Festive Holiday Flavors Around the World

We all know the meaning of Thanksgiving. Gathering with loved ones, eating too much turkey, watching football … and before too much eggnog kicks in, acknowledging the blessings in our lives by giving thanks. With its origins in a much-mythologized 1621 harvest feast shared by the pilgrims and the Wampanoag, most consider this cherished annual tradition celebrated every fourth Thursday of November a uniquely American holiday—but that’s not quite true. Many cultures in other parts of the world have similar annual traditions this time of year, everything from harvest and winter solstice festivals up to New Year celebrations. Along with spending time with family, they all share a common link that brings people together: food.

More than just sustenance, food unites people in a shared experience of joy and togetherness across cultures and continents. There may not be turkey and all the fixings on the menu, but almost every country has its own unique culinary traditions that make the holidays special …

Traditional holiday foods in Japan—and one that’s extra crispy

In a custom called mochitsuki, Japanese families invite friends over to spend the day before New Year’s pounding out mochi rice cakes. Guests take turns pinching off small pieces of the sweet, glutinous mass that are made into small buns and later eaten for dessert. Mochi rice cakes are also an important ingredient in a popular New Year’s breakfast soup—and possible hangover cure—called “ozoni.” And at midnight on New Year’s Eve, Japanese people follow a tradition that dates to the 17th century and bid farewell to the past year by slurping down bowls of buckwheat soba noodles, or toshikoshi soba.  Long soba noodles symbolize longevity and prosperity for the year ahead.

Just how big is KFC at Christmas in Japan? It accounts for a third of the chain’s sales in the country.

But perhaps the strangest holiday tradition—this one dating back to only 1974, the result of a wildly successful marketing campaign—is a take-out food item that Japanese households seem to crave for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day: Kentucky Fried Chicken! Bizarre as it sounds, it’s so popular that the price skyrockets during the holidays, and people must place their orders well in advance to ensure delivery of the food on everyone’s “bucket list.” At least for the holidays, Colonel Sanders is King in Japan.

Italians feast on fish, but New Years is for the beans

Most of us are familiar with the Feast of Seven Fishes. Popular in southern Italy, this traditional meal features seven different kinds of seafood served on Christmas Eve. But by the time New Year’s Eve rolls around, Italians are ready for a little meat on the menu. New Year’s Eve in Italy is celebrated alongside La Festa di San Silvestro (in memory of a pope who died on this day in 335 in Rome). A traditional celebratory family feast for New Year’s Eve almost always includes cotechino con lenticchie, a spicy sausage and lentil dish that is said to bring good luck in the upcoming year. If you’re familiar with lentils, these small legumes are flat and round, which reminds some people of coins—and that’s where the prosperity-boosting properties of the hearty soup come from. In some Italian homes, another type of pork sausage (zampone) is used instead of cotechino, but the promise of money and good fortune is all in the lentils.

Another important part of all New Year’s celebrations in Italy is grapes. Seen as symbols of a year of good health, Italians try to consume as many as possible at the stroke of midnight, when the New Year officially begins. The more grapes you eat, the better.

Korean soups to get you in the holiday spirit, and one to ward off evil spirits

The special day to spend with family and pay tribute to ancestors in Korea is winter solstice (the shortest day and longest night of the year ). And the culinary star of every winter solstice celebration is a rice cake soup called tteokguk. Like a lot of New Year’s foods (or Lunar New Year in this case), tteokguk is considered a good luck dish filled with symbolic significance.

A traditional Korean Lunar New Year feast, including the rice cake soup known as tteokguk.

Typically cooked in a steaming broth with beef or other toppings, the white color of the chewy-soft rice cakes signifies purity and good fortune, so downing a bowl at this time of year is a way to start the new year off fresh. In fact, age is counted from the first day of the lunar new year in South Korea rather than individual birthdates. This “communal aging” means that no matter when your birthday is, you become a year older after consuming a bowl. To find out a person’s age in South Korea, all you have to do is ask them “How many bowls of tteokguk have you eaten?"

As a hedge against evil spirits, another popular food during Korean winter solstice celebrations is a red bean paste porridge called patjuk. This rich, stick-to-your ribs dish is made by cooking red beans until they form a thick paste, then adding small balls of glutinous rice into the mix. Since the color red is considered a powerful symbol of protection in Korea, families believe this traditional red bean porridge can chase away any bad spirits in the upcoming year. And because the rice balls symbolize new life, it’s also traditional to eat one rice ball for each year of your life. To make sure of this, when there’s a big pot of patjuk steaming away on the stove, Korean cooks will count how many rice balls are served to each loved one.

In Vietnam, the best time for family and food is Tet

Vietnam’s biggest food and family holiday is their Lunar New Year (or Tet Ngyuen Dan), a week-long celebration that kicks off on the first new moon after January 20. Similar to the entire holiday season in the West, the focus is on honoring ancestors, parents, grandparents, and even teachers. Believing that any and all actions taken during this period sets the tone for the upcoming year, it’s a harmonious time when personal grudges fade and arguments are forgotten. It’s also the time to clean and decorate your home, pay off any debts, pay respect to family and friends, and most importantly, to eat well. The Vietnamese even say “an Tet,” which literally denotes “eating Tet.” And since Tet Nguyen Dan translates as "feast of the first day," the serious eating begins on the first day of Tet.

At its most basic, Vietnam’s xoi gac contains just two main ingredients: white sticky rice and baby jackfruit for color.

Traditional foods during Tet vary by region due to different weather conditions (and availability of ingredients) in thecountry, but they always include banh chung (also called banh Tet, for obvious reasons). These square-shaped packages ofsticky rice, mung bean puree, and seasoned pork wrapped in banana leaves are often tied with a little red ribbon forgood luck. Another favorite of every Tet feast is xoi gac, or red sticky rice. Made from the red gac fruit (also knownas baby jackfruit), the bright red color symbolizes happiness, good fortune, and prosperity.Unfortunately, shark fin soup—which is in decline in China and other countries—is still considered a prestigioustraditional holiday dish in Vietnam. When traveling to visit family and friends during Tet, the Vietnamese people alwaysbring gifts of food like banana cakes made with coconut milk—which somehow feels like the equivalent of bringing afruitcake in the United States. But there are myriad Tet dishes and almost all of them have deep cultural significance.Their preparation is often a family affair, creating a greater sense of unity and togetherness during this special timeof year.Greeks are known to pig out a bit on the holidaysIn a custom that began with the Ancient Greeks, when farmers used to sacrifice a pig to ensure a good harvest, pork isthe traditional Christmas dish that brings families together in many parts of Greece. And they go whole hog with thetradition, too. Many families will breed a pig for the express purpose of, let’s just call it “putting it down” beforeChristmas. The practice is known as hoirosfagia (pig slaughtering), or somewhat inexplicably, gouronochara (which means“pig happiness”). Feasting ensues, with the tastiest parts of the pig set aside for the Christmas table. But nothinggoes to waste, with the skin used for shoes, the hair used to make brushes, and the bones for a tasty broth.

The decorations atop a traditional Christopsomo cake are highly symbolic.

Another popular tradition gracing Christmas Day tables across Greece is Christopsomo, or Christ’s Bread. This round-shaped loaf is covered in sesame seeds and decorated with a large Greek cross in the center. There are often shelled walnuts on the top as well, which symbolize fertility.

A few more beloved—and not so beloved—traditional holiday foods

• Let’s get figgy with it—Not that it’s anything like what Americans consider a “pudding,” but Figgy Pudding (really, a cake made with figs and is topped with brandy) has been a traditional English Christmas dessert since the mid-1600s. At the time, it was actually banned by English Puritans due to the large amount of the pudding’s alcohol content. In medieval times, it was thought that it could only be made on the 25th Sunday after Trinity Sunday could contain just 13 ingredients (representing Christ and his 12 apostles).


• This sounds nuts—The invention of that holiday standby, “pecan pie,” is often credited to the French who settled in New Orleans early in the 18th century after they noticed the abundance of pecan trees in the area. But the first recipes didn’t appear until late in the 19th century, when standard custards topped with pecans were referred to as “Texas pecan pie.” The dark, rich filling that we normally associate with pecan pies today, however, apparently was the creation of the Karo Syrup company in the 1930s. Allegedly, it was the brainstorm of a sales executive’s wife who came up with a “new” way of using corn syrup.


• We wonder which Santa prefers?—In the United States, parents often placate the children by putting out milk and cookies for Santa. In England, where Santa goes by Father Christmas, he’s more likely to find mince pie and a small glass of sherry waiting for him on the hearth. Mince pies once actually contained meat, which is why we often hear the term “mincemeat” used. But today’s mince pies contain a preserve of dried and candied fruits steeped in brandy or rum—oh, and when it has a top crust, it’s a mince pie; when it doesn’t, it’s a tart.


• Cider in the house rules—Served mulled, spiced, or cold, apple cider has been a holiday tradition since the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock. Back then, all cider was “hard,” not the sweet, non-alcoholic version found in farmer’s markets. It is believed that Julius Caesar first discovered the British drinking apple cider in 55 BC. The fermenting process preserved the beverage longer, helping the Pilgrims get through the harsh New England winters. The drink was so important, all those trees Johnny Appleseed planted weren’t for apples meant to be polished and given to your teacher—they were for cider making.


• On New Years, cake is king—The tradition of a New Year’s cake is one that spans many cultures around the world. The Greeks have the Vasilopita, the French have galette des rois, Mexicans have Rosca de Reyes, and on and on. Most are consumed at midnight on New Year’s Eve, others on Christmas or the Epiphany (January 6)—and almost all of them include a hidden coin or figurine which symbolized good fortune for the upcoming year for whomever finds it in their slice.


• Some call it crumb(y) cake—The much-maligned holiday fruitcake can be traced back to Ancient Egypt, when the long-lasting confection made with dried fruits, nuts, and spices was placed in the Great Pyramids with deceased royalty to sweeten their experience in the afterlife.  An early version of fruitcake—called satura—fueled Roman soldiers on their lengthy marches to the corners of the empire. In medieval times, fruitcakes accompanied Christian crusaders on their six-month treks to sack the Holy Land—but after the Catholic Church thought them too sinfully delicious, knights were forced to switch to a less flavorful German version of fruitcake called stollen. These days, the Christmas tradition of giving someone a fruitcake more often than not goes over like a lead balloon—which is ironic, as it has the same weight and consistency.  Since 1996, Manitou Springs, Colorado, has hosted an annual “Fruitcake Toss” competition to see who can throw the holiday confection as far away as possible. Which, to some people, is never far enough …

For a taste of a holiday tradition that is both close to home and completely foreign, consider joining Japan’s Cultural Treasures over Christmastime.