Christmas is usually associated with good food – traditional dishes such as stuffed turkey, or pork with plums and equally delicious desserts such as panettone and puddings are not missing from the festive tables.

Icelanders, for example, necessarily have roasted reindeer on their festive table.

Some peoples prefer fish instead of meat: carp for the Czechs and Slovaks, cod for the Portuguese.

In Japan, on the other hand, the classic Christmas food is fried chicken from the famous fast food chain. In fact, around 4 million Japanese families eat KFC on Christmas Eve and often need to reserve their meal up to two months in advance.

However, there are also traditional Christmas dishes very… advanced (at least for our standards), for strong stomachs.

For example:

  • The Norwegians they are crazy about it smalahovewhich literally means “sheep’s head”, and is essentially a boiled lamb’s head soup. In fact, the most curious ones let the brain cook inside the animal’s skull to enjoy it later with a spoon!

There are more extreme ones.

  • In South Africa the mopanes (caterpillars of Christmas) is the ultimate holiday treat. These are fried caterpillars that are not missing from Christmas tables.

The protein-packed larvae are harvested just before winter, fried and served with a type of polenta.

  • At Greenland it is considered a delicacy Mattak – raw whale skin with its blubber – and the kiviaka species of small arctic bird (parrot), a popular Christmas treat and in Iceland.

The bird is usually wrapped in sealskin, buried for many months and after it has begun to decompose, served as an excellent Christmas dish.

  • Hut Christmas Eve in Bulgaria. Ok, it’s not disgusting but in Greece it sounds macabre. Kolivo is boiled wheat with sugar and walnuts and is not missing from the festive table.

About appetite, of course… Christmas pumpkin pie!