All the world loves a holiday! At the minimum we get a day off work. At the most, grand celebrations and quality time with family and friends.. On a deeper level, holidays often ask us to look back at a shared history.
Holidays and celebrations give us a time for coming together as a community, remembering loved ones passed or giving thanks to our God.
Food is almost always part of any holiday celebration. Good food at its best is a shared experience, and holiday food traditions are a social glue that binds cultures together.
Holidays Recipes Around the World
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Chinese New Year: Recipes and Traditions
Gung Hay Fat Choy!! So goes the traditional Chinese New Year greeting, wishing peace and prosperity. Also called the Spring Festival or Lunar New Year.
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Christmas: Recipes and Traditions
Favorite Christmas traditions include exchanging gifts, decorating Christmas trees, singing carols, drinking eggnog and baking all manner of sweets and treats.
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Cinco de Mayo: Recipes and Traditions
Celebrate Mexican heritage by cooking up some tasty south-of-the-border treats for your Cinco de Mayo fiesta.
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Día de los Muertos: Recipes and Traditions
Mexico’s Day of the Dead may be Christian on the surface, but it origins lie deep in ancient Zapotec and Maya rituals of ancestor worship.
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Diwali: Recipes and Traditions
Diwali, or Deepavali, is the Indian Festival of Lights. The holiday celebrates the triumph of good over evil, light over darkness.
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Easter: Recipes and Traditions
Easter is the holiest day on the Christian calendar, and commemorates the day Christ rose from the dead after his crucifixion, symbolizing the spiritual resurrection of all Christians.
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Eid al-Fitr: Recipes and Traditions
Muslims around the world celebrate the end of the fasting period of Ramadan with Eid al-Fitr, the Festival of Breaking the Fast.
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Father’s Day: Recipes and Traditions
Show Dad how much you care with a tasty brunch or backyard barbecue decked out with lip-smacking foods from around the world.
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Fourth of July: Recipes and Traditions
Find recipes for all-American Fourth of July favorites like hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, coleslaw, baked beans, pies, cobbler and more.
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Halloween: Recipes and Traditions
The spooky rituals of Halloween have their origins in the ancient Celtic harvest festivals of northwestern Europe.
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Hanukkah: Recipes and Traditions
The Jewish festival of Hanukkah celebrates the rededication of the Second Temple in 165 BCE after its desecration by Antiochus IV.
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Kwanzaa: Recipes and Traditions
The period from December 26 through January 1 marks Kwanzaa, a week-long holiday celebrating the ancestral roots of many Black Americans.
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Labor Day: Recipes and Traditions
Labor Day is an American holiday that traditionally marks the last weekend of the summer. Picnic and barbecue dishes are great for Labor Day.
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Mardi Gras: Recipes and Traditions
“Laissez les bon temps rouler!” Gras parades and masked balls have grown into a world famous festival with revelry, debauchery and fine food.
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Memorial Day: Recipes and Traditions
Try these recipes for a Memorial Day picnic or backyard barbecue or for munching as you watch the parade go by.
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Mother’s Day: Recipes and Traditions
Give Mom the best day ever with an international selection of mouthwatering dishes that shows you care.
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New Year: Recipes and Traditions
Ring in the new year with an international spread of auspicious dishes from around the world.
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Nowruz: Recipes and Traditions
The ancient Persian spring festival of Nowruz, Persian for “new day,” is considered the beginning of the New Year not only in Iran, but throughout Central Asia.
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Oktoberfest: Recipes and Traditions
At Germany’s world-famous Oktoberfest, huge tents with picnic tables are set up in Munich every year, and locals and visitors throw back enormous quantities of beer and sausages.
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Passover: Recipes and Traditions
The Jewish holiday perhaps most associated with food is Passover, or Pesach. This weeklong spring holiday celebrates freedom from slavery under Pharaoh and the Exodus out of Egypt.
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Ramadan: Recipes and Traditions
Ramadan is a time of prayer, reflection, fasting (sawm). Then at sundown, the iftar meal is served. Find iftar recipes to make your Ramadan memorable.
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Rosh Hashanah: Recipes and Traditions
Rosh Hashanah, Hebrew for “head of the year,” is the Jewish New Year and the first part of the High Holy Days.
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St. Patrick’s Day: Recipes and Traditions
St. Patrick’s Day is an Irish national holiday celebrating Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. Legend holds that Patrick converted the pagan Irish to Christianity in the 5th century.
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Super Bowl: Recipes and Traditions
Since 1967, the Super Bowl has been the Big Kahuna of all American sports events. The final game of the football season is a time of mega hype, mega commercials and mega eating.
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Thanksgiving: Recipes and Traditions
The American celebration of Thanksgiving stretches back almost 400 years to the year 1621, when English settlers at Plymouth Rock gave thanks for their first harvest.
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Valentine’s Day: Recipes and Traditions
St. Valentine’s Day is a time for velvet hearts, chocolate sweets, romantic dinners, lovers and lace.
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