Christmas time is here! Time for presents and time off and food! Oh, and family I guess. The best part is the food, but don’t you get tired of having no new Christmas foods to try? Eggnog and fruitcake and mashed potatoes are fine, but why can’t we have something new? Most of the following foods are not new, but they may be new to you. We are going international. What better way to get to know other countries than to try their Christmas food? Links for recipes are included.
1. Risengrynsgrøt  (Norway)
This is a rice porridge generally eaten for lunch on Christmas Eve. It is normally servedwith sugar, cinnamon, and a pat of butter. A tradition is to hide an almond in the pudding.Then whoever finds it gets a marzipan pig. They would also leave a bowl of porridge out for Santa, instead of cookies and milk.
2. Sachertorte (Austria)
Look at that chocolate goodness! Sachertorte is a three-layer chocolate sponge cake, and each layer is coated in apricot jam. Then to make a good thing better, you add chocolate icing, and put whipped cream on the side. It was invented in the seventeenth by Franz Sacher, a sixteen-year-old, who made it at the last minute for a prince. The head chef was sick, and so Franz took charge, and used the ingredients around him to create this masterpiece. Sachertorte is now a common Christmas dessert.
3. Vitel Toné  (Argentina)
A common Christmas dish in Argentina, Vitel Toné actually originated in Italy. The dish is made with slices of veal served in anchovy and tuna sauce.  There are currently many versions of the recipe, but a relatively new one includes mayonnaise. The first recipe is in a cookbook from 1891, written by Pellegrino Artusi. Vitel Toné was a summer dish, and still is. Southern hemisphere gets to have summer and Christmas at the same time. I am so jealous. The sauce can be put on other meat, so if you don’t have or don’t like veal, no worries. If you don’t like fish though, maybe stay away from this food. Also this is a complicated recipe, so amateurs, don’t attempt.
4. Ensalada Rusa (Dominican Republic)
Ensalada Rusa, or Russian Salad, actually was invented in Russia. It is a potato salad that 
gets its red color from beet juice and red onions. It also contains green peas, giving it the red and green Christmas colors. It made its way to the Dominican Republic with Spanish immigrants, and is still a popular Christmas food. It can also be found at other times of the year, but without the red color.
5. Akoho Sy Voanio (Madagascar)
Madagascar is another one of those countries who has Christmas in summer. Despite that their Christmas aesthetic is similar to ours; snow, holly, poinsettias, and robins. The only thing from that list which is actually in Madagascar is the poinsettias, which are the national flower. Generally families eat together, and the main dish is chicken or pork. This recipe is the most popular of the season, and consists of chicken in coconut milk served over rice.
Try as many of these recipes as you can, and let us know how they turn out. Have a delicious Christmas break!
~Simia Yoder