Walk down any South African street in December and you will know exactly what to expect: dazzling Christmas trees, strings of lights, statues of Santa, and shops full of delicious food.
But what’s normal locally will seem unusual elsewhere. Every culture has its unique traditions, many of which are deeply ingrained in their way of life.
People celebrate the birth of Christ all over the world but their traditions make their celebrations unique in themselves. That said, you don’t need to take a trip around the world to see how Christmas traditions vary from continent to continent.
Below we look at some of the popular Christmas dishes from around the world.
Borscht – Poland
Borscht is a vibrant red colour soup with cabbage, beetroot, potatoes, carrots, onion and garlic, and possibly beef and beans, served with sour cream and dill.
Borscht is a superfood and a meal in itself. It can be vegan or vegetarian, as well as made with beef, pork or chicken. It truly depends on what’s in your fridge that day.
The soup is also super healthy and nutritious. According to health experts, beetroot is packed with iron, which may help fight chronic inflammation, and lower blood pressure.
Chiles En Nogada – Mexico
Composed of meat, stuffed with fire-roasted poblano peppers covered in a creamy walnut sauce and a pomegranate seed garnish, this flavourful dish will leave you just like the peppers, stuffed.
KFC – Japan
Meat is a popular part of most Christmas meals, but you won’t find turkey or goose on the table in Japan. In Japan, the finger-licking KFC bucket of fried chicken has become a staple of Christmas.
According to Culture Trip, Japan’s Christmas KFC tradition began in 1974 when the company launched a new holiday marketing campaign.
It’s thought that it was inspired by the Western Christmas tradition of a turkey dinner. They mention that back then and still today, turkey is virtually impossible to find in Japan. So when Japan’s foreign Christian population couldn’t get their hands on any come December, they settled on the familiar fried chicken brand instead – the next best thing to turkey.
Latkes – Israel
Since the Middle Ages, latkes have been an important part of the Hanukkah (Chanukah) tradition. Latkes are fried potato pancakes cooked in oil. This recognises that the Second Temple kept the Menorah burning with oil for eight days.
Other dishes enjoyed as a part of this tradition include fried doughnuts and fritters. Hanukkah gelt, small chocolate coins, are given to children by relatives.