By Sienna Estrella '26
It’s that time of year where decorations are displayed in store fronts, tree stands are assembled, Christmas shopping is at peak, and people watch marathons of holiday movies. It is also the time of year where families to dine together on holiday dishes from all corners of the world. Here are several Christmas dish must tries for your Christmas gathering:
In Poland, there is a tradition called The 12-dish feast, which represents the 12 apostles
and the 12 months of the year. This feast begins when the first star appears in the night sky and usually consists of pierogi, carp, and selections of fruit and poppy seed desserts. The first dish is a beetroot soup, called barszcz. The raw beets are simmered in vegetable stock with vinegar and a touch of garlic; lastly the dish is strained to leave a brightly colored broth. Voilà, once done, you can serve the barszcz with uszka, small mushroom-filled dumplings.
The second must try dish is a traditional dish from South Africa called Malva pudding.
This pudding is a sponge cake containing one of South Africa’s most decadent desserts: apricot jam. Malva pudding is most commonly reserved for special occasions, but on Christmas we can see variations of this dish; you can include brandy or Amarula. When still hot, a sweetened butter-cream sauce is drizzled over the cake to give it a gooey, caramelized consistency.
A third Christmas dish is another dessert, whose origins can be chased back to Sicily.
Buccellato is a circular cake laced with dried figs, almonds, and pine nuts. Marsala, a wine, is also added to the Buccellato’s dough before getting oven-baked.
These were only three delicious world-wide dishes served during the Holidays. This Christmas, you should eat up, open and buy gifts, and stay jolly.
All Photos and Sources from nationalgeographic.com
Edited By Catherine Polatidis '26 and Ms. Brilliant
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