Forum… Or Against ’em

By Count Friedrich von Olsen

In Iceland Christmas is called Jóladagur and is usually celebrated with the extended family. The main Yule meal is ‘Hangikjöt’, a leg of roast lamb. Sometimes Icelanders will also roast the seabird rock ptarmigan, which they call ‘Rjúpa’ as the main course of their Christmas feast. An element of the Icelandic Yule meal is Laufabrauð or leaf bread, thin sheets of dough cut into delicate patterns and fried…
French homes often feature a Nativity crib, which features clay figures such as lambs and cows, the Three Wise Men, Joseph, Mary and the Enfant Wunderliebe along with priests, chandlers, butchers, bakers and gendarmes. During December some towns and cities, as for example Marseilles, have fairs at which Nativity figures are sold…
Yule logs made out of cherry wood are often burned in French homes. The log is carried into the home on Christmas Eve and is sprinkled with red wine, which lends a pleasant fragrance to the the log as it burns. There is a custom that the log and candles are left burning all night with some food and drinks left out in case Mary and the baby Jesus come past during the night…
In France, Santa Claus is called Père Noël (Father Christmas)…
The main Christmas meal, called Réveillon, is eaten on Christmas Eve/early Christmas morning after people have returned from the midnight church service. Réveillon typically features roast turkey with chestnuts or roast goose, oysters, foie gras, lobster, venison and cheeses. For dessert, a chocolate sponge cake log called a bûche de Noël is normally eaten…
Christmas in Austria really starts around four in the afternoon of Christmas Eve (‘Heilige Abend’) when the tree is lit for the first time and people come to sing carols around the tree. The most famous carol is Silent Night (‘Stille Nacht’), which was written in Austria in 1818…
Traditionally the Christmas tree is left outside the house and is not brought in and decorated until Christmas Eve. Decorations include candles and sparklers. For children, other important decorations are sweets such as small liqueur-filled chocolate bottles, chocolates of various kinds, jelly rings and Windbäckerei (meringue, usually in the form of rings, stars, that sort of thing…
Some children are taught to believe that the Christkind, a golden-haired baby, with wings, decorates the tree and brings presents to children on Christmas Eve and leaves them under the tree… .
The main Christmas meal is actually eaten on Christmas Eve. It’s often ‘Gebackener Karpfen’ (fried carp) as the main course because Christmas Eve was considered a fasting day by many Catholics when no meat should be eaten. However ‘Weihnachtsgans’ (roast goose) and roast turkey are becoming more popular. Dessert can be chocolate and apricot cake, i.e., Sachertorte, and Austrian Christmas cookies, known as Weihnachtsbaeckerei…
Skiing is a popular Austrian activity on Christmas Day…
In Belgium, on Christmas eve, actors enact Christmas stories in a parade and there are often choirs rendering concerts at Hall Bruges and in local churches. Families usually gather around the Christmas tree and then go for a midnight mass. During Christmas meals, Cougnou, a sweet bread that is meant to symbolize the infant Jesus, is served…

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