Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight. I’m Liz Waid. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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Christmas. It is the most celebrated holiday in the world. Around the world, over two billion people celebrate this holiday every year. Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ – an event that happened over 2,000 years ago.
Most people in the world celebrate Christmas on December 25th. However, some Christians from countries like Russia, Egypt and Ethiopia celebrate Christmas on January 7th. Traditionally, the Christmas season lasts for 12 days. However, in many places, people celebrate only Christmas day and the day before, called Christmas Eve.
Around the world, people follow many different Christmas traditions. But no matter how or when people celebrate Christmas, everyone celebrates with food! Today’s Spotlight is on Christmas foods from around the world.
Food is an important part of most holiday celebrations. Large meals, or feasts, bring people together. And often, holiday foods represent what the holiday is about. Join Spotlight as we tell about these Christmas foods.
Voice 2
In the United Kingdom, people eat a large Christmas meal. When they are done, they eat a sweet dessert called Christmas pudding. Christmas pudding contains ingredients like dried fruit, alcohol, butter, sugar, eggs, flour and spices. Many people make Christmas pudding with 13 ingredients. This number has a religious meaning. It represents Jesus Christ and his 12 closest followers, called the disciples.
Traditionally, people begin making Christmas pudding five weeks before Christmas! They begin by combining and steaming the pudding ingredients. Some people only mix the ingredients in one direction – from east to west. They do this to remember part of the Christmas story. The Christian Bible says that a group of wise men came from the east to see the baby Jesus in Bethlehem.
After cooking the Christmas pudding, people let it set for a few weeks. On Christmas day, they cook it again. Often, they pour an alcohol called brandy over it and set it on fire. It is a beautiful thing to see.
Millions of people in the United Kingdom eat Christmas pudding at Christmas. However, today, many people choose to buy it instead of make it.
Voice 3
In northern Europe, many people celebrate Christmas with another kind of pudding. In Iceland, it is called Mödnlugrautur. And in Sweden, it is called Julgröt. This sweet pudding is made from rice, sugar, salt, milk and spices like cinnamon. In Denmark, people call it Risalamande and they serve it with a sweet fruit sauce on top.
This pudding is part of a Christmas game. The person that makes the pudding hides a whole almond nut in it. They serve the pudding to everyone at the end of the meal. Each person eats their pudding and hopes to find the almond in their bowl. Finding the almond means you will have good luck in the coming year. The person who finds the almond also gets a special present or treat. People all across northern Europe celebrate this fun tradition.
Voice 4
Germany also has many wonderful Christmas food traditions. However, the sweetest of these is stollen. Stollen is a sweet bread. People have made stollen during the Christmas season for 600 years! In the 1400s, stollen was not very good-tasting. It was made of only flour, oil, water and yeast – for helping the bread rise. However, over many years, the recipe for stollen has changed and developed. Today, the German people make stollen with sugar, colorful dried fruit, nuts, spices, alcohol and a lot of butter.
People make stollen in the shape of a long bread loaf. Then, they cover it with a sweet, white, sugar icing. The Bible says that after the baby Jesus was born, his parents covered him with white cloth. The stollen’s white icing represents this cloth. And the loaf represents the newborn Jesus.
During the Christmas season, stollen fills Christmas markets around Germany. And there is a famous stollen festival in the town of Dresden!
Voice 5
Next, we travel to several European countries to learn about their Christmas Eve meals. In the country of Italy, many people do not eat red meat in the weeks before Christmas. They are waiting for the celebration of Christmas. On the day before Christmas, they eat a special meal that does not include meat. It is called the Feast of the Seven Fishes. In the Bible, the number seven represents perfection or completion. This meal completes the season of preparation for Christmas.
In Russia and many other Eastern European countries people also celebrate a special meal on Christmas Eve. The meal includes 12 different foods. The 12 dishes are usually fish and vegetables. The number 12 represents Jesus’ twelve disciples and the end of the 12-month year. Many other parts of the meal represent parts of the Christmas story, when Jesus was born. Some people call this Christmas Eve meal the “Holy Supper.”
Voice 6
Our next Christmas food is popular all over the Spanish- speaking world. It is called rosca de reyes. This means “King’s ring”. From Spain to Mexico to South America, people make, buy, and eat King’s ring. They celebrate the end of the Christmas season, called Epiphany.
Like stollen, King’s ring is a sweet bread. However, King’s ring is large and round with a hole in the middle. People decorate the ring with colorful, sweet dried fruits and candies. But, the most special thing about the King’s ring is what is INSIDE it.
Every King’s ring has a small figure hidden in it. It is a symbol of the baby Jesus. Everyone wants to get the piece of the King’s ring with the baby Jesus figure in it. People believe it is a blessing. In some cultures, people bring the figure of Jesus to church with them later in the year. In other cultures, whoever gets the baby Jesus figure must cook the meal at the next holiday! Today, millions of people celebrate the end of the Christmas season with King’s ring.
Voice 1
These are just a few Christmas food traditions from around the world. But there are thousands more! And almost every person who celebrates Christmas has their own particular Christmas food traditions!
What about you? Do you celebrate Christmas? If you do, what special foods do you eat during the Christmas season? If you do not celebrate Christmas, what foods do you make during your special holidays? You can leave a comment on our website. Or email us at radio@radioenglish.net. You can also comment on Facebook at Facebook.com/spotlightradio.
The writer of this program was Robin Basselin. The producer was Michio Ozaki. The voices you heard were from the United States and the United Kingdom. You can listen to this program again, and read it, on the internet at www.radioenglish.net. This program is called, “Christmas Food Around the World.”
We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye.
Question:
What is your favorite holiday food? When do you eat it?
The typical Christmas cake of Italy is undoubtedly the panettone, which however shares the supremacy with the pandoro. I consider the richest panettone and the most refined pandoro and I resolve the contest with a draw. At Christmas I traditionally choose the panettone but reserve the pandoro for the New Year.
the meat and rice after the Eid prayer
We celebrate in Eid Al fater and Eid Al adha so we make a big feast to our family that is include many kind of food like chicken,meat,fish also many kind of sweets ❤️❤️
As muslims We celebrete both Eid al fitr after fasting in Ramadan and Eid al adha (feast of sacrifice)is the last month in Arabic calendar we are eating candy ,chocolate and maamoul is an Arabic desert which is like cookies but its very soft and It’s filled with date ,pistachio ,and almond , and we are eating meat in Eid al adha ….merry Christmas and happy new year
We just celebrate Eid Alfitr and Eid Aladhay
We make feasts for our relatives and friends
In eid aladhay the feast must include meat
But in eid elfitr may be meat or Chiken as we prefer.
In Islam, We eat meat and a hearty breakfast after the Eid prayer♥️
Nice, I don’t celebrate the Christmas because I’m Muslim but I respect any another culture .. I hope peace for all the world.
We have as Muslim two celebrations
just that.
In islamic we eat in eid ramadan and eid mubarak after prayer the eid,and the best food it’s the apricot soup with rice and the hen, yammee I really miss him❤
We don’t celebrate Christmas we have two ejd alaha and alftir these very kind and special days in our country we make alot of food and also my relatives they come to eat the kind of food is rich with meet
i am a moslem , and I do not believe in Jesus Christ .
Thank’s for you Fatma ☺️
I’m appreciate it .
I’m from Vietnam. We have a very special and important holiday called Lunar New Year. In this holiday, we eat traditional food such as sticky rice, sowbelly, pickeled leeks, watermelon seeds and bitter melon soup.
Food’s Christmas around in the wold is very delicious. In my coutry is Viet Nam, no special foods do you eat during the Christmas season, but they have special foods in Tet Holiday. It’s “Banh Chung”, made by sticky rice.
First, my thanks go to every one tooks part to prepare this script audio whether by his voice or writing, showing this riched summary to stand out one of the most important traditions of christmas are christmas food.
As for the christmas holiday celebration, like this type of ones are not celebrated in my muslim country.
Conversinly, as per our islamic religion we have only two holidays in the year to celebrate it.
The first one is AID EL FITRE “just after fasting monthe ramadan”, and the second one is AID EL ADHA, following the prophet ibrahim “peace be upon to him”, where each family prepares for this special and holy day a various type of traditional sweets.
As the most common and famous traditional algerian desserts are CHARAK has a shape like croissent stuffed and decorated with almond or any kind of nuts depending on each person’s ability، that one is made with flour, sugar, butter, egges, baking pouder, rose water, vanillia, almonds..
That was one of the most desired traditional dessert in all our feasts and ceremonies.
I eat the king´s ring on the 25th of december.
My favorite holiday food is grill chicken. On Christmas I eat it for dinner. My uncle cook it for family, it’s very delicious
I am Severino Ramos. I am from Brazil and I live in Sao Paulo City.
Dear Spotlight team, Liz Waid, Kate Blake, Adam Navis, Michio Ozaki, and Robin Basselin
How things with you?
Christmas Food Around the World
First, I would like to tell you that I like that article so much because it is an important issue that talks about the birth of Jesus Christ, and I like the Christmas season so much. Thank you very much.
Question 1 –
What about you?
We Brazilian people celebrate Christmas every year, and we have several special foods to eat on December 24, and on December 25. Also, we organize the home with Christmas decorations, lights, trees, etc. In addition, the Mayor’s City decorates the City with special Christmas trees and lights.
Question 2 –
Do you celebrate Christmas?
Yes, I do.
Of course! I love the Christmas season.
Question 3 –
If you do, what special foods do you eat during the Christmas season?
Here, we have several special foods to eat during the Christmas season, but my favorite is Bauducco’s Panetone. It has a delicious taste. In it there are several ingredients such as dried fruts, wheat flour, a little sugar, butter, and water. It looks like a bread. We have other brands of Panetone, but the Bauducco brand is the best. Do you know The Rosca de Reyes that there is in Mexico Country? In which they eat it, on January 06, to celebrate the Reyes Day. I think! Our Panetone here in Brazil has the same meaning to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. However, our Panetone here in my country does not have the same shape like Rosca de Reyes in Mexico, but both are very beautiful.
Question 4 –
When do you eat it?
Well, panetone bauducco and other brands of panetones only appear on Christmas season, but we can eat it during the whole Christmas season. For example, we can eat it in the morning for breakfast with a cup of coffee. Also, we can have it during the holy supper on December 24, or every time that we want to.
Thank you so much for bringing us another important issue. Blessings for you!
I appreciate it.
Stay with God