Christmas is also a great holiday in El Salvador from food, to activities, to all the Christmas spirit –even when it looks like summer, I am sharing with you how we celebrate this special time of the year!
Traditions
Let’s start by saying we celebrate Christmas evening the most, that evening is when we have the big family gathering, the special dinner, and we all stay up beyond 12:00 am, even kids wait that long. We give hugs and open presents right after 12 am.
Firecrackers and fireworks are part of the celebration too. Think about how the 4th of July in the USA looks, that is about the amount of fireworks and firecrackers we use for Christmas. Also, they are almost never banned since we do not have high fire danger areas.
The main religion is Catholic and there are some services and activities going on in the cities and towns to celebrate Jesus so some participate in these traditions. On the other hand, some prefer to go dancing after 12 am, or even host their own parties at their house.
Food
Food is big in our culture, cooking is actually one of the main activities, from going to the Mercado (market) to cooking almost everything from the scratch, the flavors that come together, make this holiday season special.
We spend most of the day cooking this day. We go to the mercado, then we start preparing dinner. The main dishes served during this time in my hometown are “Panes con pollo” (A big chicken sandwich that have many veggies, and sauces), gallina rellena (Stuffed hen), “Panes con pavo”(Turkey sandwiches), and “Pavo al horno”(Oven baked Turkey). Surprisingly, we do not eat pupusas that day, can you believe that?
Some other dishes are tamales de pollo, tamales pisquez, tamales de elote.
Some popular desserts tres leches, cheese cake, sweet bread like pastelitos de higo, and pastelitos dulces de carne. We have also made the upside down pinaaple cake, upsidedown plaintain cake.
For drinks, most of the times is just soda pop, or the seasonal sparkling water.
Here is a helpful list with all the holiday recipes you might enjoy!
- My first recipe is of course the Christmas Chicken Sandwiches https://salvadorankitchen.com/easy-salvadoran-christmas-chicken-sandwiches/
- Escabeche elevates this sandwich https://salvadorankitchen.com/healthy-pickled-vegetables-escabeche-salvadoreno/
- How to cook your beets using a pressure cooker https://salvadorankitchen.com/easiest-beets-in-the-instant-pot/
- This is how I cook my turkey breast and you can use the meat to make your turkey sandwiches https://salvadorankitchen.com/simple-roasted-turkey-breast-pechuga-de-pavo-horneada/
- My favorite dessert https://salvadorankitchen.com/easy-tres-leches-dessert-or-my-favorite-dessert/
- Upside-down pineapple cake https://salvadorankitchen.com/upside-down-pinapple-cake-volteado-de-pina/
- Christmas alfajores https://salvadorankitchen.com/christmas-dulce-de-leche-alfajores/
Activities
On Christmas day, some people go to touristic places, the beach is a popular destination, the mountains, and also visit little towns (puebliar) are some others another, and some look for splash pads and pools to hang out. The main purpose is to spend time with family and friends.
What are some Christmas traditions you have?
I would love to hear and learn more about your Christmas and New Years favorite foods!