When most of us think of Christmas we immediately picture snow cladded streets with everyone snuggled up inside around the fire, sipping on eggnog. This, however, is not the case in South Africa. With Christmas in South Africa being celebrated at the beginning of Summer many people opt to be outside sipping on a cold beverage.
Christmas Lunch
With Christmas being such a major element of the Christian religion, many South Africans will spend Christmas Eve or Christmas morning at church. This means that by lunch time the whole family is ready to feast.
Since it is usually a hot summer’s day many families will choose to braai outside instead of cooking the usual turkey with all the trimmings. Most Christmas lunches will have seafood as the star dish and a leg of lamb or whole chicken to accompany it.
South African’s love their sides. Mash, pap, potato salad, rice, sambals, you name the side dish and it is part of at least one family’s lunch. Dessert is a must have after every Christmas lunch and South Africans know how to dessert. Malva pudding and trifle are amongst the traditional family favourites.
Christmas At Home
Although Christmas is celebrated during Summer, many South Africans will still hang stockings over the fireplace, if they have one or anywhere else in the house if they don’t. Much like many countries around the world, South Africans will decorate their houses with Christmas themed lights and many houses even have competitions to see who has the better display. The Christmas tree is of course a universal tradition, however, South African’s often opt for a synthetic Christmas tree or DIY tree rather than a live fir tree or evergreen as these are not indigenous.
At Humboldt International food brokers, we specialise in food production, import and export. By importing to and exporting food from South Africa, Asia and the Mediterranean, we make sure that all our produce is of high quality and standard so that you can enjoy your Christmas feast no matter which part of the world you’re in!
For further information email: hello@humboldt.global or call: +27 (0)86 11 11 849