December 2009 
December 5, Saturday, Saint Nicholas Day : Netherlands.
On this day Saint Nicholas, “Sinterklaas,” arrives in Holland. Cities have parades where he comes riding in on a white horse, on a barge, or even on a motorcycle. He wears a bishop’s hat and a red cape. This starts the Christmas season. That evening, adults have parties and exchange gifts, while children set out shoes filled with carrots and hay for Saint Nicholas’s horse. In the morning they find them filled with gifts. This day, called samiclaus in Swiss German, is also important in Switzerland, where good children get chocolate as well as nuts and fruit in their shoes.
FOOD AND DRINK
Christmas cookies are an important tradition in Holland, appearing at all parties. Speculaas are spice-flavored cookies, often shaped like windmills. Spritz are sugar cookies. Doughnuts are popular, too, as are chestnuts, served hot with salt.
December 12, Saturday, Hanukkah (hah-noo-kah) (12/12-12/19) : Jewish.
This eight-day holiday commemorates the Jewish victory over the Syrian Greeks in 165 b.c.e. When the Jews cleaned their desecrated temple, they found that there was only enough oil left for one day. Nonetheless, the oil lasted for eight days, the time taken to acquire some more. Today Jews celebrate Hanukkah by lighting one candle a day in a branched candlestick and by giving gifts to family members. This holiday is a celebration of religious freedom and begins at sundown on the previous day.
FOOD AND DRINK
Potato pancakes called latkes, sometimes served with applesauce, sometimes as a side dish with meat, are the food of Hanukkah. The pancakes are cooked in oil, recalling the miraculous oil of the temple.
Holeless doughnuts called soofganiyot are another oil-cooked specialty, especially popular in Israel. Hanukkah is a festive time for families and friends. Dishes vary greatly depending on local traditions and family preferences.
December 13, Sunday, Santa Lucia : Sweden.
This holiday, also celebrated in states such as Minnesota where there are many Scandinavian communities, honors an Italian martyr named Saint Lucia. Like many winter festivals, its central feature is lights. In Sweden, and Swedish-American homes in the Midwest, a young girl, one of the daughters of the family, dresses in a white gown and a crown of lighted candles. She and the other children then parade to their parents’ bedroom or to the breakfast table carrying a tray of coffee and saffron buns called lussekatter for breakfast.
FOOD AND DRINK
Lussekatter are made from a dough flavored with saffron and cardamom, and then made into S-shaped or other twists and decorated with raisins and pearl sugar. The same dough is sometimes shaped into a wreath. In Canada and the United States, Scandinavian Americans celebrate Santa Lucia with parties featuring Scandinavian delicacies such as smoked and pickled fish, regional sausages, rye bread, marzipan confections, and butter cookies.
COLORS
White (the color of the candles and girl’s dress) and yellow for the saffron bread.
December 16, Wednesday, Las Posadas (los-pos ahdâs) (12/16-12/24) : Mexico.
This custom commemorates the trials of Mary and Joseph as they sought shelter (posada) before the birth of Jesus, and it initiates the Christmas season in Mexico. Children go from house to house seeking entry, until finally they are permitted to come indoors, where everyone sings, dances, and celebrates. For the children there is a piñata, a paper- covered animal shape suspended from the ceiling. All the children attack it until it finally breaks and lets fall a stream of candies.
FOOD AND DRINK
Tamales, corn husks filled with savory stuffings, are popular at this and all Mexican festivities, as are savory turnovers and sopapillas—fried pastries dipped in syrup or honey and dusted with cinnamon.
December 18, Friday, Al Hijrah (New Year) : Islamic.
Al Hijrah is commemorated on the first day of Muharram, the first month of the Muslim year. The tenth day is the anniversary of the murder of the Prophet Mohammed's son-in-law, Ali, and his grandson, Imam Hussain. Shia Muslims, the minority, keep this as a day of mourning, a practice shared by Sunni Muslims in countries such as Turkey, Pakistan, northern India and southern Lebanon, where the Prophet's family is venerated. Rambunctious new year festivities are precluded, but nonetheless, sweet foods are prepared for guests and sent as gifts to neighbors.
Many countries have traditional dishes made at this time of year. In Turkey, for example, the day is celebrated as the anniversary of Adam's first meeting with Eve and the day when Noah realized the flood was subsiding. Asure (pronounced ash-or-a), a mixture of wheat berries with chickpeas, raisins, and nuts, is always made for this time of year. All the festive dishes at Muharram are confections or desserts rather than main dishes.
FOOD AND DRINK
In Afghanistan and northern India, sweet dishes of rice or thin vermicelli cooked in milk and flavored with saffron, rose water, pistachios, and cardamom are served throughout the month of Muharram and on other festive occasions. In India, Muslims make zarda or meetha pullao, a dish of basmati rice with raisins, saffron, cardamom, and cloves.
In some countries, including Iran, rice is cooked with green herbs, the green ensuring a happy year ahead. In Pakistan and Bangladesh, sweetened yellow lentil dishes are eaten to symbolize the hope for happiness and fertility. Similarly, yellowed pilafs and puddings of rice with saffron, or less expensive turmeric, are popular.
Another popular New Year's rice dish in the Middle East is roz bil shaghria, rice mixed with chickpeas and vermicelli. The vermicelli symbolizes long life, that one's employment will be prolonged, or that one will beget many children. Basmati rice with apricots or raisins and chicken is another festive specialty because its ingredients are expensive. It is also likely to appear at other festive occasions throughout the Middle East.
December 25, Friday, Christmas : Christian.
Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus. In most western countries, it is the most popular holiday of the year and is very secularized.
Gift-giving and parties are the two basic customs of the Christmas season, but cultures and communities differ a great deal in the particular days chosen for exchanging gifts and serving the important meals of the season, and, most of all, in the range of customs and traditions.
FOOD AND DRINK
Because of the great range of climates among Christian countries, the foods for Christmas vary greatly. However, certain ingredients and types of food appear in many countries. Among these are the following:
dried fruit
All European countries and countries where Europeans have settled use dried fruit extensively at Christmas in cookies, breads, puddings, pies, and simply for eating out of hand. See the recipe for figs in red wine.
spices
Christmas baked goods are typically spiced, sometimes with expensive spices such as cardamom or saffron. Cinnamon, cloves, ginger, allspice, and nutmeg are the most common spices for Christmas baking.
baked goods
Every culture has some sort of baked good, usually a bread, pie, or cake, that is made only at Christmas. In addition, cookies and candies of every type are given as gifts and served often at Christmas gatherings. See the recipe for gingerbread cookies.
meat and poultry
Christmas dinner or one of the other main Christmas meals always features a large piece of meat. National and regional customs generally determine the choice, which ranges from a large bird such as a roast goose or turkey to a large roast of beef, lamb, ham, or, occasionally, venison.
nuts
Because nuts are in season in late fall in the northern hemisphere, they are traditional at Christmas. They are often placed in large bowls so guests can help themselves. They also appear in many traditional cookies and cakes. Almonds are especially important in European baking. They are used in nougat, turron, marzipan, and almond paste. Hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans, and pine nuts are a vital ingredient in many breads and cookies.
fruit
Like nuts, fresh fruit is often placed in large bowls. Oranges and tangerines are particularly important in Europe, but in general the idea is to display the showiest fruit.
fish
In some cultures, fish is important on Christmas Eve and fish luxuries such as oysters or smoked salmon are common adjuncts to Christmas.
luxuries
Whatever is rare and luxurious is appropriate for Christmas. In many poorer countries, this may simply be meat that is too expensive to buy at other times. In wealthier nations, fine wines, liqueurs, cheeses, chocolates, and exotic game birds are all once-a-year treats reserved for Christmas.
Virtually all cultures have some foods that are essential for Christmas. For example:
Australian, British, Canadian, Irish, and South African
Roast turkey or goose, rarely roast beef, is the centerpiece of the Christmas meal, with stuffing, small sausages, Brussels sprouts, and bread sauce as common side dishes. Christmas Pudding, occasionally called plum pudding, follows, with either brandy butter or a custard sauce. Mincemeat pies are also served. Smoked salmon before dinner and Stilton cheeses after the pudding are special treats. All alcoholic drinks are popular; however, port and sherry are traditional choices, often brought as gifts.
French and French Canadian
Goose liver pâté or oysters are a special treat, with turkey or goose or lamb as the main dish of the Christmas meal. People from southern France have a tradition of serving desserts, including macaroons, cookies, and dried fruits. Many French and French Canadians use buche de noel, a rolled génoise cake decorated to look like a log with chocolate bark and meringue mushrooms, as the centerpiece of the dessert table.
Among French Canadians, roast lamb or venison is often served with pureed chestnuts as the centerpiece. Tourtiere, a pork pie, is served at any time throughout the Christmas and New Year season. Plum pudding is popular although generally served with caramel sauce, not the hard sauce or custard typical of English-speaking countries.
German
Goose, hare, or venison are served for Christmas dinner. There are many cookies baked at home, including pfeffernuuse, a spicy molasses cookie, and spritz, a butter and sugar cookie. Marzipan molded into seasonal shapes or as part of a cake or cookie is typical. The tradition of making gingerbread houses comes from Germany, and bakers there excel in making very elaborate ones, often turning their shop windows into gingerbread villages.
Icelandic
Smoked lamb is the traditional Christmas meat in Iceland. On St Thorlak's Day, December 23 skate cooked in the broth from the lamb is the traditional meal, often cooked by the men of the household. Another Christmas specialty is a thin bread called "snowflake bread" in English because of the elaborate patterns on its surface.
Italian
Christmas foods vary from region to region in Italy, but two baked specialties from northern Italy are now also popular in America— panettone, a raisin bread baked in a tall pan that gives it a characteristic shape, and panforte di siena, a mixture of nuts, dried fruit, spices, and honey baked into a round disc, about ½-inch thick.
Jamaican and other Caribbean
Jamaicans eat goat or chicken at Christmas. (See recipe for jerk chicken.) They also have several British dishes, including Christmas pudding and fruitcakes. Throughout the Christmas season Jamaicans drink sorrel, a punch made with rum and an infusion of the sepals of a species of hibiscus. This is popular also in Trinidad and Guyana and some other Caribbean islands.
Latin American
In Latin America, the meat for Christmas is often beef (in Argentina, Chile, or Uruguay) or pork (in Central American countries). Turkeys and pigeons are popular in Peru and some other places. In Mexico and Central America, tamales are made for Christmas, as at other festive times.
Scandinavian
Butter cookies are popular for Christmas, as are cookies flavored with cardamom or ginger, or sweetened with currants, raisins, or prunes. Some form of rice pudding is also popular, often spiced and containing a charm or coin that will bring good fortune to the person who finds it. Many small fish dishes are served as first courses or snacks, including dishes of pickled herring, fish roe, sardines, and smoked fish. Carrots and red cabbage are both popular, while in Finland a rutabaga casserole is a standard side dish. Norwegians serve the Christmas meal as a buffet and include specialties such as jellied pigs’ feet, reindeer meat, fish balls, and a preserved fish called lutefisk. In Sweden and Finland, a whole ham is served for Christmas dinner. Many of these Scandinavian foods are also popular in Minnesota and other midwestern states where Scandinavian immigrants have settled.
Hot spiced wine warms Christmas guests in Scandinavia, Germany, Switzerland and other northern countries. The tradition dates from medieval times, when wine was sold extremely young and needed help from sugar and spices to make it palatable.
Spanish
Nougat and turron, made from almonds and honey are essential for Christmas in Spain and Puerto Rico. Spain also has many other almond confections including marzipan shaped into shells, fish or religious symbols, and cookies such as polvorones. COLORS Red and green (reminiscent of holly) and, to a lesser extent, white are associated with Christmas. Gold and silver typifying luxury are also important.
December 26, Saturday, Kwanzaa (quanza) (rhymes with wanza) : African American.
This holiday, which continues until New Year’s Day, is quite new, having been devised in the 1960s by Maulana Karenga as a way for Black Americans to celebrate their heritage. The word kwanzaa means “first fruits” in Swahili. There are seven principles of Kwanzaa, and each day of the holiday a candle is lit to celebrate one of them. The principles are Umoja, which means unity, Kujichagukia—self-determination, Ujima—collective work and responsibility, Ujaama—cooperative economics, Nia—purpose, Kuumba—creativity, and Imani—faith.
Gifts are sometimes given at Kwanzaa. On the penultimate day of Kwanzaa, December 31, there is a feast, the Kwanzaa Kuramu, which is celebrated not only with large amounts of food but also with speeches and music designed to focus everyone on ancestors and black culture.
FOOD AND DRINK
While there is no special dish for Kwanzaa, Black Americans feature dishes that are special to their community. These include dishes such as black-eyed peas and rice, cornmeal mush, barbecued ribs, fried chicken, jambalaya, peach pie, and coconut cake, which are typical of the former slave-owning states in the South. They also eat dishes from the Caribbean such as red beans, rice, and Jerk Chicken or pork, as well as dishes featuring African foods—such as okra and peanuts that slaves brought to America. (See recipe for curried pumpkin-peanut soup and Southern Sweet Potato Pie.)
COLORS
Red, green, and black, the colors of the Kwanzaa candles, are also featured in other Kwanzaa decorations.
December 28, Monday, Boxing Day observed : United Kingdom.
Traditionally, Boxing Day was the time when Christmas “boxes” (presents) were given, especially to servants, who were also given time off work. Today, Boxing Day is simply the second day of Christmas, and like Christmas itself, is spent relaxing and visiting family. All businesses and nonessential public offices are closed.
FOOD AND DRINK
British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, South African, Trinidadian, Jamaican
The food eaten on this day is the same as that for Christmas Day. Sometimes people make a second Christmas dinner on Boxing Day if they are entertaining a different group of people. In other cases, they may make a relaxed meal using some of the many Christmas foods.