We might crave turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce but what do our continental cousins tuck into during the festive season? Tomas Mowlam explains.

In the Netherlands there are a great range of sweets; Kerststol, is an oval shaped fruit and nut loaf, with an almond paste in the middle, Kerstkrans is a puff pastry ring filled with fruit and nuts and Banketstaaf is a flaky pastry log with almond paste in the middle decorated with cherries.

There’s also Speculaas, short crust biscuits with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and other spices. They’re decorated in traditional shapes and are also eaten in Belgium and parts of Germany. Oliebollen are deep fried dough balls dusted in sugar sometimes with fruit inside them.

In Belgium la bûche de Noël, a rich creamy log shaped cake. Belgian’s also tuck into cougnou or cougnolle a sweet bread shaped like the baby Jesus, usually served with a cup of hot chocolate.

In Spain the big meal happens on Christmas Eve, la nochebuena. The main dish is a roast; lamb, cordero asado (above), or a main fish dish depending on the region or taste. There are great starters like white asparagus, Esparragos blancos, and traditional tapas and soups.

There is a wide selection of desserts including turron, an almond nougat, along with los polvorones , soft crumbly cakes, and marzipan figures.

Straight across the channel the French go in for Christmas meals in a big way. The big meal was traditionally eaten after midnight mass, though this is not as common. A roast goose, l’oie, is the main meal but oysters, les huîtres, are served along with salmon and caviar as starters. And of course litres of wine to wash it down.

In Alsatian France slices of Gugelhupf eaten, it’s a sweet dough ring with candied fruit and nuts, and in Provence 13 dessert items are traditionally served to represent Christ and the apostles.

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Image Credit: jlastras

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