7 Festive Christmas Foods to Try During Your Travels

Tired of turkey? Bored by traditional Christmas cookies? Try one of these seven festive Christmas foods during your travels and potentially discover a new favorite to add to your own holiday traditions. © Angel Gruber - Dreamstime.com

In France, Bûche de Noël cake is the traditional Christmas dessert. The cake is filled with buttercream, rolled and then topped with more icing, and sometimes décor, to look like a Yule log. © Наталья Горегляд - Dreamstime.com

In Venezuela, hallacas are a time-intensive treat made only around the holidays. The tamale-like dish includes meat, fruit and vegetables stuffed into cornmeal and wrapped in a banana leaf. Hallacas are often given to friends. © Angel Gruber - Dreamstime.com

Not keen on American fruit cake? Then German stollen cake may suit you. The lighter, less-dense cake is still filled with candied and dried fruits and nuts, but is also topped with a heavy helping of powdered sugar. © Axel Bueckert - Dreamstime.com

Swap your turkey for suckling pig next Christmas. In the Philippines, a whole roast pig, called lechon, is a holiday feast favorite. The overall Christmas meal is often meat-heavy, typically also including ham, chorizo and various meat stews. © Philip Curtis - Dreamstime.com

Ask for a Christmas cookie in Greece and you’ll likely receive melomakarona, a popular, spice-laden cookie dipped in syrup and topped with nuts. © Konstantinos A - Dreamstime.com

Kutya is a traditional Ukrainian dish popular even before Christmas came to the region. Now it’s served during Christmas dinner. It’s porridge with honey, raisins and other toppings symbolizing the blessings of the year and those to come. © Koval Nadiya - Dreamstime.com

Danish rice pudding is served as Christmas dessert in Denmark, cold and topped with hot cherry sauce. An almond is hidden in the mixture before it’s doled out and the individual who finds it receives a special present. © Ian Walker - Dreamstime.com