Holiday Traditions Around the Table: Food, Family, and Festive Feasts
The holiday season is a time of joy, togetherness, and cherished traditions. For many families, these traditions revolve around food, as meals become the centerpiece of celebrations. From Christmas Day feasts to Hanukkah delights, every family has its unique way of bringing flavor and love to the table. Let’s explore some holiday food traditions from around the world, while incorporating some creative twists using recipes and products from SauceGoddess.com.
Christmas Traditions:
- United Kingdom: A traditional Christmas dinner often includes roast turkey or goose, served with gravy, potatoes, vegetables, and sometimes bread. Desserts like Christmas pudding, mince pies, fruitcake, and Yule log cake are also customary. Here’s our brined roast turkey. This same recipe can be used if you want to roast a duck, however you need to sear the skin by roasting at a high temperatur
- Italy: In Sicily, it’s customary to serve 7 kinds of fish on Christmas Eve. Additionally, Italians enjoy panettone, a sweet bread loaf filled with candied fruits and raisins, during the holiday season.
- Germany: The Christmas feast often features roast goose accompanied by red cabbage and dumplings. For dessert, stollen—a fruit bread with nuts and spices—is popular. Moroccan Twist spices would be wonderful with stollen but darn we don’t have a recipe for it.
- Poland: Christmas Eve, known as Wigilia, is celebrated with a meat-free dinner that includes dishes like barszcz (beetroot soup) with pierogi. I had the pleasure of making pierogi a couple of years ago. It was a pierogi party, actually and a group of friends from a Polish church made over 800 pierogi. They are delicious potato and cheese dumplings.
- Philippines: After the Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, families enjoy bibingka, a rice-flour cake made with coconut milk, butter, and eggs, often topped with melted cheese and salted duck egg. You had us at rice cake with an egg. Sounds great!
Christmas Eve: The Feast of the Seven Fishes
In many Italian-American households, Christmas Eve is celebrated with the Feast of the Seven Fishes. This seafood extravaganza typically features dishes like shrimp scampi, fried calamari, and seafood pasta. Your tradition of fish chowder or lobster risotto fits right in.
This dish is luxurious yet comforting, perfect for a special Christmas Eve dinner.
Christmas Day: The Grand Feast
Perfect Prime Rib
Pair this dish with garlic mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables, and a drizzle of Sweet Heat Grill Glaze for a touch of tangy sweetness.
Hanukkah: A Festival of Fried Delights
Hanukkah celebrates the miracle of light, and traditional foods fried in oil play a symbolic role. Classic dishes like latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts) are staples of the season.
Recipe: Savory Latkes with Steakhouse seasoning
We love Latkes (potato pancakes) with apple sauce, sour cream, or just butter on top.
Ingredients
- 4 large russet potatoes, grated
- 1 small onion, grated
- 2 eggs
- 3 tbsp flour
- 1 tsp Sauce Goddess Steakhouse seasoning
- Oil for frying
Instructions
- Combine grated potatoes, onion, eggs, flour, and Steakhouse seasoning in a bowl.
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.
- Scoop spoonfuls of the potato mixture into the oil and flatten with a spatula.
- Fry until golden brown on both sides, then drain on paper towels.
- Serve with sour cream or applesauce.
