Japanese vs. American Christmas
The first time I spent the Christmas season in Japan, I was asked a certain question.
”Do you eat KFC for Christmas?”
What? I thought this was a joke. In fact, it was hilarious. But in retrospect, I guess it was a fair question.
You see, Kentucky Fried Chicken leveraged a very successful ad campaign in Japan from the 1970s to give the image that every American goes to KFC to fill up on friend chicken for the holidays. And to the extent that many Japanese people believe this, you have to applaud the fried chicken chain for their amazingly influential advertising. As a result, KFC is wildly popular during Christmas time here.
The fact is, however, that Americans do not eat chicken for Christmas. The most common main dishes are either turkey or fancy roast ham that’s commonly consumed for the holidays. And everything, often, is made from scratch at home.
What my friend asked me would be the same as Americans holding the stereotype that Japanese people eat instant ramen for New Years instead of osechi-ryori, which is an elaborate and time-consuming cuisine. To have a feast that takes much time to prepare reduced to a greasy fast-food meal is a bit of a shock, you see.
While I do like me some good ol’ KFC fried chicken, I can’t live without my traditional American Christmas fixings. Often, the entire family gather together, extended relatives included, and cooked together. Or sometimes the family will have a pot luck.
The menu is usually something like this:
・Oven-roasted turkey or roasted turkey
・Mom’s famous twice baked mashed potatoes
・Home-made bread
・Stuffing
・Sweet potato casserole
・Green bean casserole
・Gravy
・Cranberry sauce
Also, for dessert, there’s no such thing as a Christmas cake! At least not in America. Dessert is usually apple pie, pumpkin pie, Christmas sugar cookies, and sometimes chocolate chip cookies.
A common drink enjoyed at Christmas is eggnog. It’s a mix of milk or cream, whipped eggs, spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, and the adult version often contains brandy. It’s a lovely, thick and lightly sweetened drink that tastes like Christmas. Children leave out cookies and eggnog (or sometimes just milk) for Santa on Christmas Eve before going to bed. In the morning, they find that all the cookies and eggnog are gone—evidence that Santa dropped by. I guess Santa doesn’t drive sober, huh?
Even among European countries, large difference in Christmas meals exist. All countries around the world celebrate in their own ways. What’s important is that the Christmas message of generosity is conveyed.
While I’m partial to the traditions that I grew up on, I think one of these years I’ll just have to make a trip to KFC and see if Colonel Sanders can spice up my Christmas.