How Mixed-Culture Expat Families Celebrate Christmas

A Tale of Two Tables, Slovak-Italian Style

We split Christmas between both Italy and Slovakia. Christmas Eve dinner in Slovakia means vianocne oplatky (Christmas wafers with honey), steamed sauerkraut, mashed peas, and fried cod-fish filet, not carp, with potato salad. I make eggnog, which my partner treats more like the Italian zabaione cream, eating it with vanilkové rohlíčky.

Christmas Day in Italy involves a big, long family lunch with Venetian fish-based dishes like bigoli in salsa (spaghetti-like pasta with anchovy and onion) or piovra (steamed octopus with vegetables). Holiday meals end with a slice of pandoro or in my partner’s family a piece of mandorlato, a heavenly handmade nougat.

There’s no shortage of wine or grappa; catching up with friends over aperitivi is as important as spending time with the family. –Natalia Homolova 

A glass of grappa

Gifts from Two Guys and Twelve Dishes On the Table

My Czech in-laws do Ježíšek and make řízek or potato salad, my mother-in-law makes some cukroví; she makes it a few weeks early to let it sit, which I don’t understand but it’s good! -Marta Budzyň

Romanian Sausage Party, English Stockings

We are a British-Romanian family, both me and my husband cook Christmas food [specific to our countries]. Presents are found on the 25th in the morning and the kids also get stockings. Then on the 26th or 27th we go to Romania where I am from and celebrate with sausages, something like Czech tlačenka but much better, big sausage with rice, stuffed cabbage leaves, liver sausage, black pudding, Romanian borscht, tripe soup, polenta balls stuffed with Balkan cheese and egg, pickles, sweet bread, and cakes. –Ioana Cairns-Dane

Romanian Sarma and Mamaliga / Wikpedia @Themightyquill

Medieval Mince Pies vs. Czech Carp

We are a Czech-British family. My British husband brings suet from the UK, I make the pudding sometimes as early as August, make my own mince pies according to some medieval recipe so I actually stick minced beef in it and dried fruit and lots of brandy and let it sit for two weeks before making it into mince pies. My husband hates carp, cotton wool with needles, he calls it. He now threatens the kids that if they are naughty they will get Czech Christmas with carp and Ježíšek as a punishment! –Eva R.

Sinterklaas Stops by Prague

Sweets from Sinterklaas

We also incorporate faith by reading stories and then having conversations about what that day means and what the time of year represents for people of different faiths or beliefs. –Gail Whitmore

Even a Czech Can’t Love Beer in a Bowl

Danish Øllebrød / Wikipedia @RhinoMind

We are a Czech-Danish family. We live in Prague but always spend Christmas in Denmark. I cook traditional Czech for breakfast and lunch; for dinner mostly Danish things like turkey with stuffing and potatoes roasted in caramelized sugar with gravy sauce as well as Christmas beer bread pudding which is basically bread boiled in Christmas ale with cream on top; I hate that with all my heart. –Simona Zavadilova

Czech Christmas Cuisine Done Light

Finnish Piparkakku / Wikipedia @Jonik

I do potato salad but a lighter version than the Czech one, dessert is Finnish style with gingerbread and mulled wine. So basically it’s about doing it a little lighter (no frying or mayo) than Czech cuisine. -Anna Heczko

See how Hanukkah is celebrated locally with this great recipe for latkes, or make an American holiday classic, pumpkin pie.