Holiday Favorites Around the Globe

Although many countries celebrate the same or similar holidays, the traditions and seasonal foods vary from country to country. Whether you’re enjoying a honey-soaked melomakarono in Greece, a carefully folded fattigman or a warm bowl of kutya in the Ukraine, these holiday favorites are sure to get you in the holiday spirit.

Melomakarona are oblong Greek cookies soaked in honey or syrup, which gives them a sticky, moist texture. This traditional cookie was named for honey’s symbolism of fertility and good fortune in the country, and is now synonymous with hopes for the New Year. Kutya, a Ukranian grain pudding made from a blend of seeds, nuts and wheat, has similar associations.

In the 1970s, KFC marketed their fried chicken as “Christmas Chicken” in Japan, and it has since made itself an integral part of many Japanese family dinner tables on Christmas Day. The Smithsonian reported that today many of the company’s Christmas chicken dinners are ordered well in advance and come with festive additives like cake and Champagne.

Fast food may not appeal to a wide variety of people during the holidays, but many holiday favorites have one thing in common … they’re fried. This is especially common in foods made to celebrate the Jewish holiday Hanukkah. Stemming from the holiday’s celebration of light and miracle of oil, sugfaniyot, fried jelly-filled donuts, and latkes, fried potato pancakes, are among the most popular holiday foods.

No matter what favorite foods you are looking forward to this winter, the holidays are about gathering with loved ones and enjoying the foods that have stemmed from our varying cultures.