What Does The Traditional Mexican Christmas Dinner Include?
Christmas is a celebration of food, drinks and merriment. It is the time when families gather to celebrate and reconnect with each other. No matter how far you may be from your family, Christmas is the right time to get together with your loved ones. Celebrating Christmas brings the enjoyment of having a huge variety of seasonal foods, dishes and sweets. Though the traditional food items differ in different countries, the Christmas dinner always brings the same excitement all over the world. The highlight of the evening is surely the unending line of courses. Various dishes from soups and salads to roasted turkey would take their place on the dinner table on Christmas Eve.
You can also include new ethnic recipes and traditional foods in your Christmas dinner to make it more interesting to your taste buds. The Mexican Christmas dinner is something you should try if you are planning to have something new on Christmas. Traditional food of Mexico differs in various regions but the usual ones are Bacalao a la Vizcaina, Bunuelos and Pavo. Different kinds of salads are also a part of the dinner. Noche Buena that has lettuce and beats as the main ingredient is the main salad included in the Christmas dinner. You can also give your own twist to the salad by adding various fruits like apples, grapes, pomegranate seeds or peanuts or cashews to bring that nuttiness to the salad.
Pozole
Pozole is a must-have soup if you are planning to have a memorable Mexican Christmas dinner. It can be made with pork or chicken according to your taste and then seasoned with garlic and peppers. It is then garnished with thinly sliced lettuce leaves, cabbage, oregano, avocado and lime.
Bacalao a la Vizcaina
This tasty meal is not only cooked on Christmas but also on every special Mexican celebration. It is a stew like recipe prepared from dried salted cod fish. This wonderful recipe also incorporates pepper, olives, tomatoes and garlic giving it an amazing twist and flavor. It is a must-have if you want to have a traditional Mexican Christmas dinner.
Pavo
Wherever you may be, roasted turkey is always the centerpiece of a typical Christmas dinner. In Mexico as well, roasted turkey is an inevitable part of the celebration. Turkey seasoned with pepper and salt is stuffed with other flavorful vegetables and rice to give a treat to your taste buds. You can also try stuffing it with cornbread if you want to try something different. No matter what you stuff your turkey with, it will always taste amazing and bring the air of celebration to your table.
Even though the host contributes the majority of dishes in Mexico, guests are also expected to bring alcoholic beverages, desserts or side dishes. Other traditional Mexican foods that are a part of the Christmas dinner are atole, tamales and menudo. Among these, the most popular one is tamale which is a highly flavorful dish made with beef or chicken. These are combined with spicy green chili or red sauce or cheese and stuffed inside banana leaves. This is then steamed so that the taste of banana leaves is all absorbed into the filling. This dish is sure to capture the hearts of your guests. Mexican beverages like Rompope, Canela, and Ponche take their place on the traditional Mexican Christmas dinner table. If you want, you can also make the Mexican dinner more American by including brandy glazed ham or duck. You wouldn't get a traditional dinner then but it will surely make the dinner table more interesting.
If you are interested to check out some other great Christmas table ideas, please be sure to check out Femina's website (also known by the Danes as julemiddag fra Femina).