In the West, the traditional Christmas dinner consists of appetizers, soup, appetizers, main courses, snacks and drinks. The essential foods on this day include Christmas turkey, smoked ham, Christmas salmon, Christmas pudding, etc.

1. Roast turkey

In the traditional Christmas table, roast turkey is an indispensable dish. In some Asian countries, turkey may be eaten only on Christmas day every year to celebrate the festival; But in Europe and the United States, especially in the American continent, turkey is a very common meat, and in Thanksgiving and Christmas, turkey is a traditional food.

Green plants and flower buds

Why eat turkey at Christmas? It is said that on Christmas Day of 1620, a large number of immigrants from Britain arrived at Mount Primus in America. Because there was almost no other food here at that time, except for turkeys everywhere, they had to roast turkeys for the festival. Turkey has a large body and a lot of meat, tastes delicious, is rich in nutrition, and has low cholesterol content, so it is favored by Westerners. Eating turkey at Christmas has been a tradition since then.

2. Smoked ham

Smoked ham should be the most traditional main course of the Christmas dinner. It is not only convenient to eat, but also can meet the needs of many people who eat on holidays, even if it is left. Smoked baked ham is often coated with sweet sauce, such as honey or cherry pomegranate sauce.

These sweet sauces can be used with red wine to make a perfect combination with smoked ham, so it is necessary to choose red wine with slightly stronger fruit flavor and richer taste to match the sweet and greasy taste on the outer layer of smoked ham.

What food do you eat at Christmas in the West

3. Christmas Salmon

Just as Chinese people eat New Year’s dinner during the Spring Festival, European and American people also pay attention to family reunion during Christmas and have a feast together. Turkey is an essential food. Smoked ham, Christmas salmon, Christmas pudding and other delicacies will also be put on the table. Salmon is a popular food and also a very healthy food. Fish meat contains high protein and OMEGA-3 fatty acids, but low fat content. The flesh of the fish is orange. It is a red meat fish, but there are a few wild species with white meat.

There are many ways to eat salmon. In Europe and America, smoked salmon is made by hot or cold smoking. Smoked fish slices are usually served with butter and fresh lemon juice.

4. Christmas pudding

Christmas pudding is a festive food eaten at Christmas. Today’s Christmas pudding is derived from the traditional Christmas food, milk porridge and dried fruit pudding. Therefore, although the ingredients of Christmas pudding are not plum, it is also called dried fruit pudding, becoming a new member of the Christmas cuisine. Traditionally, when Christmas comes, each family member will jointly make a Christmas pudding, which symbolizes unity and harmony. When stirring a dough, everyone will silently make a wish, and finally will hide a coin in the dough.

In Denmark, when Christmas dinner starts, people must eat an almond pudding before they can start to eat anything else. If anyone can eat the only complete almond, he or she will be the luckiest person in the coming year. Usually, adults will put this almond in the bowl of the youngest child to make them happy.

5. Gingerbread

The most famous traditional Christmas food in Germany is gingerbread. Ginger cake has two kinds of English: Gingersnap, which literally means ginger+thin and crisp cake; The other is from German, called Lebkuchen. In short, gingerbread is a small cake eaten at Christmas, usually made of honey, brown sugar, almonds, candied fruit peel and spices.

Although the hometown of gingerbread is in Germany, European people are also used to eating gingerbread during Christmas. Finns will enjoy gingerbread while drinking glogi wine, which is a kind of wine mixed with almonds and raisins. It tastes hot and fragrant. The Dutch even hide Christmas gifts in pudding or lamb intestines! As for the Poles, they are divided into two groups. One group likes to eat a big meal on Christmas Eve, while the other group fastes and prays all day!

What food do you eat at Christmas in the West

6. Christmas cake

Cake is an indispensable food for peacetime and festivals, and Christmas is not to be missed. Chocolate taste is one of the main flavors of Christmas cake. At this moment, almost every family will make chocolate based cakes. People often make the Christmas cake novel and beautiful. The words “Merry Christmas” are poured with cream or jam, and special Christmas candles are inserted around it.

Candles are small in shape, only three or four inches long, but they are made of delicate materials, colorful, and some are also made into spiral shapes. After lighting, the host will extinguish it for the second time, and then everyone will share the cake. People sometimes put three beans in the cake to represent the three oriental sages in the Bible story. Whoever eats beans becomes the “Three Kings”, which is very interesting.

7. Red wine

The reason for the formation of this tradition is that meat represents the body of Jesus Christ, and red wine represents his blood. The suffering of Jesus on behalf of others and on the cross should be remembered.

Christmas red wine has a special way of drinking: add brown sugar, orange peel, meat orange, orange kernel, raisins and other condiments into the wine, then stir it while heating the fire (note that the pot cannot be opened), finally pour a little vodka, after the pot is started, a cup of belly is really fragrant and warm.