Christmas dishes

Albania

• Byrek me kungull dhe arre, a traditional Albanian pumpkin accompanied by walnut tart

Traditional Albanian pie, this dish is usually cooked on Christmas Eve, often in Catholic families. The pie is made with wheat flour, pumpkin, nuts, vegetable oil or butter, a pinch of salt and black pepper, and there is sometimes added oregano. Pastry layers are traditionally homemade baked pumpkin filled with the mixture, which contains the butter, salt and pepper. Walnuts are also cut and sprayed. The layers are then folded, put on a baking circular shape and then baked in the oven. This is a flat used as accompaniment to Christmas, although sometimes it is used on other occasions too.

Argentina

(A vitello tonnato, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vitello_tonnato.jpg)

• Vitello tonnato – a Piedmont originally flat, which consists of veal slices, covered with mayonnaise sauce and tuna in olive oil.

• Turrón – the Touron is a Spanish-based confection of honey, sugar, egg white, and whole or crushed almonds, it is a type of nougat.

• Panetón (or Pan dulce) – Panettone is a cake filled with raisins, candied fruits and citrus zest.

• Cider, an alcoholic beverage obtained here from the fermentation of apple juice or pineapple juice, it is very common during the Christmas period.

• The sparkling wine is also common in the Argentine upper class.

• Budín, a pudding.

• Pionono, a pastry that is made with a dough made with eggs, sugar and flour and a filling, traditionally milk jam.

• Russian salad, a salad composed of diced vegetables and other foods, seasoned mayonnaise sauce.

• Matambre – a very thin part of beef, it is a kind of flap located between the skin and the odds.

• Lengua a la vinagreta – the beef tongue with vinaigrette.

• Garrapiñadas, the sugared almonds.

• Waldorf Salad, a salad made from chopped apples and celery julienne, with nuts and mayonnaise sauce.

• Miga sandwiches, single or double laminated sandwich, made of thin white bread without crust, filled with meat cut slightly, and additionally, ham, eggs, cheese, tomatoes, peppers.

Australia

(A barley sugar)

• White Christmas – this Australian dessert is a mixture of raisins, candied cherries, desiccated coconut, icing sugar, milk powder and rice bubbles, which are added oil hydrogenated coconut to bind the whole.
• Ham or turkey, served cold.
• Seafood
• Chicken, ham, and roasted turkey.
• Shrimps.
• Christmas pudding
• Christmas cake, a type of cake.
• The custard, a type of creamy preparation made by baking a mixture of milk and/or cream and egg yolk.
• Gingerbread cut into shapes related to Christmas, like the gingerbread man.
• The Damper – a type of bread made from wheat flour, traditionally baked in the embers of a campfire, served with butter, jam, honey or golden syrup.
• Confectionery, including candy and Rocky road, a type of dessert made with milk chocolate and marshmallow.
• The Trifle, a dessert made with custard, fruit, sponge cake, fruit juice or gelatin, and whipped cream.
• The Pavlova, a dessert made with meringue.
• The Mince pie, a sweet tart with dried fruit and spices.

Belgium

• The cougnou, also known as the bread of Jesus, is a kind of brioche.

Brazil

• Lombo à Califórnia, a type of pork tenderloin.
• Rabanada, toast.
• Pernil, roast ham.
• Perú, roasted turkey.
• Bacalhau, a dried and smoked cod-based dish.
• Farofa, roasted raw cassava with butter, salt, bacon, smoked meat and spices.
• Brazilian nuts
• Panettone, a cake filled with raisins, candied fruits and citrus zest.

Canada

(A gingerbread house, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ginger_Bread_House_PC210088.JPG)

• Cider
• The Yule log
• The butter tart, a Canadian pastry made with butter, sugar, syrup and eggs.
• The sugars of barley
• The Christmas Pudding
• Mandarin
• The Donut, a sweet ring-shaped dense texture often covered with frosting.
• The eggnog is a milk beverage, with cream, sugar and egg yolk fragrant nutmeg or cinnamon.
• The fruit cake
• Gingerbread, often in forms of gingerbread man or gingerbread house.
• The meat pie, a type of pie meat originating from Quebec.
• The pumpkin pie, a pie made up of a pumpkin-based cream.
• The Mince pie, a sweet tart with dried fruit and spices.
• The shortbread, a type of Scottish shortbread biscuits characterized by the amount of butter in it.
• The cranberry sauce

Chile

(A Pan de Pascua, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pan_de_pascua_chileno_2006.jpg)

• Cola de mono – a Chilean cocktail made with milk, sugar, coffee, cloves, cinnamon and calvados, which is also drunk during the New Year’s day.
• Pan de Pascua – a cake similar to a sponge cake with cloves, pieces of candied fruit, raisins, walnuts and almonds.
• Roast turkey
• Ponche a la romana – a similar drink eggnog but made of champagne and ice pineapple.

Colombia

(The Buñuelos)

Most typical Colombian dishes cooked during the Christmas period are sweets and desserts. The most popular of these include:

• Buñuelos – a type of donut made with white cheese that is rolled into a ball, then fried until gets a golden-brown color.
• Natilla – a pudding made from milk, egg, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon.
• Manjar blanco – milk, rice and sugar, the ingredients are heated for a long period of time, until gets a certain texture.
• Hojaldres
• Christmas cookies

Cuba

• Crema de vie – a Cuban original eggnog, made with condensed milk, rum, sugar syrup, lemon zest, cinnamon and egg yolk.
• Majarete – corn pudding made with coconut milk, fresh corn, after the latter flour, milk, water, vanilla, cinnamon and sugar.