also find sweets like sugar-coated almonds or „mantecol“, a semi-soft nougat made from peanut butter.
At midnight there will be the sound of lots of fireworks. Another tradition are paper decorations with a light inside that float into the sky, just like Chinese lanterns.
Joyeux Noël! Next is France, home of Laure, our lovely Webdesigner.
The so-called Yule Logs, made out of cherry wood, are often burned in French homes. The log is carried into the home on Christmas Eve and is sprinkled with red wine to make the log smell nice while burning. There is a custom that the log and candles are left burning all night with some food and drinks left out in case Mary and the baby Jesus come past during the night.
In France, Santa Claus is called Père Noël. In Eastern France he is accompanied by Le Pere Fouettard, a man dressed in black. He might be the same person as Zwarte Piet in The Netherlands.
The feast is called Le Reveillon, which means "awakening" as it normally goes on until the early hours of the morning. It traditionally begins once families have returned from midnight mass. Dishes might include roasted turkey with chestnuts or roasted goose, oysters, foie gras, lobster and, of course, a lot of cheese. For dessert, a chocolate sponge cake log called a bûche de Noël is served.
Prettige kerstdagen! Retail manager Daan is the „Dutchie“ in our team. Let’s see what the Netherlands love to do during Christmas!
For Dutch children, the most important day during December is 5th December, when Sinterklaas brings their presents. Sinterklaas travels with his servants called „Zwarte Pieten“. When they go ashore from their boat, all local church bells ring in various cities.
Christmas Day itself is a much quieter day in The Netherlands, compared to other countries. However, of course, families get together having a cosy dinner after going to church. A popular meal on Christmas Day is Stamppot. Potatoes are pounded into a fine mash, mixed with kale, carrots or peas. Several types of meat are usually served on top of these mashed ingredients. The dish is often garnished with lashings of thick gravy. But a lot of Dutch people nowadays enjoy the popular "gourmetten".
It's similar to fondue or raclette, but then with small pans that you can use to bake your meat, fish or omelettes. Usually on Christmas morning, December 25th, people are having a large breakfast with Almond Paste Bread, called "kerststol" in Dutch.
Frohe Weihnachten! Last but not least I will present you some typical German Christmas habits.
Advent calenders are very popular in our country. You may buy them already filled with chocolate or make them by yourself. For every day in December until Christmas Day on 24th December, one can enjoy a little present or delicacy. Besides that, Christmas trees are very important. Families decorate it together and on Christmas Eve, some sing Christmas songs under the tree.
Christmas markets are organised nationwide and in every city and village one can smell mulled wine and sausages from the barbecue.
On Christmas Eve, at around 6pm, families come home from the church and they either have dinner before or after the „Bescherung“, i.e. the distribution of presents. Typical dishes are sausages with potatoe salad or roasted goose or duck. Carp, a special kind of fish, is served in several regions. Similar to the Netherlands, it is also popular to eat raclette or fondue, especially cheese fondue.
We hope, we inspired you for your Christmas 2018. You're welcome to tell us about your traditions and favorite dishes for the season, just leave a comment!
Enjoy the most wonderful time of the year!
Opmerkingen