| Everyone is familiar with the festive fare that makes | | | | Thanksgiving, beef or ham is sometimes the |
| our Christmas dinner one of the most looked-forward | | | | preference for the Christmas meal. |
| to meals of the year. Roast turkey; Yorkshire puddings; | | | | Moving over to Europe, the French enjoy a traditional |
| Brussels Sprouts; Stuffing; Kilted Sausages; Roast | | | | Yule log cake and this is served as part of an |
| Potatoes; all topped off with seasonal vegetables, | | | | abundant Christmas meal, the focal point of which |
| lashings of gravy and a generous helping of cranberry | | | | varies between provinces and could be anything from |
| sauce. | | | | turkey stuffed with chestnuts in Burgundy to goose in |
| But have you ever wondered what adorns the | | | | Alsace or oysters in Paris. After some forty days of |
| yuletide platters of our worldwide neighbours on | | | | fasting, the people of Greece enjoy a substantial feast |
| Christmas day? It's not all turkey you know. | | | | of pork and special handmade bread that is engraved |
| In Australia Christmas is celebrated at the height of | | | | with an image depicting the profession of the family |
| summer, so there is no such thing to an Australian as a | | | | who make it. |
| white Christmas! Whilst for many years our friends | | | | In the Czech Republic, potato salad and fried carp |
| down under followed the English model of the turkey | | | | make up the traditional Christmas meal. |
| dinner, albeit served with the temperature gauge hitting | | | | The Spanish people get stuck into their Christmas |
| more than 30 degrees, it has since become more | | | | dinner on the night of Christmas Eve. It's a feast of |
| practical with the Christmas picnic of seafood, cold | | | | turkey stuffed with chestnuts, pork and other meats |
| meats, pastas, salads and ice cream taking over and | | | | and lots of vegetables and potato dishes. Once they |
| of course, the Aussie outdoor favourite: the barbeque. | | | | have had their fill, families sing carols around the |
| In Brazil, again at the height of the summer season, a | | | | Christmas tree before setting off for Midnight Mass. |
| sizeable Christmas dinner is enjoyed consisting of | | | | In Holland, festive dinners are probably more different |
| turkey and ham, multi-coloured rice and vegetable and | | | | than anywhere else in the world. |
| fruit dishes. | | | | The Dutch 'gourmet' event, which probably originates |
| Christmas dinner in Mexico varies throughout different | | | | from Indonesia, involves the party host preparing a |
| states. In some areas Mexicans tuck into beef or pork | | | | selection of fish, shellfish, meat and vegetables for |
| stews called Pozole whilst others indulge in something | | | | each of their guests to cook in their preferred way |
| with a bit more heat such as Hominy which is made | | | | using their own personal frying pan and choice of |
| with red chili sauce. In some states the favoured dish is | | | | seasoning. More traditional style Christmas dinners are |
| one of fruits, vegetables and nuts. | | | | also becoming popular too with ham, rabbit, duck, beef |
| The United States seems to have adopted many of | | | | or pheasant being the meats of choice. |
| our Christmas cuisine customs with turkey, stuffing and | | | | Wherever you are in the world at Christmas, you are |
| cranberry sauce the first choice for the Christmas | | | | bound to enjoy a festive feast on Christmas day. But |
| table. However as turkey is the American favourite for | | | | what will it be? |