1. KFC
Yes, you read that right. The colonel’s famous Kentucky Fried Chicken is a holiday food in Japan. To be more precise, due to the fact that they do not celebrate Christmas, as a small percentage of the population is Christian, they instead celebrate the 24th as a couples holiday. When Americans were stationed in Japan after World War II, they ate KFC on Christmas as it was the closest to the turkey back home.
Nowadays, the chicken restaurants end up having to take orders in advance and they also have special holiday meal deals for families. If you happen to be in Japan at that time of the year and you’re craving some spicy chicken you can forget it unless you ordered it in advance. It will all be sold out. It is quite strange that something so ordinary is a staple Yule dish on the other side of the planet.
2. Peace apples
We are going to take a guess that you have never heard of peace apples before. Unless you have Chinese friends or family members, not a lot of people have in fact heard of them. Like with Japan, the Chinese do not generally celebrate Christmas, yet there has been a surge in popularity for the celebration over the last few years, and apples have become something that is gifted.
What makes it even more interesting is the fact that they are not meant to be eaten, and they are not just randomly gifted either. The apple is carefully carved with complicated patterns then wrapped like a Christmas gift and given as a present to close friends and family, to express affection. The name comes from the Chinese name for Christmas which is like the word for apple. This is how this new tradition came to be named.
We would not think a carved apple is worthy as a gift, but when you think about it, it is quite a sweet gesture.
3. Sauerkraut
You would not think that finely cut fermented cabbage is considered a holiday delicacy, but in Germany and Eastern Europe, the superstition goes that if you have a lot of it on your plate at midnight on New Year’s Eve you will be wealthy in the year to come. We do not know where this came from, but it is a little strange.
Despite this, the Dutch in Pennsylvania have kept this tradition and they all eat sauerkraut on New Year’s. Who knows, maybe you truly become wealthier if you have heaps of the sour cabbage on your plate when the clock strikes 12.
