Seasons and holidays

Christmas foods around the world

From Italian sweet breads to Polish Christmas Eve dumplings, Christmas tables look very different from country to country. Many of these dishes are baked or prepared only once a year.

Panettone
Italy
A tall, fruit-studded sweet bread from Milan, baked for Christmas across Italy and beyond.
Panettone is an Italian sweet bread and fruitcake that is associated with the city of Milan, Lombardy.
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Stollen
Germany
A dense, fruit-filled German loaf dusted with sugar, traditionally eaten in the Christmas season.
Stollen or stol is a fruit bread of nuts, spices, and dried or candied fruit, often coated with powdered sugar or icing sugar and often containing marzipan or almond paste.
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Christmas pudding
United Kingdom
A rich steamed pudding traditionally served at the end of Christmas dinner in Britain.
Christmas pudding is a sweet boiled or steamed pudding traditionally served as part of Christmas dinner in Britain.
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Yule log
France
A rolled sponge cake decorated like a log, a classic French Christmas dessert.
A Yule log or bûche de Noël is a traditional Christmas cake, often served as a dessert, especially in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Lebanon, Vietnam, and Quebec, Canada.
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Mince pie
United Kingdom
Small spiced fruit pies served during the Christmas season in Britain and other English-speaking countries.
A mince pie is a sweet pie of English origin filled with mincemeat: a mixture of fruits, nuts, spices and a spirit—usually brandy—or vinegar. Also included is a fat, traditionally beef suet, although vegetable alternatives can be used.
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Pandoro
Italy
A star-shaped golden Italian sweet bread, popular around Christmas and New Year.
Pandoro is an Italian sweet bread, most popular around Christmas and New Year. Typically a product of the city of Verona, Veneto, pandoro traditionally has an eight-pointed shape.
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Turrón
Spain
A nougat of almonds and honey eaten around Christmas in Spain and Italy.
Turrón, torró or torrone is a Mediterranean nougat confection, typically made of honey, sugar, and egg white, with toasted almonds or other nuts, and usually shaped either into a rectangular tablet or a round cake.
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Christmas carp
Austria Czech Republic
A traditional Christmas Eve dish in Central Europe, including Czechia, Germany and Austria.
Christmas carp is a traditional dish for Christmas Eve in Central Europe. The fish is traditionally kept in a bathtub before preparation to remove muddy flavours and is commonly fried or served in dishes like gefilte fish.
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Uszka
Poland
Tiny mushroom dumplings served in beetroot soup as part of the Christmas Eve meal in Poland.
Uszka, ushka or vushka are small dumplings (a very small and twisted version of pierogi) usually filled with flavourful wild forest mushrooms and/or minced meat.
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Janssons frestelse
Sweden
A creamy potato and anchovy bake often served on the Swedish Christmas table (julbord).
Jansson's Temptation (Swedish: Janssons frestelse) is a traditional Swedish casserole made of potatoes, onions, pickled sprats and cream. It is typically served as a late night meal before the guests leave a party.
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Glogg
Denmark Estonia
A spiced warm drink, a Nordic tradition in winter and especially around Christmas.
Glögg, gløgg or glögi is a spiced, often alcoholic, mulled wine, or spirit of Swedish origin. It is a traditional Nordic drink during winter, especially around Christmas.
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Risalamande
Denmark
A cold rice pudding with whipped cream, served as a Christmas dessert in Denmark.
Risalamande is a traditional Danish dessert served at Christmas dinner and julefrokost (Christmas lunch). It is made of rice pudding mixed with whipped cream, sugar, vanilla, and chopped almonds. It is served cold with either warm or cold cherry sauce.
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Lebkuchen
Germany
Honey-sweetened German spiced cakes and cookies that are part of Germany's Christmas traditions.
Lebkuchen, Honigkuchen or Pfefferkuchen are honey-sweetened German cakes, moulded cookies or bar cookies that have become part of Germany's Christmas traditions. They are similar to gingerbread.
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Hallaca
Venezuela
Corn-dough parcels with a rich meat filling, wrapped in banana leaves and served at Christmas in Venezuela.
Hallaca is a traditional South American dish. Its origin is indigenous, but raisins, capers, olives, and sometimes bits of bacon were added in the 16th Century and after by settlers from the Iberian Peninsula.
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Tourtière
Canada
A savory meat pie that is part of the Christmas Eve (réveillon) meal in Quebec.
Tourtière is a French Canadian meat pie dish originating from the province of Quebec, made with minced pork, veal or beef and potatoes. Wild game meat such as bear or venison is sometimes used.
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Joulutorttu
Finland
A star- or pinwheel-shaped pastry filled with plum jam, the Finnish Christmas pastry.
A joulutorttu is a Finnish Christmas pastry. It is traditionally made from puff pastry in the shape of a star or pinwheel and filled with prune jam and often dusted with icing sugar.
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Bebinca
India
A many-layered coconut pudding cake from Goa, especially popular at Christmas.
Bebinca or bebinka, is a layer cake of Indo-Portuguese cuisine in former Estado da Índia Portuguesa, Goa. It’s also referred as Queen of Goan Desserts.
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Tamale
Mexico
Steamed corn-dough parcels that are a classic part of Christmas gatherings in Mexico.
A tamale or tamal is a traditional Mesoamerican dish made of masa, a dough made from nixtamalized corn, which is steamed in a corn husk or banana leaves. The wrapping can either be discarded prior to eating or used as a plate.
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