2. Christmas dinner is the primary meal traditionally eaten on Christmas
Eve or Christmas Day. Christmas dinner around the world may differ and
the traditions present below can reflect the culture of the respective
country it is being celebrated in.
Contents
1 Austria
2 France
3 Germany
4 United States
5 Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine

3. Austria
Christmas cuisine in Austria. Christmas Eve is the celebration of the end
of the pre-Christmas fast. Christmas Eve is historically the day that the
tree is decorated and lit with real candles, so that the Christkindl may
visit. Christmas Day is a national holiday in Austria and most Austrians
spend the day feasting with their family. Fried carp, Sacher torte and
Christmas cookies (lebkuchen and sterne) are eaten, and many other
chocolate delicacies including edible Christmas ornaments. Christmas
dinner is usually Goose, Ham served
with Gluhwein, Rumpunsch, and Chocolate Mousse.

4. France
In France and some other French-speaking countries, a
réveillon is a long dinner, and possibly party, held on the
evenings preceding Christmas Day and New Year's Day. The
name of this dinner is based on the word réveil (meaning
"waking"), because participation involves staying awake until
midnight.

5. Germany
In Germany, the primary Christmas dishes are roast goose and roast
carp, although suckling pig or duck may also be served. Typical side
dishes include roast potatoes and various forms of cabbage such
as kale, brussel sprouts, and red cabbage. In some regions the Christmas
dinner is traditionally served on Christmas Day rather than Christmas
Eve. In this case, dinner on Christmas Eve is a simpler affair, consisting of
sausages or pasta salad. Sweets and Christmas pastries are nearly
obligatory and include marzipan, spice bars , several types of bread, and
various fruitcakes and fruited breads like Christstollen and Dresdener
Stollen

6. United States
Most Christmas customs in the United States have been adopted from those in the
United Kingdom.Accordingly, the mainstays of the British table are also found in the
United States: roast turkey (or other poultry), beef, ham, or pork; stuffing (or
'dressing'), squash, roasted root vegetables, brussels sprouts, and mashed potatoes
are common. Common desserts include pumpkin pie, plum pudding or Christmas
pudding, trifle, marzipan, pfeffernusse, sugar cookies, fruitcake, apple pie, Gooseberry
Pie, carrot cake, bûche de Noël, and mince pies. In the South, coconut cake, pecan
pie, and sweet potato pie are also common.
The centerpiece of a sit-down meal varies on the tastes of the host but can be
ham, roast beef, or goose, particularly since turkey is the mainstay at dinner for the
American holiday of Thanksgiving in November, around one month earlier. Regional
meals offer incredible diversity. Virginia has oysters, ham pie, and fluffy biscuits, a nod
to its very English 17th century founders. The Upper Midwest includes dishes from
predominantly Scandinavian backgrounds such as lutefisk and mashed rutabaga or
turnip. In some rural areas, game meats like elk, opossum or quail may grace the
table, often prepared with recipes that are extremely old: it is likely that similar
foodstuffs graced the tables of early American settlers on their first Christmases.

7. Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine
In the areas of the former Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth (e.g., Lithuania, Poland), an elaborate and ritualized
meal of twelve meatless dishes is served on the Eve of Christmas (24
December), Ukraine and Belarus (6 January). This is because the pre-
Christmas season is a time of fasting, which is broken on Christmas
Day.