On Heiligabend (Christmas Eve) in the noon traditionally we have "Gänseklein". That is a soup cooked with Bandnudeln (broad noodles), with the bones of a goose/little pieces of goose-meat and some vegetables lile carots and leek. In the evening we eat either "Königinnen Pasteten" (oven-pies filled with ragour and cheese) or French baguette-bread with salmon and a good white wine. On Christmas Day comes 1 the roasted goose with potato dumplings and cold "Honig Met" (honey wine), on Christmas Day 2 we mostly go to a restaurant.
We like to have something quick and easy for Christmas eve, so being in Texas, it is tamales. On Christmas day we have the traditional turkey, dressing, etc.
On christmas eve fish with potatosalad and on christmas roasted duck with potatodumplings and red cabbage on the side or roastet beef with onions and spätzle.
I’m an American that lived in Germany for 6 years. We were invited to our German neighbors home for dinner, and they served Raclette. It was a wonderful evening. We had a long time to visit and to get to know one another.
In my family we also make fondue with hot oil, putting there raw meat or sausages and dipping them afterwards in homemade sauces. So I'm with you Phil 😉
Auch bei uns wurde das so gemacht, allerdings nie zur Weihnachtszeit, eher Silvester/Neujahr und mir fällt dabei gerade auf, dass ich das schon mindestens 30 Jahre nicht mehr gemacht habe.^^
That's just a disaster waiting to happen. No temperature control, brittle ceramics that can relinquish their rocket fuel contents into the open flame at any time when touched with cold meat.. hot oil bubbling over in alcohol fueled vigor..
The Franks (nowadays, they call themselves French 😜) do eat that kind of fondu too. It is called Fondue Bourguignonne (sp ?). But they only use beef (cut into small cubes) as their dipping meat and not just any animal meat.
My parents immigrated from Germany to Canada and they always kept the tradition of potato salad and schnitzel for Christmas Eve! So now, I continue the same with my family 😋
I think the "Wiener Würstchen und Kartoffelsalat" became very popular and traditional because it is quick to prepare and a lot of people go to church on Heiligabend, so when they come back, they want some quick dish. On the 1st and 2nd christmas day, you have more time to prepare food (and you usually also get visits by relatives), so that's when you have the fancy food. I am from SW Germany, and I definitely remember the "Würstchen und Kartoffelsalat" from when I was young (80s).
During my childhood we always had Würstchen und Kartoffel- oder Nudelsalat on Heilig Abend (I think this was ment to be an easy prepared dinner so that the housewife didn't have to stay in the kitchen on Heilig Abend) and roasted Goose on 1st Weihnachtstag. Since I have a family of my own, we like to eat "Wild" (Reh- or Wildschweinbraten) on Christmas Eve and roasted goose with my inlaws on 1st Weihnachtstag. Our daughter has birthday on the 2nd Weihnachtstag and we go to a restaurant chosen by her.
As a first generation Canadian (family from North Rhine-Westphalia) , we as well ate weiners and kartoffelsalat Christmas eve, sometimes sauerkraut soup! Last year we got fancy and had bratwurst on a bun with sauerkraut and hot banana peppers served with a side of German Pilsner in a beer stein! Sehr lecker! My mother's fave dish on Christmas eve that Opa made was Mohn-Klöße, though we rarely have it now. We have only ever had turkey on Christmas Day (immer mit rohtkohl). I wasn't raised on fondue but the few times I had it I'm with Phil, it's hot oil you dip skewers of meat into. Cheese fondue is extra! My friends introduced it to me one New Years eve so now I enjoy that on occassion! 😉
My mother is German and we always had knacthwurst and potato salad on Christmas Eve. Always :) and we knew the red cabbage was coming the next day... good times
We live in SE Texas. For Christmas Eve we usually do a crab and shrimp boil, crawfish isn't in season yet. It's our take on feast of the seven fishes. And for Christmas day we have ham or beef tenderloin with mashed potatoes, gravy or cream sauce, honey glazed carrots, & german style green beans. We always make Pfeffer Nusse with honig and pekannuss!
In US (PA) we ate beef fondue (cooked in oil) Christmas eve. It had 4 or 5 sauces to go with it. Ham or Rast beef on Christmas, mashed potatoes, green beans, carrots, salad and apple pie or minced pie for dessert. Once we had chocolate fondue for dessert with cake and fruit used as dipping medium.
My family definitely has the tradition of potato salad and Wiener on the 24th. The reason that was always told to me is that on the 24th you're busy with other preparations such as putting up the tree. Being grown up now, I put up my tree as early as November because it puts me in a better mood, but I still like the tradition of the potato salad and sausage for the 24th. Last year we started a new tradition of eating Currywurst and I must say that I like it! On the 25th we then do the big meal with duck and/or goose, red cabbage, Semmelknödel made from scratch and gravy. Ahhhh, I can't wait! The only downside to being grown up is that I have to do a lot of the cooking myself 🙈😅
It's a little bit more complex than that. Think after war time, when people had very little AND the housewife still needed to do the washing mostly per hand, but everything HAD to be spotless on the first and second day when the relatives turned up. Potatosalad with sausages was not only quick, but also affordable, with the sausage being split carefully between the family as a special treat.
Great video Deana and Phil, great to hear what people eat in Germany. My mother is from FInland and I am Finnish too (Finnish born abroad) so I try to have a classic Finnish Christmas dinner on the 24th with candles and traditional casseroles. In Finland its very common to eat potato based caseroles, or other types of casseroles for Christmas, and special deserts I use my heirloom vintage Finnish table cloth from the 1950s that I inherited from my mummu (Finnish for grandmother). There is a casserole of mashed potatoes that you let ferment covered for a few hours in the sun so they develop a sweeet flavor then you bake in the oven. I will try to make that this year, rossoli a potato, beet and apple salad, a Finnish date cake, have herring, plan to make a roast pork loin stuffed with prunes and apples. My father is from Panama and that is where I live so we will incorporate local tamales made with corn and chicken. Looking forward to it. In my multiculural family is my favorite time of the year. Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad. the southern sweet potato casseorle from Deana will be a hit.
We also had the meat fondue for christmas eve when I was young. But with broth instead of oil. Now we have Raclette for christmas (and New years) eve. My parents have Turkey (with brussel sprouts and rice) for the 1st and game (with red cabage, green beans, semmel Knödel) for the 2nd day of christmas. My inlaws have Raclette, goose with red cabage/potato dumplings, and salmon but do not have a specific order.
The traditional Christmas dish in Vienna, Lower Austria and the Burgenland would be deepfried carp with potato-lamb's-lettuce salad. By the way the oil fondue Phil describes is called "fondue bourguignonne" and the one with broth instead of oil is "Fondue Chinoise".
I love your channel! I am born and raised in USA and my fathers parents came from Germany. My Grandfather spoke English/German when he was first Paster in USA. I enjoy the stories, good food, and learn about Germany. Thank you for creating a unique way to learn about the two cultures.I learn a lot from your channel. Blessing and love to you both.
fondue wird doch von den meisten erst am sylvester genutzt. also ich persönlich kenne keinen, der am heiligabend fondue serviert bekam. ach man, hab nun mega bock auf gans :P
In "Oberbayern" my Family and I eat "Gschwollene" (Kind of White Sausage - Bavarian Tradition) at the 24th of December with Hot "Sauerkraut"- its been an reminder of the old times when people after and at WW2 dont have some expensive to eat.... Ein narrisches Servus aus Oberbayern an Euch 2 #liepe #übersetzendarfstselberphil
I've been to The Melting Pot for a full fondue meal. Cheese fondue to start, meat fondue (broth or oil to cook the meat) for main course, and chocolate fondue for dessert. Yum!
When I was a toddler in Germany an older Germany couple unofficially adopted my family and I. I called them Oma and Opa. We celebrated Christmas with them and their family. On the second tour I was in elementary school.
the most common thing to eat for christmas in Iceland is smoked pork back but rock ptarmian (rjúpa) is also very popular then there is Goose, duck and other things but i personally eat chicken for christmas. We celebrate on christmas eve like German do and then Christmas day and second christmas day are family days when family´s get together and eat together and just enjoy each other company
Like in our German family too, the 2nd Day is for the Family, we all get together at one family members house and enjoy each others company. Mery Christmas @ ALL
Here in Northern France, we have a pretty big menu for the Christmas Eve dinner: - Smoked trout on toasts - Coquille St Jacques (scallop cooked in a creamy sauce with mushrooms, served in their shell) - Foie gras - Escargots - Boudin blanc (a kind of white sausage), served with applesauce and mustard - Deer tenderloin with potato gratin and mushrooms - Cheese plate - Christmas Log And for the Christmas lunch, RACLETTE ! Quick and easy to prepare :)
@@sorvahr8761 Bien sûr :) It's a cake we usually eat at Christmas in France. La buche de Noel is a sponge cake, filled with butter cream and ganache, rolled to make it look like a wood log. You can find it in an infinity of different flavours but most of the time it comes with a chocolate, praline, hazelnut, coffee or vanilla flavour.
For at least the last 10 years I have made Stauffer's Lasagna, garlic bread and a salad for family and whoever wanted to stop in and eat with my husband and I. It's good and easy to make so you could socialize and not have to worry about fixing anything.
Hi guys! I'm making turkey, sweet potato casserole, rolls, broccoli, mashed potatoes, stuffing and cranberries for x mas. 😋😋😋 I've been preparing for weeks. Thanks so much for sharing!! 💙❤️🌹🌹😘😘✌️✌️✌️👍👍👍
im from wales and we had very much the same things as you in germany. we now live in crete greece and ha ve sheep so lamb is our meat ut with all the usual things (plus yorkshire pudding). its so nice that we all share different traditions and exchange ideas. merry xmas from crete
In my family Christmas Eve was always the day of celebration. It’s where we’d plan the big meal. When we’d attend church. When we’d open gifts. Christmas Day is a lot more laid back. We might get together with extended family, depending on weather. It was the day to open gifts from Santa. And while my family is pretty religious, we didn’t always attend church on Christmas Day. The importance of Christmas Eve probably has a lot to do with strong German and Scandinavian family background.
@@DeanaandPhil My friend lives in Berlin and she said she was able to find a real Mexican food place there! Not sure how far away that is from where you are but it's worth a look
We have honey baked ham, & turkey on Christmas Day. For Christmas Eve we have tamales and hot cocoa. I’m from California and part Mexican so delicious homemade tamales are tradition in my family. 🎄😃
Since my second birthday, we had "Würstchen und Kartoffelsalat" for Christmas Eve. Before my dad always made a huge dinner, but with a child, it is way easier to prepare something in advance that you more or less eat whenever you want. Also since we went to church at 5 pm, it was nice that the food was already prepared and we could get faster to open the presents :D I am now 36 and my parents still make it when we visit them on Christmas eve (every second year, since we switch it with my parents-in-law).
There is nothing more tasty than goose! But yes, I always ate würstchen und kartoffelsalat on Christmas Eve when I lived in Norddeutschland. However, I also roasted my first goose while I lived there. Raclette is fantastic!
Now I live in Sweden and our Christmas Eve meal consists of several sorts of pickled herring, smoked salmon, cheese and crackers, baked ham, boiled potatoes and brussel sprouts, plus (as an American) deviled eggs. Also (as an American), a tray of fresh vegetables. Desert should be traditional rice pudding, but my Swedish husband hates it, so we sacrifice ourselves to apple pie or masses of chocolate. On the first Christmas Day we generally eat the left overs, but on the second Christmas Day I prepare a roast turkey or goose with traditional side dishes including Rotkohl. This year I have shopped at Lidl and bought MASSES of German cookies and candy. „Malziet“! and a very Merry Christmas!
I was actually in Germany for only1 Christmas because I arrived in early Jan. one year and left a week before Christmas the 2nd year. I did make it to 2 years of Christmas fests and bought lots of gifts for my relatives. Cool dolls and castle models, smokers and decorations. I even went to Christmas Eve Mass at the Catholic Church in Nuremberg. I didn't understand much German but knew most of the songs or carols. The church was so beautiful. It is something to see even if your aren't religious....
The most common Christmas dish in Slovakia is Kapustnica (Sauerkraut soup) and potato salad with fried fish. The most traditional is karp but it can be any kind. It just so good :)
As an American, I was so confused last year being told by my German partner we'd do "fondue" with his family for New Years then seeing pots of boiling oil! I'm so used to the Melting Pot mindset of melted cheese and chocolate, but it was a delicious and fun experience to enjoy meat, veggies, and other snacks in the hot oil pots
The tradition to have potato salad and 'wiener' on christmas eve (or other 'simple' food) stems from the tradition to go to church on the evening. The cook (mostly the mums) had not the time to prepare the food before or after, so something was made, what was easy to prepare and the 'wiener' sausage is quick to warm in hot water.
We had sausages and potato salad on Christmas Eve, but I do remember having fondue sometimes. On Christmas Day, we always had goose with sides, including red cabbage. 😍
when i lived in germany, wiesbaden, we always had bratwurst and potato salad for dinner and we opened our gifts then also. christmas day we had goose. My family still follows this tradition.
Our Christmas meal here in NJ (USA) is usually a ham with scalloped potatoes and either fresh green beans or asparagus, rolls and dessert as well. Maybe a bit low key but after doing half a dozen sides at Thanksgiving it's definitely a bit of a break/relief :)
Growing up we did fondue as you did, raw meat in boiling oil and multiple sauces for dipping. Dad even tape cling wrap to the wall to keep the oil getting on the wall. Loved it. We just used an electric skillet
My mom is Italian so we always have fish on Christmas Eve. My grandparents would make yucky fish like eel but my mom makes shrimp, crabs, etc... On Christmas day, we have antipasti, pasta (Usually Ravioli or Lasagna) and then Roast Beef with all the trimmings. (New Jersey, USA)
On Christmas Eve my family will be having Laberkase and different cold cuts and Brodchen also potato salad . ON CHRISTMAS DAY its SAUERBRATTEN and red cabbage spaetzle and Brussel sprouts .
Christmas Eve traditional Silesian bratwurst (Schlesische Bratwurst) with mashed potatoes and sauerkraut The sausage itself consists mainly of veal (nowadays often replaced or supplemented by pork) and pork bacon, both of which are extremely finely chopped with the addition of ice and refined with lemon spices and white wine.
In daenemark essen wir krustenbraten mit krosser schwarte von dem ruecken des schweins. Dazu gibt es gekochte kartoffel, kartoffel die mit geschmeltztem zucker und butter in der pfanne simmer. Gepickelter rotkohl und brune sose
In Alabama we eat Barbeque (aka Pulled Pork), Mustard Slaw, Baked Beans & Potato Salad. Then we have Peanut Butter Balls, Coconut Balls, Peanut Brittle, Tea Cake Cookies & Red Velvet Cake.
Growing up it was ham and potato salad on Christmas Day, nothing on Christmas Eve. But then I married into an Italian family and now it’s fish on the Eve, and lasagna and spiral cut ham on Christmas Day. Can’t wait.
Hi, i'm from Australia & we have a roast for Christmas eve (my mum's parents were German & my mum was born here) + presents, then Christmas day is prawns & other seafood, salad, pavlova, summer fruits etc.
Phil, you’re correct. Fondue can be oil where you cook your food on a stick, cheese where you dip things in melted cheese and dessert fondue where you dip berries, banana pieces and other fruit in melted chocolate. Make sure Deanna takes you to a Melting Pot restaurant when you’re back in the US. Definitely a bit pricey, but a lovely place to celebrate an occasion with some fun food choices!
this year it is my turn to cook Christmas dinner for the family.... you both gave me the inspiration .... it will be ... goose...... so thanks for that!
Wisconsin USA here , we normally have cinnamon rolls for breakfast on Christmas morning . Then ham and baked mac n cheese for dinner . This year we have to decided to still have the cinnamon rolls but then just make appetizers for the day. Instead of a big meal , there is only 4 of us. Less work for me lol . Merry Christmas !
I grew up with the Grandparents making Sauerbraten for Christmas dinner. I’ve taken over the cooking. This year I made Prime Rib for Christmas dinner. I think next Christmas I’ll make both. I missed the Sauerbraten for Christmas dinner.
Christmas Eve we usually have Grünkohl und pinkel (smoked farmers sausage) with potatoes. Christmas Day, as kids, we had roast, until we Canadianized our parents and they switched to turkey. Now with my kids we celebrate German Christmas Eve and Canadian/English Christmas Day. Boxing Day is a national holiday, but my husband and son sometimes go out for the boxing day shopping deals.
Wo is Grünkohl? Bei uns gibt es jedes Jahr Grünkohl mit Kassler, Knacker und Kartoffeln ( karamelisiert und Pellkartoffeln) Braten etc. Gibt's am 1. Weihnachtstag, Reste am 2.
Ja, ein Unding! Grünkohl, Kassler, Lungenwurst, Schweinebacke (man streitet sich ob kalt oder warm), karamelisierte Kartoffeln (die ganz kleinen) , Senf und nochmal unmengen an Zucker übern Kohl (Ostholstein)
Our family has appetizers on Christmas Eve - Roasted shrimp, meatballs, stuffed mushrooms, charcuterie, dips. Christmas is whatever I feel like making. Sometimes a nice beef tenderloin or we've made Bolognese, etc. Last year we had Julia's Beef Bourguignon. Amazing! Growing up we had ham for Christmas, Turkey was for Thanksgiving.
My paternal great grandfather came to the US in 1878, My maternal grandfather came over in 1906. As I grew up we had typical German holiday foods on Christmas and Christmas Eve: Goose, turkey, prime rib, fresh ham and cured ham. I've always lived in the US. Typical sides were stuffing, mashed or roast potatoes, sauerkraut, and a green vegetable (asparagus, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, green beans
I live in southern Germany. On Dec 24 (Heiligabend) we have a a late extended breakfast with fresh buns and pretzels from the local bakery. Then we go to a local fish farm to buy fresh trouts which is a very popular christmas dish in our region. In the afternoon (before CoVid pandemic) we went to church where school kids performed the crib play. For dinner the trouts are baked in the oven and served with potato salad (Forelle aus dem Backofen mit Kartoffelsalat). After that the gifts are unwrapped and we enjoy some delicious regional wine with self made christmas cookies and watch a movie like It's a wonderful life, The Grinch or The Muppets Christmas Carol. On 1st christmas day the traditional food is duck breast filet with Kartoffelknödel and red cabbage (Entenbrustfilet mit Rotkraut und Kartoffelknödel). On 2nd christmas day we usually have Putengeschnetzeltes with Spätzle and iceberg salad. Raclette is made as New Year's eve dinner since you can stay for a long time at the table together. A must is watching "Dinner for one", a traditional sketch aired on many TV stations every year in Germany. As a midnight snack we have a salmon in puff pastry roll with horseraddish cream cheese (Lachs im Blätterteig mit Meerrettich-Frischkäse) with a glass of champagne or sparkling wine and on New Year's Day we have the traditional self-made Neujahrsbrezel for breakfast. In the evening we have herring or pasta salad.
Great video guys! The food looks all so yummy! I'm of Ukrainian heritage so growing up we had the traditional 12 meatless dishes for Christmas Eve. For Christmas Day we often had roast goose or duck as my dad didn't like turkey. The past 14 years since I've been married, we've usually had roast turkey - a repeat of Thanksgiving. Last year we did a roast leg of lamb with roasted baby potatoes and sides. We loved it so much we're doing it again this year!
In Germany the presents are given on Christmas Eve. Our Christmas Eve is structured as follows: coffee and cake in the afternoon, then presents and fondue in the evening. But when my grandma and grandpa were still alive, instead of fondue we had sausages with potato salad and buttered rolls. On Christmas Day there is turkey with red cabbage and potatoes for lunch. Coffee and cake in the afternoon, raclette in the evening or a buffet with roast meat, bread and cold cuts. On Boxing Day, the leftovers from Christmas Day are eaten. We don't make fondue with cheese. There is melted fat in our fondue. You have metal skewers on which you skewer meat, onions and mushrooms. Then they are fried in the pot with the oil.
In the Philippines, we celebrate on Christmas Eve (24). The menu since I was young was: Christmas Ham glazed with pineapple syrup Steamed grouper with pepper mayonnaise sauce Butter stir-fried prawns Rice Spaghetti White bread Fruitcake Edam cheese ball Fruit salad Leche flan (custard) Ube (purple yam)
Yes, we do exactly that. On Christmas Eve it's potato salad with wiener (we don't have time for a big dinner when there are presents waiting 😁) and on Christmas Day it's goose (sometimes duck, when we're at my sister's house) with red cabbage (usually with apples) and potato dumplings. I'm from Lower Saxony.
My German family have rabbit on Christmas day, I had to pass and they made steak just for me, sorry I just can’t eat those cuite bunnies exceot for the chocolate ones during easter 😁. Thanks Deana and Phil for making a Christmas foodie vid!!! 🤩
Christmas eve: Appetizer: shrimp cocktail and Elote en Vaso (mexican corn in a cup). Hauptgericht: Schweinebraten, Rouladen, mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy, cranberry&kale salad, cauliflower with roasted bread crumbs, grilled green asparagus wrapped in bacon. Desert: Stollen and Dominos with coffee or tea (Ostfriesentee natuerlich). Christmas day: Diet :-) well, perhaps some leftovers. Basically a lot of German food mixed with American and Mexican food. Merry Christmas, Frohe Weihnacht, and Feliz Navidad from Texas.
Fondue with meat an Heiligabend? Yes, here too. It was a tradition for decades in my family with beef fillet and pork fillet half and half. The fondue pot was being filled with Butterschmalz (butteroil?) and Pflanzenfett/vegetable fat (e.g. Biskin). A special homemade sauce was prepared with almonds, lingonberry jam/jelly, Mayonnaise, little pieces of cucumber, Worcester Sauce, mustard and some other ingredients.
I am from Ostholstein. In our region the most traditional Christmas dinner is Grünkohl (a kale stew) sprinkled with sugar, tiny little caramalized potatoes, dark smoked lung sausages, and pork cheek. Since 2007 my mum also prepares a veganized version of this dish so that whoever comes around can dig in no matter their preferences. Now my family is part german with swedish roots and part norwegian which lead us to embrace another christmas tradition: the julbord. We switch up the datets every year or so. This year the stew will be served on christmas eve and the huge julbord with smoked fish and the like on christmas day. I prefer it the other way round though.
In Austria we have almost the same dishes for Heiligabend and Christtag (1. Weihnachtstag). The only thing we never have is Frankfurter/Wiener Würstchen. We also have the beef fondue with oil or with soup, but that's also typical for Silvester. In my family we always have different food on Heiligabend and on Christtag my grandparents made roasted goose and roasted duck. This year on Heiligabend we will have a german menu. As main course we will have geschmelzte Maultaschen with potatoe salad. Will be the first time that I cook this dish, but as I made ravioli several times I think it will work out well. The 26th is called Stephanietag in Austria
Here in the Netherlands we do fondue the same way. Meat on long forks into hot oil. LOVE IT. What you call raklette, we call gourmetten. And we do that every year with Christmas
I had to google what a fondue was... 😏 We also have lighter meals with salads (BBQs etc) as it is summer here at Xmas. Boxing Day is also a public holiday in Australia. Moved to 26th & 27th this year because of the weekend. The same goes with the New Years Day public holiday being moved to Monday the 3rd of Jan. We always get the Monday off here if the holiday falls on a weekend (except for ANZAC Day, that day is sacrosanct).
In memory to our parents - Schlesische Weißwürste with smashed potatoes and Sauerkraut at christmas eve. 😊 Euch beiden ein schönes Fest und einen guten Rutsch.
We were making Wieners and Noodlesalat for christmas eve for a long time, this year we will have tomato and mozarella filled ravioli with mushroom sauce and "bratapfel" for dessert. We don't have a real traditional food now, but in my childhood we always made fondue with meat oder raclette. and our fondue was the same as yours, Phil. A pot of boiling oil with an open flame underneath. I wonder what was wrong with my parents to make this with kids taking part. it's so dangerous! but well, 80es/90es live :D
YUM! Yeah we like to change it up each year, especially, now if we do a turkey style meal in November! Your Christmas menu this year sounds delicious! Ahhh and glad to know someone else's family had fondue with oil!
@@DeanaandPhil Haha yeah, seems like it is one of these very german traditions, left over from the 50es, when everything needed to be as unhealthy as it could be :D
@@DeanaandPhil Then its only a deep fryer.An Weener you need only warm up and the Potato Salad was made earlier because its need Time to collect Taste. At 26 December, most People visiting other Familymembers,so they dont had to Cook at that time.So they make a Goose or Duck for only one Day,but the Family that had the Visitors, had to make a bigger Goose for 2 Days. If you want to make the best red cabbage you need Goosefat.But you dont make the Goose, before the red cabbage,so you must buy one first. I make Sauerbraten,its need to inlaid in Vinegar for 4 Days,then its dissolves on your Tongue.
As I am from hamburg, Northern Germany, in my family it's a tradition to eat Scholle "Finkenwerder Art" on Heiligabend (Holy Night). Scholle "Finkenwerder Art" is a meal of a fried Flounder Fish with fried small pieces of bacon and Potatoe salat and green salat. On Christmas Eve we usually eat backed duck or goose (marinated with honey and filled with apples or oranges) with Knödels and red cabbage (with cinnamon and cranberries). ;)
In Sweden we celebrate on the 24th with tons of different kinds of pickled herring, ham, cured salmon, meatballs, beetsallad, janssons frestelse (think potatoe gratin (?) with anchovies) and lots of other stuff i cant translate or even describe in english. It's A LOT of different dishes all on one table
Most of the time I had fondue on New Years Eve and I had it exactly as Phil described it, I haven't had Cheese Fondue (Always had to mention the cheese, otherwise people were referring to the normal/meat fondue) until I was in my early 20s. A lot of people I worked with were eating Wieners and Potato salad on Christmas Eve and a lot were eating fish (Can't remember which one, my guess would be either carp or trout) on the first day of Christmas, while we were eating Rouladen most of the time on the first day of Christmas. Christmas Eve is often celebrated with an easy meal because it is so much to do on that day and some people were working. We ate Scampi nearly every Christmas Eve and every year that I got my way we had steak and homemade fries on the second day of Christmas. Oh and all the time I had raclette we had to eat fast because the little pans needed not long to be ready to eat, so the food would be cold again if we die not hurry. Greetings from Hamburg.
Here in Australia we do have traditional Christmas food but we tend to have a cold buffet or BBQ Aussies style including seafood etc... As we are a commonwealth country we celebrate Boxing Day...
There are two kinds of fondue, one using cheese, the other putting meat into oil. But there's also the soup varietey, where you put meat into a boiling soup, and chocolate fondue, where you put fruit into melting chocolate.
My family used to have meat fondue like yours on Heiligabend. However we used water or broth instead of oil and at the end we just threw in all the leftover meat and veggies and had a really good soup for the rest of the year. We also had a big dinner at my grandmas and grandpas place on th 25. or 26. where my grandma would make gefüllte Pute, Semmelknödel and all kinds of sauce and veggies and other side dishes. She also made a lot of Vorspeisen like you would normally see at a buffet. It was really fancy and I can't imagine how much work that must have been. It really was the best food of the year tough. There was so much that noone was able to even think about the desert (usually icecream) until hours later.
I am from Romania and for Christmas we eat: pork sausages and sheep's cheese, aubergine spread, bell peppers and aubergine spread, beef salad (cold salad with boiled potatos, chicken or beef, peas, carrots, pickeles and homemade mayo), countryside soup, oven baked potatos with pork loin and pickles, cabbage rolls and different types of cake. ❤
My German parents immigrated to Canada. We grew up eating a large spread buffet Christmas Eve of potato salad, fleischsalat, rolled herrings, european colecuts, leberwurst, teewurst, rye bread, brötchen, cheeses, pickles, olives, pickled beets, onions and pumpkin, my mom would also to do breaded pineapple served cold (no idea if that is even German). Christmas day was a roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, bread stuffing, french cut green beans, rotkohl, and the home made sauce (gravy). We were a large group and perhaps it made it easier on my Mom to do it this way instead of 2 sit down meals. We also opened up our presents Christmas Eve, as kids we would get a plate each of all the homemade German cookies, animal shaped marzipan and some foil wrapped chocolates of St Nikolaus and homemade Eierlikör - the real stuff! Guessing my parents were trying to control how much we ate and it kept it fair 😂Oh boy this brings back so many memories ♥
Well seeing as my mother was Swiss German and my father was Hungarian I was treated to Red cabbage (which I make now German style) pork schnitzel, turkey, roast potatoes, brussels sprouts and various home bakes Swiss German pastries, I was born in England BTW. we celebrated Christmas more on the eve than the day.
My partner is from the southwest of Germany, and he thinks of Christmas Eve as Christmas because that's when all their traditions were, e.g. opening parents, reading the holy family story, going to church, etc.
My family is Dutch. We had sausaijes, eorte zoep and vet bollen: pigs in blanket, pea soup and fried doughnut balls on Christmas Eve. On Christmas, we had goose so we didn't fight over the dark meat. Nobody in the family liked the white meat of the turkey so there was always a fight if we had turkey and most of the white meat would be eaten by the dog and cat after it had been thrown on the floor or at people. Fun times!
My host family in Austria did the Fleisch Fondue the same way Phil's family did--and also on Christmas Eve. That is actually the only way I have ever had it anywhere else too, because my family in the US also did it that way.
What do you eat for Christmas?? 🍽🎄 Here is another video about Christmas Tradition - Germany vs USA! : ua-cam.com/video/wNLobzMe9r4/v-deo.html
i LOVE roast duck! and glühwein, lots of glühwein... (oh thumbs up, of course, #20)
On Heiligabend (Christmas Eve) in the noon traditionally we have "Gänseklein". That is a soup cooked with Bandnudeln (broad noodles), with the bones of a goose/little pieces of goose-meat and some vegetables lile carots and leek. In the evening we eat either "Königinnen Pasteten" (oven-pies filled with ragour and cheese) or French baguette-bread with salmon and a good white wine. On Christmas Day comes 1 the roasted goose with potato dumplings and cold "Honig Met" (honey wine), on Christmas Day 2 we mostly go to a restaurant.
We like to have something quick and easy for Christmas eve, so being in Texas, it is tamales. On Christmas day we have the traditional turkey, dressing, etc.
On christmas eve fish with potatosalad and on christmas roasted duck with potatodumplings and red cabbage on the side or roastet beef with onions and spätzle.
@@telfairf1102 I miss tamales. They are so good.
I’m an American that lived in Germany for 6 years. We were invited to our German neighbors home for dinner, and they served Raclette. It was a wonderful evening. We had a long time to visit and to get to know one another.
What is raclette??
In my family we also make fondue with hot oil, putting there raw meat or sausages and dipping them afterwards in homemade sauces. So I'm with you Phil 😉
Yes! Glad to know we aren't the only ones!
Auch bei uns wurde das so gemacht, allerdings nie zur Weihnachtszeit, eher Silvester/Neujahr und mir fällt dabei gerade auf, dass ich das schon mindestens 30 Jahre nicht mehr gemacht habe.^^
@@DeanaandPhil You completely missed out on the traditional Christmas carp (Karpfen)
That's just a disaster waiting to happen. No temperature control, brittle ceramics that can relinquish their rocket fuel contents into the open flame at any time when touched with cold meat.. hot oil bubbling over in alcohol fueled vigor..
The Franks (nowadays, they call themselves French 😜) do eat that kind of fondu too. It is called Fondue Bourguignonne (sp ?). But they only use beef (cut into small cubes) as their dipping meat and not just any animal meat.
My parents immigrated from Germany to Canada and they always kept the tradition of potato salad and schnitzel for Christmas Eve!
So now, I continue the same with my family 😋
my family immigrated from germany to brazil but the family ended up adapting to portuguese christmas
Yes, defenite Poteto salad and Wiener. I'm born and raised in Kiel.
YUMMMM!
Yes, we had the same in Lindau am Bodensee
I think the "Wiener Würstchen und Kartoffelsalat" became very popular and traditional because it is quick to prepare and a lot of people go to church on Heiligabend, so when they come back, they want some quick dish. On the 1st and 2nd christmas day, you have more time to prepare food (and you usually also get visits by relatives), so that's when you have the fancy food. I am from SW Germany, and I definitely remember the "Würstchen und Kartoffelsalat" from when I was young (80s).
Völlig korrekt, or you are right 🙂
I particularly loved this vlog. I don't know why but it made me smile a lot
Ahh yay! We are glad you enjoyed it! 🤗💜
During my childhood we always had Würstchen und Kartoffel- oder Nudelsalat on Heilig Abend (I think this was ment to be an easy prepared dinner so that the housewife didn't have to stay in the kitchen on Heilig Abend) and roasted Goose on 1st Weihnachtstag. Since I have a family of my own, we like to eat "Wild" (Reh- or Wildschweinbraten) on Christmas Eve and roasted goose with my inlaws on 1st Weihnachtstag. Our daughter has birthday on the 2nd Weihnachtstag and we go to a restaurant chosen by her.
As a first generation Canadian (family from North Rhine-Westphalia) , we as well ate weiners and kartoffelsalat Christmas eve, sometimes sauerkraut soup! Last year we got fancy and had bratwurst on a bun with sauerkraut and hot banana peppers served with a side of German Pilsner in a beer stein! Sehr lecker! My mother's fave dish on Christmas eve that Opa made was Mohn-Klöße, though we rarely have it now. We have only ever had turkey on Christmas Day (immer mit rohtkohl). I wasn't raised on fondue but the few times I had it I'm with Phil, it's hot oil you dip skewers of meat into. Cheese fondue is extra! My friends introduced it to me one New Years eve so now I enjoy that on occassion! 😉
My mother is German and we always had knacthwurst and potato salad on Christmas Eve. Always :) and we knew the red cabbage was coming the next day... good times
Knackwurst = literally "snap sausage" because of the sound the skin makes when you break it in half AKA hotdog sausages
Turkey and all the trimmings Pete in the UK
YUM! We'll be right there with you this Christmas!
We live in SE Texas. For Christmas Eve we usually do a crab and shrimp boil, crawfish isn't in season yet. It's our take on feast of the seven fishes. And for Christmas day we have ham or beef tenderloin with mashed potatoes, gravy or cream sauce, honey glazed carrots, & german style green beans. We always make Pfeffer Nusse with honig and pekannuss!
Ich Find euch Klasse macht weiter so , Happy Christmas ;)
Danke!! 🤗💜
In US (PA) we ate beef fondue (cooked in oil) Christmas eve. It had 4 or 5 sauces to go with it. Ham or Rast beef on Christmas, mashed potatoes, green beans, carrots, salad and apple pie or minced pie for dessert. Once we had chocolate fondue for dessert with cake and fruit used as dipping medium.
Ohh YUM! The Christmas menu at your house sounds delicious!
Yes, we have a Melting Pot here in Towson, MD that we love to go to on Birthdays.
Ahhh that's so cool! We went on special occasions like birthdays too!
My family definitely has the tradition of potato salad and Wiener on the 24th. The reason that was always told to me is that on the 24th you're busy with other preparations such as putting up the tree. Being grown up now, I put up my tree as early as November because it puts me in a better mood, but I still like the tradition of the potato salad and sausage for the 24th. Last year we started a new tradition of eating Currywurst and I must say that I like it! On the 25th we then do the big meal with duck and/or goose, red cabbage, Semmelknödel made from scratch and gravy. Ahhhh, I can't wait! The only downside to being grown up is that I have to do a lot of the cooking myself 🙈😅
It's a little bit more complex than that. Think after war time, when people had very little AND the housewife still needed to do the washing mostly per hand, but everything HAD to be spotless on the first and second day when the relatives turned up. Potatosalad with sausages was not only quick, but also affordable, with the sausage being split carefully between the family as a special treat.
Great video Deana and Phil, great to hear what people eat in Germany. My mother is from FInland and I am Finnish too (Finnish born abroad) so I try to have a classic Finnish Christmas dinner on the 24th with candles and traditional casseroles. In Finland its very common to eat potato based caseroles, or other types of casseroles for Christmas, and special deserts I use my heirloom vintage Finnish table cloth from the 1950s that I inherited from my mummu (Finnish for grandmother). There is a casserole of mashed potatoes that you let ferment covered for a few hours in the sun so they develop a sweeet flavor then you bake in the oven. I will try to make that this year, rossoli a potato, beet and apple salad, a Finnish date cake, have herring, plan to make a roast pork loin stuffed with prunes and apples. My father is from Panama and that is where I live so we will incorporate local tamales made with corn and chicken. Looking forward to it. In my multiculural family is my favorite time of the year. Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad. the southern sweet potato casseorle from Deana will be a hit.
We also had the meat fondue for christmas eve when I was young. But with broth instead of oil. Now we have Raclette for christmas (and New years) eve. My parents have Turkey (with brussel sprouts and rice) for the 1st and game (with red cabage, green beans, semmel Knödel) for the 2nd day of christmas. My inlaws have Raclette, goose with red cabage/potato dumplings, and salmon but do not have a specific order.
We are over here drooling at your description. Dinner at your place??
The traditional Christmas dish in Vienna, Lower Austria and the Burgenland would be deepfried carp with potato-lamb's-lettuce salad.
By the way the oil fondue Phil describes is called "fondue bourguignonne" and the one with broth instead of oil is "Fondue Chinoise".
I love your channel! I am born and raised in USA and my fathers parents came from Germany. My Grandfather spoke English/German when he was first Paster in USA. I enjoy the stories, good food, and learn about Germany. Thank you for creating a unique way to learn about the two cultures.I learn a lot from your channel. Blessing and love to you both.
My family (Lora) always makes a beef roast with Knödel, Rotkohl, and some spätzle on the side on Christmas Eve. 🤤
Es gibt meines Wissens nach 3 Arten von Fondue: Käsefondue, Ölfondue und Suppenfondue. Ich liebe alle drei
Und Weinfondue. Und Schokoladenfondue.
fondue wird doch von den meisten erst am sylvester genutzt. also ich persönlich kenne keinen, der am heiligabend fondue serviert bekam. ach man, hab nun mega bock auf gans :P
In "Oberbayern" my Family and I eat "Gschwollene" (Kind of White Sausage - Bavarian Tradition) at the 24th of December with Hot "Sauerkraut"- its been an reminder of the old times when people after and at WW2 dont have some expensive to eat.... Ein narrisches Servus aus Oberbayern an Euch 2 #liepe #übersetzendarfstselberphil
Ohh sounds like a very delicious family tradition!
@@DeanaandPhil Youre Welcome! If you want a "Package" to try out, i send you something...
I've been to The Melting Pot for a full fondue meal. Cheese fondue to start, meat fondue (broth or oil to cook the meat) for main course, and chocolate fondue for dessert. Yum!
When I was a toddler in Germany an older Germany couple unofficially adopted my family and I. I called them Oma and Opa. We celebrated Christmas with them and their family.
On the second tour I was in elementary school.
the most common thing to eat for christmas in Iceland is smoked pork back but rock ptarmian (rjúpa) is also very popular then there is Goose, duck and other things but i personally eat chicken for christmas. We celebrate on christmas eve like German do and then Christmas day and second christmas day are family days when family´s get together and eat together and just enjoy each other company
Like in our German family too, the 2nd Day is for the Family, we all get together at one family members house and enjoy each others company. Mery Christmas @ ALL
Here in Northern France, we have a pretty big menu for the Christmas Eve dinner:
- Smoked trout on toasts
- Coquille St Jacques (scallop cooked in a creamy sauce with mushrooms, served in their shell)
- Foie gras
- Escargots
- Boudin blanc (a kind of white sausage), served with applesauce and mustard
- Deer tenderloin with potato gratin and mushrooms
- Cheese plate
- Christmas Log
And for the Christmas lunch, RACLETTE ! Quick and easy to prepare :)
that sounds awesome. can you explain the christmas log though, s'il vouz plaît? :)
@@sorvahr8761 Bien sûr :)
It's a cake we usually eat at Christmas in France. La buche de Noel is a sponge cake, filled with butter cream and ganache, rolled to make it look like a wood log.
You can find it in an infinity of different flavours but most of the time it comes with a chocolate, praline, hazelnut, coffee or vanilla flavour.
Dinner must take four hours :-)
@@imrehundertwasser7094 It takes a while yeah
It's not uncommon to be around the table from 7pm to 4 or 5am lol
For at least the last 10 years I have made Stauffer's Lasagna, garlic bread and a salad for family and whoever wanted to stop in and eat with my husband and I. It's good and easy to make so you could socialize and not have to worry about fixing anything.
Hi guys! I'm making turkey, sweet potato casserole, rolls, broccoli, mashed potatoes, stuffing and cranberries for x mas. 😋😋😋 I've been preparing for weeks. Thanks so much for sharing!! 💙❤️🌹🌹😘😘✌️✌️✌️👍👍👍
im from wales and we had very much the same things as you in germany. we now live in crete greece and ha ve sheep so lamb is our meat ut with all the usual things (plus yorkshire pudding). its so nice that we all share different traditions and exchange ideas. merry xmas from crete
In my family Christmas Eve was always the day of celebration. It’s where we’d plan the big meal. When we’d attend church. When we’d open gifts. Christmas Day is a lot more laid back. We might get together with extended family, depending on weather. It was the day to open gifts from Santa. And while my family is pretty religious, we didn’t always attend church on Christmas Day. The importance of Christmas Eve probably has a lot to do with strong German and Scandinavian family background.
Tamales for breakfast and Chinese food on Christmas day (for late lunch).
YUM! That sounds delicious! Now I want some tamales....
@@DeanaandPhil My friend lives in Berlin and she said she was able to find a real Mexican food place there! Not sure how far away that is from where you are but it's worth a look
We have honey baked ham, & turkey on Christmas Day. For Christmas Eve we have tamales and hot cocoa. I’m from California and part Mexican so delicious homemade tamales are tradition in my family. 🎄😃
I am an American married to a Belgian and we live in Belgium. We do the fondue with oil here at New Years as well! Very traditional.
Since my second birthday, we had "Würstchen und Kartoffelsalat" for Christmas Eve. Before my dad always made a huge dinner, but with a child, it is way easier to prepare something in advance that you more or less eat whenever you want. Also since we went to church at 5 pm, it was nice that the food was already prepared and we could get faster to open the presents :D I am now 36 and my parents still make it when we visit them on Christmas eve (every second year, since we switch it with my parents-in-law).
There is nothing more tasty than goose! But yes, I always ate würstchen und kartoffelsalat on Christmas Eve when I lived in Norddeutschland. However, I also roasted my first goose while I lived there. Raclette is fantastic!
Now I live in Sweden and our Christmas Eve meal consists of several sorts of pickled herring, smoked salmon, cheese and crackers, baked ham, boiled potatoes and brussel sprouts, plus (as an American) deviled eggs. Also (as an American), a tray of fresh vegetables. Desert should be traditional rice pudding, but my Swedish husband hates it, so we sacrifice ourselves to apple pie or masses of chocolate. On the first Christmas Day we generally eat the left overs, but on the second Christmas Day I prepare a roast turkey or goose with traditional side dishes including Rotkohl. This year I have shopped at Lidl and bought MASSES of German cookies and candy. „Malziet“! and a very Merry Christmas!
I was actually in Germany for only1 Christmas because I arrived in early Jan. one year and left a week before Christmas the 2nd year. I did make it to 2 years of Christmas fests and bought lots of gifts for my relatives. Cool dolls and castle models, smokers and decorations. I even went to Christmas Eve Mass at the Catholic Church in Nuremberg. I didn't understand much German but knew most of the songs or carols. The church was so beautiful. It is something to see even if your aren't religious....
The most common Christmas dish in Slovakia is Kapustnica (Sauerkraut soup) and potato salad with fried fish. The most traditional is karp but it can be any kind. It just so good :)
As an American, I was so confused last year being told by my German partner we'd do "fondue" with his family for New Years then seeing pots of boiling oil! I'm so used to the Melting Pot mindset of melted cheese and chocolate, but it was a delicious and fun experience to enjoy meat, veggies, and other snacks in the hot oil pots
The tradition to have potato salad and 'wiener' on christmas eve (or other 'simple' food) stems from the tradition to go to church on the evening. The cook (mostly the mums) had not the time to prepare the food before or after, so something was made, what was easy to prepare and the 'wiener' sausage is quick to warm in hot water.
We had sausages and potato salad on Christmas Eve, but I do remember having fondue sometimes. On Christmas Day, we always had goose with sides, including red cabbage. 😍
when i lived in germany, wiesbaden, we always had bratwurst and potato salad for dinner and we opened our gifts then also. christmas day we had goose. My family still follows this tradition.
Our Christmas meal here in NJ (USA) is usually a ham with scalloped potatoes and either fresh green beans or asparagus, rolls and dessert as well. Maybe a bit low key but after doing half a dozen sides at Thanksgiving it's definitely a bit of a break/relief :)
Growing up we did fondue as you did, raw meat in boiling oil and multiple sauces for dipping. Dad even tape cling wrap to the wall to keep the oil getting on the wall. Loved it. We just used an electric skillet
My mom is Italian so we always have fish on Christmas Eve. My grandparents would make yucky fish like eel but my mom makes shrimp, crabs, etc... On Christmas day, we have antipasti, pasta (Usually Ravioli or Lasagna) and then Roast Beef with all the trimmings. (New Jersey, USA)
If you think eel is bad, just count your blessings that you’ve never had to endure lutefisk.
On Christmas Eve my family will be having Laberkase and different cold cuts and Brodchen also potato salad .
ON CHRISTMAS DAY its SAUERBRATTEN and red cabbage spaetzle and Brussel sprouts .
Christmas Eve traditional Silesian bratwurst (Schlesische Bratwurst) with mashed potatoes and sauerkraut
The sausage itself consists mainly of veal (nowadays often replaced or supplemented by pork) and pork bacon, both of which are extremely finely chopped with the addition of ice and refined with lemon spices and white wine.
In daenemark essen wir krustenbraten mit krosser schwarte von dem ruecken des schweins. Dazu gibt es gekochte kartoffel, kartoffel die mit geschmeltztem zucker und butter in der pfanne simmer. Gepickelter rotkohl und brune sose
In Alabama we eat Barbeque (aka Pulled Pork), Mustard Slaw, Baked Beans & Potato Salad. Then we have Peanut Butter Balls, Coconut Balls, Peanut Brittle, Tea Cake Cookies & Red Velvet Cake.
70% in germany eating potato salad with sausage on the 24th
Buy your sausages now!!
@@DeanaandPhil a meatless one yesXD
Do you hsve a source for thst? Sounds made up and untrue
Growing up it was ham and potato salad on Christmas Day, nothing on Christmas Eve.
But then I married into an Italian family and now it’s fish on the Eve, and lasagna and spiral cut ham on Christmas Day. Can’t wait.
Hi, i'm from Australia & we have a roast for Christmas eve (my mum's parents were German & my mum was born here) + presents, then Christmas day is prawns & other seafood, salad, pavlova, summer fruits etc.
I don't eat it for the holidays but growing up my mom would make us fondue with hot oil and beef cubes here in Pennsylvania USA.
Phil, you’re correct. Fondue can be oil where you cook your food on a stick, cheese where you dip things in melted cheese and dessert fondue where you dip berries, banana pieces and other fruit in melted chocolate. Make sure Deanna takes you to a Melting Pot restaurant when you’re back in the US. Definitely a bit pricey, but a lovely place to celebrate an occasion with some fun food choices!
this year it is my turn to cook Christmas dinner for the family.... you both gave me the inspiration .... it will be ... goose...... so thanks for that!
Wisconsin USA here , we normally have cinnamon rolls for breakfast on Christmas morning . Then ham and baked mac n cheese for dinner . This year we have to decided to still have the cinnamon rolls but then just make appetizers for the day. Instead of a big meal , there is only 4 of us. Less work for me lol . Merry Christmas !
Thank you for the video! Happy holidays and God bless you all ❣️
I grew up with the Grandparents making Sauerbraten for Christmas dinner. I’ve taken over the cooking.
This year I made Prime Rib for Christmas dinner.
I think next Christmas I’ll make both.
I missed the Sauerbraten for Christmas dinner.
Christmas Eve we usually have Grünkohl und pinkel (smoked farmers sausage) with potatoes. Christmas Day, as kids, we had roast, until we Canadianized our parents and they switched to turkey. Now with my kids we celebrate German Christmas Eve and Canadian/English Christmas Day. Boxing Day is a national holiday, but my husband and son sometimes go out for the boxing day shopping deals.
Wo is Grünkohl? Bei uns gibt es jedes Jahr Grünkohl mit Kassler, Knacker und Kartoffeln ( karamelisiert und Pellkartoffeln) Braten etc. Gibt's am 1. Weihnachtstag, Reste am 2.
Ja, ein Unding! Grünkohl, Kassler, Lungenwurst, Schweinebacke (man streitet sich ob kalt oder warm), karamelisierte Kartoffeln (die ganz kleinen) , Senf und nochmal unmengen an Zucker übern Kohl (Ostholstein)
Our family has appetizers on Christmas Eve - Roasted shrimp, meatballs, stuffed mushrooms, charcuterie, dips. Christmas is whatever I feel like making. Sometimes a nice beef tenderloin or we've made Bolognese, etc. Last year we had Julia's Beef Bourguignon. Amazing! Growing up we had ham for Christmas, Turkey was for Thanksgiving.
Xmas dinner probably steak, rice and side veggie with cucumber salad (w/ onion pepper chickpeas bacon bits sesame seeds olive oil and balsamic vinegar)
My paternal great grandfather came to the US in 1878, My maternal grandfather came over in 1906. As I grew up we had typical German holiday foods on Christmas and Christmas Eve: Goose, turkey, prime rib, fresh ham and cured ham. I've always lived in the US. Typical sides were stuffing, mashed or roast potatoes, sauerkraut, and a green vegetable (asparagus, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, green beans
We do fondue like this too Phil.....so you are not alone :)
We always do fodue the same way like your family, Phil. Either oil or "Brühe". Yummi!
The Christmas carp (Weihnachtskarpfen) is something rather traditional, probably also rather outdated.
I live in southern Germany. On Dec 24 (Heiligabend) we have a a late extended breakfast with fresh buns and pretzels from the local bakery. Then we go to a local fish farm to buy fresh trouts which is a very popular christmas dish in our region. In the afternoon (before CoVid pandemic) we went to church where school kids performed the crib play. For dinner the trouts are baked in the oven and served with potato salad (Forelle aus dem Backofen mit Kartoffelsalat). After that the gifts are unwrapped and we enjoy some delicious regional wine with self made christmas cookies and watch a movie like It's a wonderful life, The Grinch or The Muppets Christmas Carol.
On 1st christmas day the traditional food is duck breast filet with Kartoffelknödel and red cabbage (Entenbrustfilet mit Rotkraut und Kartoffelknödel).
On 2nd christmas day we usually have Putengeschnetzeltes with Spätzle and iceberg salad.
Raclette is made as New Year's eve dinner since you can stay for a long time at the table together. A must is watching "Dinner for one", a traditional sketch aired on many TV stations every year in Germany. As a midnight snack we have a salmon in puff pastry roll with horseraddish cream cheese (Lachs im Blätterteig mit Meerrettich-Frischkäse) with a glass of champagne or sparkling wine and on New Year's Day we have the traditional self-made Neujahrsbrezel for breakfast. In the evening we have herring or pasta salad.
Great video guys! The food looks all so yummy! I'm of Ukrainian heritage so growing up we had the traditional 12 meatless dishes for Christmas Eve. For Christmas Day we often had roast goose or duck as my dad didn't like turkey. The past 14 years since I've been married, we've usually had roast turkey - a repeat of Thanksgiving. Last year we did a roast leg of lamb with roasted baby potatoes and sides. We loved it so much we're doing it again this year!
In Germany the presents are given on Christmas Eve. Our Christmas Eve is structured as follows: coffee and cake in the afternoon, then presents and fondue in the evening. But when my grandma and grandpa were still alive, instead of fondue we had sausages with potato salad and buttered rolls.
On Christmas Day there is turkey with red cabbage and potatoes for lunch. Coffee and cake in the afternoon, raclette in the evening or a buffet with roast meat, bread and cold cuts.
On Boxing Day, the leftovers from Christmas Day are eaten.
We don't make fondue with cheese. There is melted fat in our fondue. You have metal skewers on which you skewer meat, onions and mushrooms. Then they are fried in the pot with the oil.
In the Philippines, we celebrate on Christmas Eve (24). The menu since I was young was:
Christmas Ham glazed with pineapple syrup
Steamed grouper with pepper mayonnaise sauce
Butter stir-fried prawns
Rice
Spaghetti
White bread
Fruitcake
Edam cheese ball
Fruit salad
Leche flan (custard)
Ube (purple yam)
Yes, we do exactly that. On Christmas Eve it's potato salad with wiener (we don't have time for a big dinner when there are presents waiting 😁) and on Christmas Day it's goose (sometimes duck, when we're at my sister's house) with red cabbage (usually with apples) and potato dumplings. I'm from Lower Saxony.
My German family have rabbit on Christmas day, I had to pass and they made steak just for me, sorry I just can’t eat those cuite bunnies exceot for the chocolate ones during easter 😁. Thanks Deana and Phil for making a Christmas foodie vid!!! 🤩
Yes, when I grew up in Germany, we did have Wuerstchen und Kartoffelsalat...I grew up in Hessen.
Wir essen zu Weihnachten immer Rinderzunge mit Baguette
Klingt gut!
Ja, schmeckt richtig gut. Ist aber nicht jedermanns Sache. Wegen Rinderzunge - aber das Fleisch ist superzart.
Christmas eve: Appetizer: shrimp cocktail and Elote en Vaso (mexican corn in a cup). Hauptgericht: Schweinebraten, Rouladen, mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy, cranberry&kale salad, cauliflower with roasted bread crumbs, grilled green asparagus wrapped in bacon. Desert: Stollen and Dominos with coffee or tea (Ostfriesentee natuerlich).
Christmas day: Diet :-) well, perhaps some leftovers.
Basically a lot of German food mixed with American and Mexican food.
Merry Christmas, Frohe Weihnacht, and Feliz Navidad from Texas.
There is cheese-fondue, broth-fondue and oil-fondue. That is why hot pot restaurants are very popular in Germany. They love it!
I have eaten chocolate fondue in the USA. Dip small pieces of cake and fresh fruit into the melted chocolate. Yum!
Fondue with meat an Heiligabend? Yes, here too. It was a tradition for decades in my family with beef fillet and pork fillet half and half. The fondue pot was being filled with Butterschmalz (butteroil?) and Pflanzenfett/vegetable fat (e.g. Biskin). A special homemade sauce was prepared with almonds, lingonberry jam/jelly, Mayonnaise, little pieces of cucumber, Worcester Sauce, mustard and some other ingredients.
I am from Ostholstein. In our region the most traditional Christmas dinner is Grünkohl (a kale stew) sprinkled with sugar, tiny little caramalized potatoes, dark smoked lung sausages, and pork cheek. Since 2007 my mum also prepares a veganized version of this dish so that whoever comes around can dig in no matter their preferences. Now my family is part german with swedish roots and part norwegian which lead us to embrace another christmas tradition: the julbord. We switch up the datets every year or so. This year the stew will be served on christmas eve and the huge julbord with smoked fish and the like on christmas day. I prefer it the other way round though.
In Austria we have almost the same dishes for Heiligabend and Christtag (1. Weihnachtstag). The only thing we never have is Frankfurter/Wiener Würstchen. We also have the beef fondue with oil or with soup, but that's also typical for Silvester. In my family we always have different food on Heiligabend and on Christtag my grandparents made roasted goose and roasted duck. This year on Heiligabend we will have a german menu. As main course we will have geschmelzte Maultaschen with potatoe salad. Will be the first time that I cook this dish, but as I made ravioli several times I think it will work out well. The 26th is called Stephanietag in Austria
Here in the Netherlands we do fondue the same way. Meat on long forks into hot oil. LOVE IT. What you call raklette, we call gourmetten. And we do that every year with Christmas
I had to google what a fondue was... 😏 We also have lighter meals with salads (BBQs etc) as it is summer here at Xmas.
Boxing Day is also a public holiday in Australia. Moved to 26th & 27th this year because of the weekend.
The same goes with the New Years Day public holiday being moved to Monday the 3rd of Jan.
We always get the Monday off here if the holiday falls on a weekend (except for ANZAC Day, that day is sacrosanct).
7:10 nooo we did that too. Always so nice to eat 😍 but dumplings with a nice sauce and meat is my favorite thing 🤤
In memory to our parents - Schlesische Weißwürste with smashed potatoes and Sauerkraut at christmas eve. 😊
Euch beiden ein schönes Fest und einen guten Rutsch.
We were making Wieners and Noodlesalat for christmas eve for a long time, this year we will have tomato and mozarella filled ravioli with mushroom sauce and "bratapfel" for dessert. We don't have a real traditional food now, but in my childhood we always made fondue with meat oder raclette. and our fondue was the same as yours, Phil. A pot of boiling oil with an open flame underneath. I wonder what was wrong with my parents to make this with kids taking part. it's so dangerous! but well, 80es/90es live :D
YUM! Yeah we like to change it up each year, especially, now if we do a turkey style meal in November! Your Christmas menu this year sounds delicious! Ahhh and glad to know someone else's family had fondue with oil!
@@DeanaandPhil Haha yeah, seems like it is one of these very german traditions, left over from the 50es, when everything needed to be as unhealthy as it could be :D
@@DeanaandPhil
Then its only a deep fryer.An Weener you need only warm up and the
Potato Salad was made earlier because its need Time to collect Taste.
At 26 December, most People visiting other Familymembers,so they dont had to Cook at that time.So they make a Goose or Duck for only one Day,but the
Family that had the Visitors, had to make a bigger Goose for 2 Days.
If you want to make the best red cabbage you need Goosefat.But you dont
make the Goose, before the red cabbage,so you must buy one first.
I make Sauerbraten,its need to inlaid in Vinegar for 4 Days,then its
dissolves on your Tongue.
it seems you cant cook so well :)
@@stahlgewitter69 it seems you don't have a clue ;)
As I am from hamburg, Northern Germany, in my family it's a tradition to eat Scholle "Finkenwerder Art" on Heiligabend (Holy Night). Scholle "Finkenwerder Art" is a meal of a fried Flounder Fish with fried small pieces of bacon and Potatoe salat and green salat. On Christmas Eve we usually eat backed duck or goose (marinated with honey and filled with apples or oranges) with Knödels and red cabbage (with cinnamon and cranberries). ;)
In Sweden we celebrate on the 24th with tons of different kinds of pickled herring, ham, cured salmon, meatballs, beetsallad, janssons frestelse (think potatoe gratin (?) with anchovies) and lots of other stuff i cant translate or even describe in english. It's A LOT of different dishes all on one table
Most of the time I had fondue on New Years Eve and I had it exactly as Phil described it, I haven't had Cheese Fondue (Always had to mention the cheese, otherwise people were referring to the normal/meat fondue) until I was in my early 20s. A lot of people I worked with were eating Wieners and Potato salad on Christmas Eve and a lot were eating fish (Can't remember which one, my guess would be either carp or trout) on the first day of Christmas, while we were eating Rouladen most of the time on the first day of Christmas. Christmas Eve is often celebrated with an easy meal because it is so much to do on that day and some people were working. We ate Scampi nearly every Christmas Eve and every year that I got my way we had steak and homemade fries on the second day of Christmas. Oh and all the time I had raclette we had to eat fast because the little pans needed not long to be ready to eat, so the food would be cold again if we die not hurry. Greetings from Hamburg.
Here in Australia we do have traditional Christmas food but we tend to have a cold buffet or BBQ Aussies style including seafood etc... As we are a commonwealth country we celebrate Boxing Day...
There are two kinds of fondue, one using cheese, the other putting meat into oil. But there's also the soup varietey, where you put meat into a boiling soup, and chocolate fondue, where you put fruit into melting chocolate.
My family used to have meat fondue like yours on Heiligabend. However we used water or broth instead of oil and at the end we just threw in all the leftover meat and veggies and had a really good soup for the rest of the year.
We also had a big dinner at my grandmas and grandpas place on th 25. or 26. where my grandma would make gefüllte Pute, Semmelknödel and all kinds of sauce and veggies and other side dishes. She also made a lot of Vorspeisen like you would normally see at a buffet. It was really fancy and I can't imagine how much work that must have been. It really was the best food of the year tough. There was so much that noone was able to even think about the desert (usually icecream) until hours later.
Great video as always guys. I just cooker and ate my dinner but this video makes me hungry 😂
I am from Romania and for Christmas we eat: pork sausages and sheep's cheese, aubergine spread, bell peppers and aubergine spread, beef salad (cold salad with boiled potatos, chicken or beef, peas, carrots, pickeles and homemade mayo), countryside soup, oven baked potatos with pork loin and pickles, cabbage rolls and different types of cake. ❤
My German parents immigrated to Canada. We grew up eating a large spread buffet Christmas Eve of potato salad, fleischsalat, rolled herrings, european colecuts, leberwurst, teewurst, rye bread, brötchen, cheeses, pickles, olives, pickled beets, onions and pumpkin, my mom would also to do breaded pineapple served cold (no idea if that is even German). Christmas day was a roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, bread stuffing, french cut green beans, rotkohl, and the home made sauce (gravy). We were a large group and perhaps it made it easier on my Mom to do it this way instead of 2 sit down meals. We also opened up our presents Christmas Eve, as kids we would get a plate each of all the homemade German cookies, animal shaped marzipan and some foil wrapped chocolates of St Nikolaus and homemade Eierlikör - the real stuff! Guessing my parents were trying to control how much we ate and it kept it fair 😂Oh boy this brings back so many memories ♥
Well seeing as my mother was Swiss German and my father was Hungarian I was treated to Red cabbage (which I make now German style) pork schnitzel, turkey, roast potatoes, brussels sprouts and various home bakes Swiss German pastries, I was born in England BTW. we celebrated Christmas more on the eve than the day.
My partner is from the southwest of Germany, and he thinks of Christmas Eve as Christmas because that's when all their traditions were, e.g. opening parents, reading the holy family story, going to church, etc.
@@DrGlynnWix Always seems more cosy celebrating in the evening with a fire and the tree lit up
Definitely make sweet potato crunch for them! I make it for my partner's family and they love it. If you can't find pecans, walnuts do work well.
My family is Dutch. We had sausaijes, eorte zoep and vet bollen: pigs in blanket, pea soup and fried doughnut balls on Christmas Eve. On Christmas, we had goose so we didn't fight over the dark meat. Nobody in the family liked the white meat of the turkey so there was always a fight if we had turkey and most of the white meat would be eaten by the dog and cat after it had been thrown on the floor or at people. Fun times!
My host family in Austria did the Fleisch Fondue the same way Phil's family did--and also on Christmas Eve. That is actually the only way I have ever had it anywhere else too, because my family in the US also did it that way.
Diana, do you have a nice recipe for your sweet potato crunch? Or can you perhaps show how it is done? Thanks!
Have family from Lower Franconia (Unterfranken). Christmas Eve we eat Rouladen,
Kartoffelkloesse, und Blaukraut.