DailyDirt: Christmas Dinner Isn't The Same Without...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Wed, Dec 24th 2014 5:00pm — Michael Ho

If you're getting ready for a holiday meal meal with family, you might be planning anything from going to a Chinese restaurant to an elaborate home-cooked turkey. Whatever the case may be, there are more than a few holiday traditions out there. Check out a few of these delicious dishes.

Here's a Christmas tradition that you might not be aware of: buying a live carp, having it live in your bathtub for a while until Christmas Eve, then serving it for dinner. Apparently, several European countries have practiced this (eg. Slovakia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Germany and Croatia), and it's a ritual that's not even restricted to Christianity. [url]
In the Philippines, the Christmas Eve feast after midnight mass is rellenong manok -- a stuffed boneless chicken. This dish is related to the Spanish pollo relleno, but it has changed significantly over the years with influences from American cuisine. [url]
In Japan, KFC's successful Kurisumasu ni wa kentakkii! (Kentucky for Christmas!) campaign from 1974 has created a tradition of Japanese people eating far more fried chicken than anyone would otherwise expect. Only about one percent of the Japanese population is Christian, but people stand in line for this commercial tradition. [url]

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Filed Under: carp, christmas, culture, dinner, kfc, kurisumasu ni wa kentakkii, meals, rellenong manok, traditions
Companies: kfc

7 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 24 Dec 2014 @ 5:07pm

http://www.amazon.com/The-Carp-Bathtub-Barbara-Cohen/dp/093
The carp in the bathtub and Chinese food for christmas? I see a Jewish theme here!
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Another Anonymous Coward, 24 Dec 2014 @ 7:14pm

Carp in the tub
Carp are bottom feeders - keeping them in the bathtub for a day or two allows their systems to flush, and then they taste better.
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BS Simon (profile), 24 Dec 2014 @ 10:41pm

Puerto Ricans eat baked Ziti?
My brother in law is a NYC Puerto Rican and his family Christmas meal is a slow cooked pulled pork roast, with rice, salad, empanadas, and baked ziti. most of those I don't think are weird but the baked ziti through me.
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Zeissmann, 25 Dec 2014 @ 3:15am

Jewish Christmas
Maybe in the US it's not considered strange any more and so it didn't make the list, but I recently heard of a curiously bizarre custom that developed among American Jews. Namely going out for Chinese food on Christmas. Here's more details:

http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2013/12/25/jewish-christmas-the-chinese-connection/
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DannyB (profile), 25 Dec 2014 @ 12:14pm

Christmas dinner isn't the same without . . .
Intellectual Property!

I would share my turkey with you but . . . intellectual property!

You could have some of my stuffing, but . . . Copyright!

Mom would bring you all a piece of pie, but it is Patented.
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Andreas, 29 Dec 2014 @ 6:09am

Christmast
Really love it when Christmas time come, I hope all people enjoy it.
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John Fenderson (profile), 29 Dec 2014 @ 9:09am

Christians?
Only about one percent of the Japanese population is Christian, but people stand in line for this commercial tradition.

I'm not sure how Christianity enters into this, really. Every non-Christian I know in the US (including myself) stands in various lines as part of Christmas commercial traditions.
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