The best 7 fish to eat (and 5 that must be avoided)

Christmas traditions in the United States are present because the unbeatable dish is obviously roast turkey which is eaten with green beans, sweet potato puree, and the inevitable cranberry sauce. As for dessert, it's the madness of pies: pumpkin, pecans, or apple, there is something for everyone. The United States is a truly multicultural country where everyone brings their own specialty to the meal. In other countries of the world, at the time of the holidays, the culinary tradition prefers to emphasize other ingredients such as dried fruits, spices, almonds, or brioche.

Are you ready for a gourmet world tour?

For you, we made a list of some desserts that we eat in other countries that celebrate Christmas. We tried to limit ourselves to 10 but, in reality, the list is super long!

Spain

Mazapan :

Almond paste is also honored at Christmas time in many countries. In Spain, for example, there are some that have small animal shapes or small flowers. These super greedy figurines melt in the mouth! If we listened to each other, we could eat several at once.

The recipe for mazapán

Ingredients:

200 gr ground almonds
200 gr of icing or powdered sugar
1 egg (yolk and white separated)

Preparation:

In a bowl, mix the ground almonds and glazed sugar well.
You will get lumps in your mix. Don't panic! This is normal. Almonds are quite greasy. Do not hesitate to sift it.
Add the egg white and beat again.
Once the mixture is done, sear the dough with our hands and make it compact.
This paste will allow us to make small figurines, about 15 gr.
You can make braids, balls, snails... Let your imagination run wild! This is the most fun part, you can do it with children.

Cooking: Grill to the maximum, and leave them until golden brown. Be careful not to burn them!

Mantecados et Polvorones:

In Spain, we enjoy eating shortbread at the time of the holidays. Mantecados and Polverones are both native to Andalusia but are consumed everywhere in Spain. They smell like cinnamon and are enjoyed with great pleasure when drinking steaming tea to fight against the cold.

Italy

Panettone:

This brioche from Lombardy traditionally includes raisins and candied fruit, although the latter is sometimes removed from the recipe so that the panettone can appeal to more people. We love eating it on the morning of December 25th, at breakfast time!

Pandoro:

Here is another famous brioche that is especially popular with children. Indeed, the pandoro (brioche from Verona) is often the perfect alternative for all those who do not like candied fruit or raisins of panettone. We love to enjoy it with lots of icing sugar!

The recipe for Pandoro

ingrédients

400 g flour

8 eggs

120 g butter

65 g icing sugar

50 g sugar

35 g liquid honey

20 g baker's yeast

1 tbsp vanilla

1 tbsp salt or fine salt

Preparation

In a bowl, mix together the flour and butter cut into dies. Add sugar, honey, and crumbled yeast. Work the dough like shortbread dough, with the palm of your hand.

Using an electric mixer or the robot, knead the dough and add the eggs one by one. Grow the dough for at least 15 minutes under cover.


Pour the dough into a pandoro, buttered and floured, and let swell (between 1h 30, and 2 hours). Heat the oven to 180°C and bake the pandoro for 50 minutes.

Book on a rack and unmold cold. Sprinkle with icing sugar.

Germany

Stollen:

Le Christollen est un gâteau à la mie plutôt dense, bien riche en amandes, en fruits confits et en noix. Au moment de le manger, on le saupoudre de sucre glace. Il est d'une douceur incomparable : même les plus réfractaires aux fruits confits seront séduits !

lebkuchen:

Gingerbread is also one of the protagonists of the Christmas period. Depending on the region, it will be eaten with jam or covered with chocolate icing. Just eat a bite of Lebkuchen to feel like you're strolling through a Christmas market in Germany!

United Kingdom

Christmas pudding

Around this dessert based on candied fruit and fresh breadcrumbs, there is a whole ritual! Indeed, it must be prepared several weeks in advance (at the latest, the last Sunday before Advent) and at the time of realizing it, each member of the family must make a voeu. It is an ultra-fragrant cake that we love to eat with 'brandy butter. For more information.

The recipe for Chrismas pudding

Ingredients

150 g flour

200 g butter

150 g brown cane sugar or brown sugar

150 ml of milk

4 eggs

1 packet of yeast

150 g breadcrumbs

500 g raisins

300 g candied fruit

12 prunes

60 g chopped almonds

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 grated nutmeg

1/2 tsp ginger

1 pinch of salt or fine salt

Cognac or Brandy

Preparation

1. Mix flour, yeast, breadcrumbs, butter, salt, and brown sugar in a terrine.

Add the 4 eggs, milk as well as nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger.

Add grapes, candied fruit, and prunes to the preparation.

Work the dough well and let it rest for 12 hours, covering the container.

2. The next day, wet with cognac and pour the dough into a pudding mold or into a Pyrex glass bowl.

Cover with 2 circles of baking paper then 2 circles of aluminum foil and hold with string.

3. Place the mold in a large saucepan with water that should reach halfway up the mold.

Cook in this water bath for 6 hours, making sure that the water remains simmering and reaches halfway up. Add boiling water regularly.

Let cool, remove papers, cover with clean paper, and store in a dry, relatively cool place until Christmas.

4 . On Christmas Eve, heat it (for 1 hour) in its mold in a water bath.

Unmold, put it on a dish, and flambé with cognac.

Poland

Makowieck:

In Poland, there is a poppy-rolled brioche called Makowieck. It is super fluffy and its taste goes very well with that of 'kompot', that is to say, a soft drink made from fruits that have been infused in sugar water.

Greece

Kurabides:

These almond cupcakes sprinkled with icing sugar (which are either round or half-moon-shaped) are wonderfully melting and crumbly. Depending on family recipes, they are flavored either with rose water or orange blossom. These are cookies that are eaten throughout the month of December and even for New Year.

Portugal

Bolo rei:

Christmas tables in Portugal are full of good things to eat. One of the most typical desserts is the 'bolo rei', i.e. the 'cake of the Magi'. Even if it evokes the Epiphany, it is eaten for Christmas. Once again, it is first of all the lovers of dried fruits and candied fruits who will feast. Others can fall back on other typical desserts such as 'Arroz doce' (rice pudding flavored with cinnamon).

The recipe for Bolo rei

Ingredients:

750 gr of flour
30 gr baker's yeast
150 gr of margarine
150 gr of sugar
150 gr of candied fruit
150 gr of dried fruit
4 eggs
1 lemon zest
1 orange peel
1 dl Port wine
1 tablespoon salt
1 little surprise
1 bean

Preparation:

Chop the fruit and let it soak in the Port (leave a few for garnish).

Dissolve the baker's yeast in 1 dl of warm water, add 1 cup of flour, mix and leave for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile beat the margarine, sugar, lemon, and orange zest, add the eggs (one by one, beat), and yeast.

When everything is mixed, add the rest of the flour and salt.

Knead until you have a smooth, elastic consistency, and then mix the fruit.

Form a ball of dough, sprinkle it with flour and cover the dough with a cloth, let rise in an environment

temperate for 5 hours. After the dough has doubled in volume, put it on a tray and make a hole in the middle.

Enter the little surprise (wrapped in thin paper) and the bean, and let rise an hour more.

Brush the cake with the egg yolk, and garnish with candied fruit, lumps of sugar, pine nuts, half nuts, etc ...

Put the baking dough in the oven (oven Preheat to th6/180 °)

After baking, brush the cake with jam jelly diluted in a little hot water.

Decorate with the rest of the fruit.