What's The Main Part Of Christmas Dinner Around The World?

It can be easy to think that everyone enjoys the same holiday meal around the world, but does everyone put marshmallows in their mashed potato? Do people everywhere add peaches to their turkey? Does the rest of the world add some soda to their gravy for a little extra kick?

It turns out everyone has their own traditions each holiday season, but what’s the main part of Christmas dinner around the world? That all depends on where you go and who you ask. However, it might not be long until we have some inspiration for our next Christmas meal, even if we never thought we’d change.

Puerto Rico can spend hours creating the perfect sucking pig

When it comes to Christmas dinner in Puerto Rico, it appears people really aren’t messing around. That’s because at least two people need to get up in the small hours of the morning - usually somewhere around 2 am - to work on the national dish: lechón, or suckling pig to the rest of the world. The pig takes hours to slow roast as people have to continually turn the pig to ensure it cooks evenly and is ready for Christmas dinner. This is usually served alongside meat pastries and blood sausage, but be sure to leave room for dessert. Here, it’s all about tembleque, a coconut-based meal.

Greenland traditionally serves whale blubber and kiviak for Christmas

Did you know it’s traditional for men to serve women in Greenland on Christmas Day? Here, people can expect to eat a hearty meal of mattak, which happens to be strips of whale blubber surrounded by whale fat. This can be served alongside kiviak, which is a dish made from auks - a type of seabird - that are studded into a sealskin and buried for months, only coming back to the surface once they have started to decompose. For dessert, things take another turn, as Christmas porridge served with butter, sugar, and cinnamon is usually on the menu.

Sweden offers up a particular ham as the centerpiece of the Christmas table

In Sweden, you need to be prepared for a feast when it comes to Christmas. That’s because the Swedish julbord, also called the Christmas table, typically starts with cold fish dishes. From there, it’s onto meats served alongside hot food before it’s time for dessert. However, it’s the main dish that usually steals the attention and typically comes in the form of a Christmas ham. This tends to be boiled before it’s glazed with eggs and topped with breadcrumbs and mustard. This is then cooked ahead of time and served up cold on Christmas.

Germany usually has rabbit, goose, or duck every holiday season

Germany, like plenty of other nations, has meat at the center of its Christmas dinner. However, this isn’t your usual turkey. Instead, the most common things you’ll find on the table are rabbit, goose, or duck. These are roasted and often served alongside side dishes like red cabbage dumplings and potatoes. Dessert is also a big deal throughout the holidays in Germany. Gingerbread houses can be seen in most homes, but they’re called pfefferkuchenhaus. Stollen is also incredibly popular and is a type of fruit bread that’s filled with dried fruit, spices, and nuts before it’s topped with powdered sugar.

Norway can see a boiled sheep’s head come out for Christmas Day

It turns out the biggest meal of the holidays in Norway is usually served on Christmas Eve and involves roasted pork that’s served alongside boiled potatoes and sauerkraut. That doesn’t mean Christmas Day is entirely forgotten. On the big day, a steamed sheep’s head is the thing to see, with the eyes and ears eaten before anything else. Plus, the brain is removed and boiled or fried before it’s served on the side. Thankfully, dessert might be to more people’s tastes, as it’s Multekrem, a mixture of whipped cream, cloudberries, and sugar.

Portugal’s Christmas dinner is all about the desserts on offer

While most Christmas dinners have the main part during the savory selection, it’s dessert where things shine through in Portugal. Meals normally start with some kind of codfish that’s served alongside boiled potatoes. However, there’s nothing simple about dessert. Two different Christmas cakes usually get things going, such as Bolo Rei - a fruit and nut-filled cake - and Bolo Rainha - a Christmas cake without the candied fruit. Then there is Broa - small candies that are made from sweet potato and egg yolk - and filhoses - fried dough that’s covered in sugar and cinnamon. Still hungry, anyone?

What’s the main part of Christmas dinner around the world? That all depends on where you go. From seafood to roast meat, they all have one thing in common: these Christmas meals are usually laced with tradition, too.