In THE BATTLE OF THE OFFAL, strictly speaking, 'other' won with liver and tongue coming next in the poll. I knew this time would come when 'other' would win a poll. I got away with it when bananas won the fruit poll while stupidly omitting strawberries from the list of poll options. But now, for the first time ever, 'other' has won a poll. Here I suspect, but I cannot empirically prove, that 'other' is best interpreted as 'none of the above'. Given I included most offal, including many disgusting offal, as poll options, given that those offal I didn't include as poll options were arguably even more disgusting than the ones I included, and given, and most importantly, the overwhelming tone of comments was that 'other' meant 'none of the above', I declare liver the winner. This is called interpretive research; all research findings, even quantitative research findings, need interpreting. So it's tough titties to those who voted 'other'; if you don't like offal don't vote 'other' to mean 'none of the above', just don't vote instead!
It's now the turn of Christmas foods to do battle!
This poll is all about Xmas food and not Xmas drink. So there's no Champagne, eggnog, mulled wine or other drinks commonly drunk at Christmas time. And by Christmas food, I mean both savoury and sweet food, whether small and nibbly or big and filling. Also I'm including foods that are both eaten exclusively at Christmas time (eg candy cane, Christmas cake, Christmas pudding, yule log) and foods that are eaten at Christmas time but also eaten at other times (eg chocolate, mince pies, roasted vegetables, roast turkey).
My favourite Christmas foods are bread sauce, Brussels sprouts, chocolate, Christmas pudding (especially if it's got coins in it - my granny would always make a Christmas pudding with sixpences in!), custard (but that's great every day for me), mince pies (with custard), nut roast, panettone (an Italian fluffy sweet fruit bread), pigs in blankets, prawn cocktail, roasted parsnips, roast potatoes, salmon, trifle and yule log, with roast turkey being my best Christmas food - see photo below.
My least favourites are candy cane, cranberry sauce (I can handle redcurrant but not cranberry sauce) and roast duck or goose (both too fatty). KFC fried chicken (a Japanese festive tradition!) would be my worst Christmas dish, but I never eat that on any day of the year - see photo below.
What is your most and least favourite Christmas foods?
If you celebrate Christmas, what foods do you normally eat on Christmas Day?
Do you regularly cook a Christmas dinner?
My Christmas Day normally starts with me opening a bottle of Champagne (or Cava and Prosecco depending how much or little money I have to spend) before the main Christmas meal is served up mid-afternoon. The meal is always a roast turkey with all the trimmings - stuffing, pigs in blankets, mash, roast potatoes, roasted parsnips, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, carrots, mushy peas and a Yorkshire pudding, all served up with a lashing of gravy. My plate will be piled high to the point where, as much as I love my vegetables, I'll struggle to find the star of the show, the slices of roast turkey sitting at the bottom of my piled-high plate of all the trimmings. I'll be truly stuffed after eating all what's on my plate!
I've never cooked a Christmas dinner and it's probably best left that way. I'd be in total panic stations in the kitchen and guests would either die of waiting for the meal or, even worse, die from food poisoning!
Below is a poll where you can anonymously select your most favourite Christmas food. Unfortunately only one pick is allowed in the poll.
But a poll on this site can only have 20 answer options. There was no room for borscht, brandy butter, brandy snaps, bread sauce, Brussels sprouts, carp (a Central European festive fish dish), cheese, churros, cranberry sauce/jelly, cream (whether single, double or whipped), custard, devils on horseback, dry-cured ham (eg jamón, presunto, prosciutto), gravy (including jus), herring (a Swedish festive fish dish), hotpot, KFC fried chicken, kiviak (a Greenland festive dish of little auk seabirds fermented in seal skin), mash (aka mashed potatoes), nuts, oysters, Pavlova (an Australian meringue dessert dish), prawn/shrimp cocktail, pumpkin pie, redcurrant sauce/jelly, red velvet cake, roast chicken, roast duck, roast goose, roast lamb, roast partridge, roast pheasant, roast pork (including roast suckling pig (eg lechon)), salmon (whether baked, cured, grilled, pan-fried, poached or smoked salmon), steak, stuffing (aka dressing or filling), sweet potato casserole, trifle, venison, White Christmas (an Australian dessert) and Yorkshire pudding.
I think roast turkey will win this poll. But chocolate, Christmas ham and a yule log may figure strongly.
I want to thank @EnigmaInitiative for her helpful advice in compiling this poll. Any mistakes with the poll are of course my mistakes unless of course 'other' wins again!
Please see the first comment below to see what has won each battle of the food and drinks so far.
Only ten sleeps to go!
KFC restaurant, Tokyo:
5
31 comments
This was easy. I voted for gingerbread because it has 2 things I like to eat ... gingerbread and men!
Being from my parents culture in South Florida, Cubans usually have roasted pork. I remember my dad taking me to a nearby farm from where we lived and picking out a pig for them to slaughter.
This was my first time actually watching how the would do this. I do have to say, I never saw so much blood being shed since it wasn't just our pig going through this process. Once the dead pig was loaded in the back of the trunk of our car, I got to watch my dad marinate it thoroughly.
My dad then dug a three foot rectangular pit in the yard. He got a metal grate that he had in the shed that was big enough to lay the pig on it. He hung the grate from the swing set that we out grew as kids in the yard. When he cooked it the night before Christmas day (Cubans celebrate "Noche Buena" - "Good Night" on Christmas Eve then having it on Christmas Day) he would hang the metal grate with the pig on top of it and allow it to swing over the coals in the pit. He would cover it with some big banana tree leaves and just slowly push the grate over the fire as it swung.
That was the most succulent roasted pig I had ever had. Over the years I have made pork shoulder in the oven but usually that has always been my go to kind of meat for the holiday's.
@spunkycumfun It was... the home we were living at during this time was the very first house my dad bought. The whole experience with decorating a natural tree was an experience I remember like it were yesterday.
I also remember as I was getting older, my mom and older brother had the talk with me that Santa didn't exists, and it was my dad and mom that got us our gifts.
That left me numb. Because I knew how hard my dad had to work to provide for us. We didn't have a lavish lifestyle. They pretty much gave us what we wanted during Christmas. From that time on I never asked for anything very expensive. Even though my dad would say ask for what I wanted, I thought I would never ask for something too expensive.
Would the pit be equivalent to a caja china ? I had a roast pig from one, and it was fantastic
@njfitguy1 The "caja china" cooks with the coals above the roast. The pit cooks with the coals below it. Both cook it outstandingly.
As an older, refined Southern Gentleman (cough, cough....yeah right!), I have to vote for pecan pie. It's easier to make than it seems, decadent as hell calorie-wise, and remind me of my childhood. And since the "birthday boy" (yes, I'm a Christmas baby) gets to choose his "cake", this and German Chocolate Cake are always at the top of the list.
Nice looking Turkey and Treats
I voted Christmas cookies! I love the variety of cookies that seem to only appear at this time of year.
In terms of actual food that would be served in a meal, my sister's traditional Christmas Eve dinner is Mexican lasagna, so that has to be my favorite. I sometimes spend Christmas Day with her family and other times I might go to a Chinese place with friends, so it's the Christmas Eve meal that sticks with me.
@spunkycumfun really? My family always made a bigger deal of Christmas Eve than Christmas Day when I was growing up - my dad's mother was German so maybe that explains that.
I chose turkey, but it's the soup I look forward to more than the turkey itself. Due to getting sick, I had to cancel the Xmas party I was planning to hold. At least nothing will go to waste. I'll be roasting the turkey on Xmas Eve and have a small family dinner instead.
Get to feeling better
I did vote for Gingerbread in this poll as you will see why in
my answers to your questions.
What is your most and least favorite Christmas foods? My least favorite
would be cranberry sauce.
My favorite used to be Turkey and stuffing.
If you celebrate Christmas, what foods do you normally eat on Christmas Day? You
know I used to do a Traditional Christmas Dinner with Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy and all the traditional sides
that went along with this meal.
But since it's just me and hubby and we have Turkey for Thanksgiving, we have had Prime Rib, Roast's with all the vegetables, and we have
and we have what I call now Christmas Nachos, which we will be
enjoying this Christmas. I use ground beef, refried beans, lettuce
tomatoes, green onions, avocado, sour cream, nacho cheese
sauce and grated jack and cheddar cheese. As you can see my
Holiday Nachos are quite colorful and this meal is so very filling. And we
will not be having the traditional pumpkin pie either. It's going to be
Cherry Crumb Pie, and Lemon Meringue..
Do you regularly cook a Christmas dinner? I do cook a Christmas dinner
every single year. But different meals each year.
This was another great poll, and I hope you get to enjoy all your favorites
for your Christmas meal this year..
My Christmas dinner is a duplicate of Thanksgiving…roast turkey with all the trimmings.
Bread sauce? What the heck is bread sauce?
My absolute favorite Christmas food is gingerbread cookies, cut into various shapes and decorated (but NOT with icing). Heck, I can eat a zillion of them just plain... oh, the sweet and tangy smell and taste of Christmas!
Have to say Spunky, your Christmas meal is just the way I love it - all of the Festive favs, and "plate piled high"! Cept instead of "turkey", we'll have roast chicken, (roast beef is for New Yr's here), def roast potatoes or a potato bake, and all the rest! Oh, and Christmas fruit cake with brandy and plenty of cherries! And, instead of eggnog, I'll make Don's, as I call em, bit of whiskey, milk and stacks of ice-cream! Can't wait!
@spunkycumfun A "Dom", (Oops Spunky, think I put "n" instead of "m" in the word "dom" ), anyway, what I call it, and it's a "Dom Pedro", and has become very popular in our country, esp when lacing it with Amarula instead of whiskey. Guess it's an adult milkshake?!
I voted Christmas biscuits/cookies. Mom"s ginger cookies are high on the list but the ones she only made at Christmas time (and we only called them Christmas Cookies) are my my favorite. I am the only one in the family that bakes them now and have posted about this year's bake. With pictures. I do not do a special Xmas dinner.
Turkey with stuffing, or dressing on the side, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole. I don't like ham at Christmas, only at Easter. I'm not cooking it my assisted living makes a nice meal, there are a lot of people don't have anywhere to go or no family like me. Some family do come to eat with them. I'm'
blessed to have a home and so glad to be home, I didn't make it home for Thanksgiving, my second favorite holiday, the only sad thing is my Mother passed away around Thanksgiving in 2004.
My least favorite would be mincemeat pie.
Least fav would be turnip...however as ive aged i appreciate them more.
Yes.....ive cooked a many many Christmas. Usually with my mom, who would always cook a Christmas goose and a stewed and then fried rabbit. Those would be my favorite and really the only times i would eat other foods beside fish.
Since, ive lost all of my family, i don't cook or bake as much anymore.
I picked sweet potato pie ~
I love gingerbread. And for some nutty reason, I only cook it during the holidays. Least fav would be giblet gravy. yuck.
Christmas day we eat what we choose. Often we do have turkey or ham. This year I think we are having smoked ribs and brisket. I had started planning Italian manicotti and lasagna then my son got involved and wanted everything smoked.
I do cook on Christmas.
I picked chocolate, but I was tempted to choose the vegetables, especially if they were roasted.
Not big on sweet potatoes. Past 20 years cook for myself. Usually wine and cranberry juice to drink. Do outsource the pie.
@spunkycumfun ay include in Rast beef ?
@spunkycumfun not that big on Eggnog traditional drink. A comedian know calls it Elf Cum. 😂
@spunkycumfun you will definitely be thinking elf cum. 😂
@spunkycumfun Turduckhen and Boudin are my Cajun Favorites. Dressing with chopped up with shrimp and/or Crawfish
@spunkycumfun truduckhen a strange animal. 😂 Actually is a Turkey stuffed with Duck Stuffed with Hen. Best stuffed with either dressing or rice flavored and accented with oysters, shrimp, crayfish, sausages. Boudin usually pork or mixed meats with rice peppers onions formed into sausage shell. Did blog post on
@spunkycumfun the " Holy Trinity" of Csjun Cooking, Onions, Bell Peppers, Celery. Lot of Spices and sauce and hot sauce
My least favorite is cranberry sauce
@spunkycumfun I have no clue where it came from
@spunkycumfun big cranberry production in New England
@spunkycumfun It IS a New England thing. That said, forget the sauce, you're missing out on the cranberry relish--fresh and perky, with ground oranges in it, and not sad or jellied from a can.
What is your most and least favourite Christmas foods?
Ham gets my vote any day of the year and especially on Christmas.
If you celebrate Christmas, what foods do you normally eat on Christmas Day?
My mom always made a Christmas breakfast and that included omelettes and crepes with black raspberry jam. I miss that.
Do you regularly cook a Christmas dinner?
No, but I did smoke a turkey one year. It was tasty!
It's a frequent debate around here over roast turkey or ham for Christmas dinner. I favor turkey, even though it was just served a month ago at Thanksgiving, and won't be served again this next Thanksgiving. My contribution is making the stuffing (dressing). Another thing that only appears twice a year.