Christmas dinner is a meal traditionally eaten at Christmas. This meal can take place any time from the evening of Christmas Eve to the evening of Christmas Day itself. The meals are often particularly rich and substantial, in the tradition of the Christian feast day celebration, and form a significant part of gatherings held to celebrate the arrival of Christmastide. In many cases, there is a ritual element to the meal related to the religious celebration, such as the saying of grace.
The actual meal consumed varies considerably across different parts of the world, reflecting regional cuisines and local traditions. In many countries, particularly former British colonies, the meal shares some connection with traditional English Christmas fare, typically featuring roasted meats and various forms of pudding. Classic dishes such as Christmas pudding and Christmas cake evolved from these British traditions. However, Christmas dinner has been adapted and transformed by local cultures worldwide, incorporating indigenous ingredients, cooking methods, and culinary customs to create distinctive regional celebrations.
Asia India Long-established Christian communities such as Goan Catholics traditionally feature pork and beef dishes as part of their main Christmas dinner. Popular dishes include pork vindaloo and sarapatel. For dessert, a traditional sweet called bebinca is often served.
In Kerala, home to India's largest Christian community, plum cake is a celebrated Christmas dessert. Families traditionally gather to cut the cake after midnight mass, a custom that has become an integral part of Kerala's Christmas celebrations. Wines made from grapes, pineapples, gooseberries, or other fruits are also consumed during the festivities.
Japan
Japanese Christmas cake, a white sponge cake covered with cream and decorated with strawberries, is widely consumed during the Christmas season. Stollen cake, produced locally, is also readily available. A highly successful advertising campaign in the 1970s established eating at KFC around Christmas as a national custom. The restaurant's chicken meals have become so popular during the season that stores accept reservations months in advance.
Lebanon Lebanese Christians celebrate Christmas with substantial family feasts, typically held on the evening of 24 December and at lunch on the 25th. Both meals bring the extended family together, with some households serving leftovers from the Christmas Eve dinner alongside the Christmas Day lunch. The traditional offering is sugar-coated almonds. Roast turkey is the most common main dish, often accompanied by roasted duck, Lebanese salad (Tabbouleh), and pastries such as honey cake. Beirut marks the season with elaborate Christmas parties, while Western-style poinsettias, community Christmas trees, and Christmas lights have become widely popular decorations.
Malaysia On Christmas Eve, Malaysian Christians prepare various cakes and local foods for the celebration. Christmas dinner in Malaysia features a fusion of traditional Western cuisine and local indigenous flavors. The popularity of a large Christmas dinner is seen in the fact that major hotels in large cities offer extravagant Christmas buffets featuring this cultural blend.
Philippines
Christmas dinner in the Philippines is called Noche Buena, following Hispanic custom, and is traditionally held towards midnight on 24 December. This celebration usually follows the entire family's attendance at the late evening Mass called Misa de Gallo (Mass of the Rooster). The centerpiece of Noche Buena is often hamón, typically a cured leg of pork. This is customarily served alongside queso de bola, a ball of Edam cheese covered in red wax. Other ubiquitous dishes include pasta and, for dessert, fruit salad. The dinner is usually accompanied by tsokolate, or hot cocoa, made with pure, locally grown cacao beans. Some families prefer tsokolate prepared from tablea, pressed cocoa powder tablets that are either pure or slightly sweetened. Most foods served on Noche Buena are fresh and prepared on Christmas Eve itself. Middle-class and affluent families tend to prepare sumptuous feasts, while less well-off families opt for more economical celebrations. The organizing of even simple gatherings despite financial difficulties reflects the paramount importance of familial and communal unity in Filipino culture.
Common traditional dishes served for the main course include lechón, various types of pancit (noodles), Filipino spaghetti, hamonado, jamón, queso de bola, morcón, embutido, chicken galantina, almondigas (meatballs), paelya (arroz valenciana, bringhe), lumpia, menudo, mechado, caldereta, callos, chicken pastel, relyenong bangús (stuffed milkfish), lengua estofado, adobo, and various types of barbecue (inihaw). Nearly all of these dishes are eaten with white rice.
Meanwhile, desserts and side dishes include úbe halayá, turon, leche flan, macaroni salad, membrilyo, fruit salad, buko salad, crema de fruta, ensaymada, champorado, mango float, fruitcake, castañas (roasted chestnuts), and various kakanin (rice cakes) such as puto bumbong, bibingka, suman, biko, and sapin-sapin. Popular beverages include tsokolate as well as coffee, soda, wine, beer, other alcoholic drinks, and fruit juices.
This focus on family is common across all Filipino socioeconomic classes and ethnic groups that observe Christmas. Most, if not all, members from the branches or extended families within a clan are expected to partake of the Noche Buena. Relatives living abroad, especially OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers), are strongly encouraged to return home for the occasion, as it is the most important Filipino Christian holiday of the year. Most families prefer to exchange Christmas presents immediately after dinner, contrary to the Western custom of opening presents on Christmas morning.
Europe Austria In Austria, Christmas Eve marks the celebration of the end of the pre-Christmas fast. Christmas is primarily celebrated by Christians. Historically, Christmas Eve is the day when the tree is decorated and lit with real candles so that the Christkindl (Christ Child) may visit. Christmas Day is a national holiday in Austria, and most Austrians spend the day feasting with their families. Traditional foods include fried carp, Sachertorte, and Christmas biscuits (Lebkuchen and Weihnachtssterne), along with many other chocolate delicacies including edible Christmas ornaments. Christmas dinner typically features goose or ham, served with Gluhwein, Rumpunsch, and chocolate mousse.
Czech Republic A traditional Christmas meal in the Czech Republic consists of fried carp and potato salad, eaten during Christmas dinner on the evening of 24 December. The meal is often accompanied by fish soup prepared from carp leftovers (head or bones), and traditional Czech dishes such as Kuba or Černá omáčka (Black sauce) made from dried fruits, nuts, wine, and gingerbread. Many households also prepare a variety of unique Christmas biscuits to offer to visitors. These are prepared many days before the feast and require considerable time to decorate. It is also common to hang wrapped chocolate sweets on the Christmas tree as decorations for children.
Denmark
In Denmark, the traditional Christmas meal served on 24 December consists, according to one representative study, of duck (66% of households surveyed), roast pork with crackling (43%), turkey (8%), or goose (7%). The figures total more than 100% because some families prepare multiple kinds of meat for Christmas dinner. The meat is served with boiled potatoes (some of which are caramelized, others roasted), red cabbage, and gravy. The main course is followed by dessert of Risalamande, rice pudding served with cherry sauce or strawberry sauce, often with a whole almond hidden inside. The lucky finder of the almond is entitled to an extra present, the almond gift. Traditional Christmas beverages include Gløgg (mulled wine) and special Christmas beers brewed for the season with typically high alcohol content.
Finland
(translated as "Christmas table") is the name of the traditional food board served at Christmas in Finland, similar to the Swedish . It contains many different dishes, most of them typical for the season. The main dish is usually a large Christmas ham, eaten with mustard or bread along with the other dishes.Näin kuorrutat joulukinkun – HK (in Finnish) Fish is also served, often and or smoked salmon, and the ham is accompanied by different casseroles, usually featuring potatoes, rutabaga (swedes), or carrots. The traditional Christmas beverage is mulled wine ( in Finnish), which may be either alcoholic or non-alcoholic.Glögi – tiesitkö nämä 8 asiaa joulun suosikkijuomasta? – Hartwall (in Finnish)
Germany In Germany, the primary Christmas dishes are roast goose and roast carp, although suckling pig, duck, or venison may also be served. Typical side dishes include roast potatoes and various forms of cabbage such as kale, Brussels sprouts, and red cabbage. In some regions, Christmas dinner is traditionally served on Christmas Day rather than Christmas Eve. In such cases, dinner on Christmas Eve is a simpler affair, consisting of sausages (such as Bockwurst or Wiener) and potato salad. Sweets and Christmas pastries are customary and include marzipan, gingerbread (Lebkuchen), several types of bread, and various fruitcakes and fruited loaves such as Christstollen and Dresdener Stollen.Holiday Traditions — Germany . Retrieved 1 July 2006
Italy
In Italy, the Christmas Eve meal is usually called cenone (literally "big dinner"). The culinary tradition differs between Northern and Southern Italy: the cenone is celebrated primarily in the South, while in the North, Christmas Eve is commonly a working day and the main event takes place at lunchtime on Christmas Day. According to tradition, the Christmas Eve dinner should not contain meat. A popular Christmas Day dish in Naples and Southern Italy is female eel, or . A traditional Christmas Day dish from Northern Italy is capon (gelded chicken). Abbacchio is more common in Central Italy.
The Christmas Day dinner traditionally consists of typical Italian Christmas dishes such as agnolini, cappelletti, Pavese agnolotti, pandoro, panettone, torrone, panforte, struffoli, mustacciuoli, bisciola, cavallucci, veneziana, pizzelle, zelten, and others, depending on the regional cuisine. Christmas Day is celebrated with a family lunch consisting of different types of pasta and meat dishes, cheese, and local sweets.
Panettone, originally from Milan, is traditionally prepared and enjoyed for Christmas and New Year in Western, Southern, and Southeastern Europe, as well as in South America, Eritrea, Australia, the United States, and Canada. It is served in wedge shapes, cut vertically, and accompanied by sweet hot beverages or sweet wine such as Asti or Moscato d'Asti. In some regions of Italy, it is served with crema al mascarpone, a cream made by combining eggs, mascarpone, and a sweet liqueur.
Pandoro is an Italian sweet bread, most popular around Christmas and New Year. Typically a product of the city of Verona, Veneto, pandoro traditionally has an eight-pointed shape. It is often dusted with vanilla-scented icing sugar, said to resemble the snowy peaks of the Alps during Christmas. The first citation of a dessert clearly identified as pandoro dates to the 18th century.
Norway
In Norway, there are three main schools of traditional Christmas main meals, likely influenced by regional differences in available proteins. The eastern inland region, where the country is flat, was well-suited for raising pigs and growing grains. Along the mountainous western coast, sheep were better-suited livestock, and fish was readily available year-round. Turkey is a modern adoption likely related to extensive immigration to the United States in the early 1900s.