A Glimpse into Mediterranean Food Traditions Over the Christmas Period

A festive display of Mediterranean pomegranates with twinkling lights, capturing the essence of celebration.

The Mediterranean provides an array of inspiration over the festive period, as the region is rich in culinary diversity. This blog provides a snap shot into Italian, Greek, Spanish, Turkish and Lebanese festive traditions.

In the Turkish culture the focus tends to be more around New Years rather than Christmas. The Christmas feast feature dishes like slow cooked lamb, kofte meatballs and flaky pastry filled with minced meat or cheese known as borek. This would be accompanied by sweet bread, pilav (rice) and artichokes cooked in olive oil. Desserts are sweet syrups or honey and pastry such as baklava and kadayif.

Golden, flaky borek stuffed with savoury fillings, adding a delightful twist to the Christmas feast.

In the Greek tradition festive meals feature different slow cooked tender meats such as turkey, lamb and pork. An iconic Greek Christmas centrepiece dish is Roast stuffed with offel cooked on a spit, called kokoretsi. Sweet treats at Christmas time are buttery almond shortbread dusted in icing sugar called kourabiedes, and honey soaked biscuits called melomakarona. Christmas bread filled with dried fruit, nuts and spices are often decorated with intricate designs.

Roasting meats on a spit is a festive tradition in Greece.

In Italian culture a traditional feast of the seven fishes occurs on Christmas Eve. It provides an opportunity to enjoy seafood prepared in a variety of ways. Examples include seafood salad, calamari, salted cod, seafood risotto and spaghetti with clams. Then on Christmas day decadent seafood is swapped for meat. Examples include stuffed capon, roasted veal, roast potatoes and vegetables. Desserts include breads such as panettone and pandoro.

Rows of freshly baked panettone hang upside down to cool, ensuring their signature fluffy texture for the Christmas season

In Spanish culture nougat and marzipan are enjoyed on Christmas Eve. At Christmas traditional dishes include suckling pig or roast lamb. This is served with potatoes with peppers, onions and olive oil. In Catalonia they stuff pasta tubes with leftover meats from their Christmas table to enjoy after Christmas. Dessert comprises of crumbly shortbread biscuits, wine biscuits and sweets made from a combination of cinnamon, sugar and lard.

Christmas table set featuring elegant place settings and warm candlelight for a festive holiday feast.

So over the festive period why not embrace the flavours of the Mediterranean? Why not try something new i.e. wine biscuits or borek. I'm sure you and your loved ones will enjoy them as much as the mediterraneans do.