Christmas is a pretty weird time of year when you think about it…
We decorate live pine trees in our living rooms and tell the kids a stranger will break into their home in the middle of the night to leave presents. A bit of a whacky way to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, no?
Are we sounding a little Scroogey? We really do love Christmas! But some of the customs, especially the Christmas food traditions, really leave us shaking our heads. You’ll see why…
1. KFC: Kentucky Fried Christmas.
Is it because turkey isn’t widely available in Japan? Or because Colonel Sanders bears a striking resemblance to Saint Nick?
Whatever the reason, KFC at Christmas is HUGE in Japan, with people ordering months in advance to get their fried fix!
2. Satsuma in your stocking.
An orange in your Christmas stocking is a nice change from sweets, but why is this a tradition in the UK?
Some theories suggest that oranges symbolise gold, or that the segmented fruit represents sharing. But it seems to be a relic of the past when fruit was a luxury item.
3. Sweet baby Jesus… literally.
Maybe this isn’t that unusual – eating the “body of Christ” is commonplace in Christianity.
Cougnou just takes it one step further, shaping the sweet Belgian bread as the baby Jesus. It’s often decorated with another, smaller baby Jesus. Made of sugar.
4. Fright Christmas.
Australia may have gifted us the sugariest Christmas treat ever. White Christmas is a hearty concoction of coconut, raisins, glacé cherries, rice bubbles, milk powder, icing sugar and Copha (hydrogenated coconut oil). Why not try our healthy version instead?
5. Too sweet potatoes.
America, why? (We seem to start far too many sentences this way).
U.S. Christmas side dishes sweeten sweet potatoes with brown sugar, maple syrup, molasses and/or marshmallows. That no longer counts as one of your five a day.
6. 13 desserts (hope you’re hungry!).
The Provençal tradition of 13 desserts represents Jesus and the 12 apostles. Set over three days, the spread usually consists of dried and fresh fruit, biscuits, nougat, marzipan, waffles and angel wings (deep fried dough sprinkled in sugar). Sinfully sweet.
What crazy Christmas food traditions have we missed?
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