Christmas market in Wroclaw , Poland
celebrating the birth of Jesus . Santa is honored as a saint . As such , it is customary for a family member to dress up as Santa , giving out gifts after dinner and before mass .
A traditional menu consists of several courses :
• Cold mezza : tabouli , fattoush ( bread salad ), kibbi naye ( raw meat ), hummus , baba ghanouj ( eggplant dip with garlic , lemon and tahini ) and grape leaves .
• Hot mezza : fried cheese rolls , fried kibbi , sambousek ( meat pies ), makanek ( Lebanese style sausages ), soujok ( spicey lamb and beef sausage ) and fries .
“ Our Polish relatives send the sacrament from Poland and as we go around the table breaking off a piece of the Host ( a wafer blessed by a priest thought to have undergone transubstantiation ). We tell of what we are thankful for and our prayers for the next year . It ’ s a great time . Then some of us try to make it to midnight Mass ,” says Kim , a Polish American with family in Krakow , Poland .
Lebanon
Menu and Traditions :
Though a majority of Lebanese practice Islam , nearly 40 % of Lebanese distinguish themselves as Christian . Lebanese Catholics decorate Christmas trees and set up nativity scenes on December 5 , right after St . Barbara ’ s Day . Catholic families also attend midnight Mass on Christmas Eve . Visits to family and friends begin Christmas Day and continue through the New Year . Streets throughout towns and cities are decorated with festive designs , beginning in mid- November .
• Main Meal : either chicken or lamb with rice and a plethora of nuts .
• Dessert : Buche de Noel , or Yule Log cake and Mighli , a rice pudding spiced with cinnamon and caraway , with optional toppings like coconut , pistachios and almonds . It is a traditional dessert to celebrate a new baby or Christmas .
There are also Christmas chocolates , sugar-coated almonds , and liquor shots as well as Lebanese coffee . It is
Christmas tree at Byblos in Lebanon
The holiday is focused on family , food , religion and
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