Variety on the festive table: New Year's dishes from around the world

New Year is a holiday filled with traditions. A Christmas tree decorated with children, a sacramental Olivier salad, a glass of champagne while the chimes ring, and long feasts - all these attributes have long become an integral part of the New Year's ritual. But in each country this holiday is special in its own way, and Magic food spoke about New Year's traditions in different countries of the world.

Shouldn't you try to expand the geography of the New Year's table this year and give yourself the opportunity to prepare dishes traditional for different countries of the world?

You can start your culinary journey in Japan and end it in the USA, along the way visiting China, Egypt, the Azores, Brazil and Peru. This in no way means that you need to include all kinds of culinary delights from all corners of the globe in your New Year's menu - just choose two or three unique and exciting dishes.

Denmark – roast goose stuffed with dried fruits

What do we know about the culinary traditions of Denmark? Unfortunately, the only thing that comes to mind is the famous lutefisk, which, by the way, is often associated with Denmark, although it has Scandinavian roots. However, it should be noted that there is also a New Year's culinary etiquette, thanks to which the Danes serve roast goose filled with dried fruits on their tables every year. On the one hand, this may seem ordinary, but on the other hand, this whole process is filled with an incredible aroma.

Ingredients:

• 1 goose carcass weighing approximately 4 kg;
• 4 pears;
• 4 apple;
• 1 cup prunes;
• 1/2 cup dried apricots;
• 1/2 cup raisins;
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries;
• 1/2 tsp. chopped rosemary needles;
• 1/2 tsp. caraway;
• salt, pepper, garlic to taste;
• 1 glass of white wine.

We stuff the goose carcass (gutted, washed and dried) with minced meat prepared in advance: mix dried fruits, sliced ​​apples and pears, salt and add pepper, rosemary, cumin. We sew up the hole through which the filling was inserted or secure the edges properly with toothpicks.

Rub the skin of the goose thoroughly with a mixture of salt, pepper and garlic. Place in a baking dish, pour in wine, cover with foil and leave for 3-5 hours to marinate, then place the dish in an oven preheated to 200 degrees and bake for 2,5 hours, then remove the foil, reduce the temperature to 180 degrees and keep until readiness: the crust should be golden, and the juice released when cutting should be transparent.

Italy – pork sausage cotecino with lentils

As in many other European countries, New Year's dinner in Italy adheres to classic and standard traditions. However, there is one dish that is invariably prepared in various regions of this country and served as a symbol of prosperity - kotekino pork sausage. Dinner takes place at the usual time (not at our usual midnight) and always includes lentils - to soften the fatty taste of the meat treat.

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By the way, if you think that this is just a sausage with an unusual name, you are deeply mistaken. This is far from the product we are used to: kotekino is made from the lower part of pork legs, which is cleaned of everything and remains only as the outer skin. It is stuffed with minced meat made from what remains after the shank is cooked. The result is a fatty, jelly-like sausage, which is served with a side dish. To be fair, it should be noted that almost no one cooks kotekino at home; they prefer to buy semi-finished products at the nearest butcher shop.

Still, it's worth a try for the atmosphere and Italian taste.

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp. paprika;
• 1 tsp dry dill;
• 1 kg of minced pork meat from the lower leg (shank);
• 500 g chopped lard;
• 3 large cloves of garlic;
• 5-7 juniper berries;
• 1 tbsp. l. black pepper beans;
• 100 ml dry red wine;
• salt to taste.

Pour wine into a blender bowl, add juniper and garlic. Grind. Place the meat and lard in the same bowl, add salt, and don’t forget about peppercorns, paprika, and dill. Grind again in pulsating mode. We fill the prepared thick casings for homemade sausages with the resulting mass (or, if desired, peeled skins from pork legs), carefully tie them with thread.

Boil the sausages in plenty of salted water for about 30 minutes. Serve with lentils, vegetables, any sauce of your choice.

Japan – soba with crab meat

New Year in Japan resembles a standard European holiday: traditional Western snacks, champagne and fruit appear on the table. When the bells at Shinto shrines ring 12 times to announce the New Year, Japanese people head to the nearest shrine to also ring the bell and make a wish. However, there is also a unique Japanese tradition: on the last day of the outgoing year, plates of thin, long buckwheat noodles, symbolizing long life, are always placed on the festive table. To not only prolong life, but also make it rich, crab tempura or simply boiled crab meat is added to the noodles.

Ingredients:

• 200 g buckwheat noodles;
• 2-3 Art. l olive oil;
• 100 grams of broccoli;
• 1 carrots;
• white part of leek;
• 2-3 cloves of garlic;
• 2-3 champignons;
• 2 tbsp. l. sesame oil;
• 2-3 tsp. soy sauce;
• 1 tsp. honey;
• 2-3 tsp. rice vinegar;
• crab meat.

Place a pan of water, add salt and boil the soba. Place the finished noodles in a colander and rinse well under cold water.

At the same time, heat the olive oil in a wide frying pan, fry the finely chopped garlic, then add leek slices. When the onion becomes soft, add mushrooms, grated carrots and broccoli, disassembled into florets. Fry over medium heat, after a couple of minutes add soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar, sesame oil. At the end, add the crab meat cut into pieces. Fry a little more, taste for salt and serve.

USA – classic stuffed turkey

Let's start with the fact that residents of the United States, like many other Protestant countries, do not always pay special attention to the New Year. However, if they still decide to celebrate it, they prefer not to overload the festive table with a variety of dishes. A few salads and a stuffed turkey are enough to feel the atmosphere of the New Year without turning the holiday into a grandiose event.

However, with turkey it's not that simple. This is a traditional dish, and each family prepares it in its own way, because there is no universal recipe, as, for example, for Olivier salad or oven-baked chicken. Each homemaker makes her own unique contribution to America's culinary heritage, and while there are no strict rules, a basic recipe usually looks something like this.

Ingredients:

• 1 turkey carcass weighing approximately 5 kg;
• 1 large carrot;
• 1 small celery root;
• 3-4 apples;
• 1 tbsp. l. mustard beans;
• 1/3 cup dry white wine;
• 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh sage;
• zest of 2 oranges;
• juice of 1 orange;
• 50 g softened butter;
• salt and pepper to taste.

Mix salt, pepper, sage, zest and softened butter, grease the turkey under the skin and inside. Cover with cling film and put in the refrigerator for 5-10 hours.

Before putting the bird in the oven, cut the carrots and celery into cubes and mix with apple slices. Add olive oil, mustard, wine and orange juice, be sure to add salt and pepper. We hide the resulting minced meat in the turkey, do not pour out the remaining liquid, sew up the hole or fasten it with toothpicks.

Place the turkey in a mold, pour over the remaining sauce from the stuffing, cover with foil and bake in an oven preheated to 200 degrees for 2 hours, after which we remove the foil, reduce the temperature to 180 degrees and, periodically pouring the juice over the bird, bake until done - at least 1,5 more. XNUMX o'clock.

Netherlands – salted beans with bacon

New Year's Eve in the Netherlands is filled with fun, laughter, fireworks, noise, glasses of champagne and sugar-coated donuts. Particularly popular here are gift hunts (searching for surprises based on clues), as well as the traditional drink “slam” based on hot milk with spices, gingerbread cookies and waffles. You can’t do without salted beans, generously seasoned with bacon and garlic. Finding pre-salted ingredients in stores can be difficult, so we suggest you prepare a lighter version of this delicacy using regular dry beans.

Ingredients:

• 500 g of beans;
• 500 g white beans;
• 1 kg of potatoes;
• Xnumx fat;
• 700 g smoked cold cuts;
• 1 bulb;
• 1 carrots;
• 1/2 celery root;
• 3-4 cloves of garlic;
• salt, pepper, spices to taste.

Soak beans and beans in the evening in plenty of water. In the morning, rinse, fill with fresh water and, adding salt, cook until tender. Aim for approximately 1,5 hours.

In 3 liters of water, boil lard, onion with husk, as well as peeled carrots and celery. After 40 minutes, strain the resulting broth and pour it into the pan with the beans. Add peeled and diced potatoes. Place assorted meats on top in large pieces, add salt and pepper. Cook for about 25 minutes.

When the potatoes are ready, take out the meat, puree the contents of the pan, squeezing out the garlic, then mix with the beans and place on plates. When serving, place the sliced ​​meat on top.

Bulgaria – sour cabbage stewed with meat

In this country, both Christmas and New Year are celebrated abundantly and richly, but at the same time maintaining simplicity in traditions. Most dishes are everyday treats, and the choice of options is very wide - it depends on the individual preferences of each family, but almost everyone prepares sauerkraut stewed with meat.

Ingredients:

• 0,5 kg of sauerkraut;
• 2 bulbs;
• 1 carrots;
• 1 tbsp. l. lard;
• 400 g lean pork;
• 2 Art. l tomato paste;
• salt, pepper to taste;
• 2 bay leaf.

Melt lard in a deep frying pan, add pork cut into small cubes, fry until golden brown. At the end, add the onion cut into half rings. Stirring, fry for another 2-3 minutes, at the end add grated carrots and sauerkraut (if the cabbage is very sour, first rinse it under running water). Add salt, pepper, tomato paste, bay leaf. Pour in half a glass of broth or water, cover with a lid and simmer for about half an hour.

Serve with a side dish of potatoes or on its own.

UK – traditional roast beef

The British have an outstanding love of tradition, and celebrating the New Year in their style is all about devotion to a number of well-established customs: ringing in the old year with lights is done; get rid of unnecessary things - done; Decorate the Christmas tree - counted; and making sweet pudding for dessert is also on the list of completed tasks. Among other preparatory activities, British roast beef is sure to appear. Like other recipes from English cuisine, it is a simple, but at the same time extremely tasty dish.

Ingredients:

• a piece of beef tenderloin with a “marble pattern” weighing approximately 1,5 kg;
• salt, a mixture of peppers, a little olive oil.

Turn on the oven to preheat to 250 degrees.

We clean fresh (not frozen or defrosted - this is the main condition) meat from excess films, thoroughly rub it with a mixture of peppers and vegetable oil, fry on all sides in a well-heated frying pan until beautifully golden brown. After this, salt the roast beef and place it on a baking sheet. If desired, you can put 3-4 sprigs of rosemary or juniper berries under a piece of meat.

Bake at 250 degrees for about 15 minutes, then reduce it to 180 degrees and bake for another 10 minutes (if you like roast beef rare) or 20 minutes (if you prefer meat without blood).

After the meat is ready, do not rush to cut it into portions: real roast beef should “simmer”, “breathe” for at least 10-15 minutes - this way the juices will be evenly distributed inside the meat, and the dish will be as tasty as possible.

Estonia – blood sausages

New Year in Estonia resembles the holiday to which we are accustomed. Of course, there are also things that are unique only to this territory, for example, the belief about meeting a chimney sweep on the street, which is a sign that foretells happiness, but in general the format of the holiday is very familiar. Sometimes it is even difficult to determine where certain traditions originate from.

Ingredients:

• 3 liters of blood;
• 1,5 kg of lard;
• approximately 6 m of cleaned prepared intestines;
• garlic head;
• 4 large onions;
• red pepper, black pepper, ground cumin, salt to taste;
• 50 ml brandy;
• 1,5 kg of boiled buckwheat.

Fry finely chopped lard in a deep frying pan. As soon as the fat has rendered well, add the diced onion and turn off the heat.

Mix with buckwheat, add spices, garlic, add blood, salt, mix thoroughly. We fill the intestines with the resulting mass, tying them every 10 cm and forming small sausages.

Place in rings on a greased baking sheet, prick each sausage in several places, and then bake at 180 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Cuba – chicken with rice and bananas

As in many similar countries (for example, Portugal and Spain), in Cuba on New Year's Eve it is customary to eat 12 grapes with each stroke of the clock - with the hope of fulfilling your wishes. However, dinner is usually held until midnight, without lingering at the table, and they enjoy oven-baked chicken with aromatic rice and bananas.

Ingredients:

• 1 chicken carcass weighing 1,5-2 kg;
• 2 cups rice;
• 3 unripe bananas;
• 1 carrots;
• 1 bulb;
• 4-5 garlic cloves;
• bunch of parsley;
• salt, pepper, olive oil.

In a frying pan in vegetable oil, fry the garlic cut into slices; as soon as it begins to brown, transfer it to a baking dish. Quickly fry the sliced ​​bananas in oil over medium heat.

Put it in the form. We do the same manipulations with carrots (circles) and onions (half rings). Pour rice over the fried fruits and vegetables, add salt and parsley.

Wash the chicken carcass, dry it and cut into portions. Fry in olive oil until light golden brown. Place in a baking dish on top of the rice. Add water so that the rice is covered by 1 cm with liquid, and bake in the oven at 180 degrees for about 45 minutes.

Having become acquainted with the culinary New Year traditions of various countries, you have had your fill of extensive gastronomic experience, acquired culinary knowledge and, we hope, received a dose of inspiration. May the New Year's table this time bring your family something unique, unusual and original, may it be filled with lots of happiness, smiles and warmth.