Christmas Eve in Denmark

As you know, my parent came to visit me this Christmas, and we celebrate Christmas Eve with my Danish Host Family. Christmas in Denmark is about three things; food, a Christmas tree, and gifts. Every Christmas, Danes sit down with their family’s and eat more or less the same thing. For meat, they have roast duck with prune and apple stuffing, and fleskesteg (roast pork with cringing). They also have normal boiled potatoes with gravy, sugar coated brown potatoes, and red-cabbage. After that, we have a very special ris a’lamande, or rice pudding with almond pieces, and cherry sauce. However, inside the pudding, there is one whole almond. Every Christmas, the person who manages to find the whole almond without eating it gets an extra gift. It took a while to work our way through the pudding, but in the end the almond was found. At the very least, this is a tradition that insures that all the pudding gets eaten, whether the guests really like it or not.

After dinner, and the first round of dishes are done, we move on to the Christmas tree. The Danish Christmas tree is decorating with ornaments, raffia, and lit candles. All the lights are extinguished, and everyone joins hands, rings Christmas carols, and dances around the tree. One can’t help but think of the pre-Christian Scandinavians who did the same thing with their juletræ over a thousand years ago. Although it was a little awkward not knowing the words to the carols, we got by humming along, and I at least enjoyed it very much.

Finally it was time to open the presents, accompanied by coffee, tea, and the Danish Christmas cookies. Danes generally try to open one present at a time, with everyone reading out who it is and what it is from, but in the end it generally ends up a little more chaotic, as it would take hours otherwise. As far as I can tell, Danes are one of the only countries to open their presents on Christmas eve, and not Christmas day. Christmas day is a time to celebrate with other relatives or friends, or even to go see a recently released film. It is still a national holiday, as is they day after it (aptly called Second Christmas Day), and it is a time to relax at home with friends and family. I think we all enjoyed experiencing an authentically Danish Christmas, and hope to have a chance to do it again sometime.