During the December festivities, it’s inevitable to associate feasts and social gatherings with the end of the year or Christmas. But where does the custom of eating at these celebrations come from? Why do we eat what we eat? What lies behind Christmas food?
We must remember that the celebration of Christmas was not present in the rituals of Christians during the first three centuries. It was only when Constantine, the first emperor to convert to Christianity, set December 25th in the year 336 as the birth date of Jesus Christ, to coincide with the pagan mysteries of the Sun cult and thus convert more people to Christianity. It was not until the eighth century that Christmas began to be celebrated more widely, and in Europe, even up to the eighteenth century, it was practically considered a festival for aristocratic families.
The turkey served at Christmas dinner originates from these lands, and it was the Spaniards who brought it to Europe as one of the exotic delicacies from America. There, turkey quickly became the dish of celebration and festivity, first served at royal wedding banquets and later at bourgeois Christmas celebrations, mainly due to the elevation of taste: as an exotic animal, it was more highly valued, and some historians argue that it replaced chicken and hen, which were eaten at these same festivities, due to its size and the possibility of sharing it from a single dish—a practice popularized by the success of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol.
Although today the Christmas dinner menu varies depending on the customs of each family or household in different parts of the world, it is one tradition that has survived the passage of time, primarily because it has transcended Christianity to become a celebration that proclaims universal family and solidarity values. Even some Muslims, Jews, and agnostics around the world now also celebrate Christmas: it is the Christmas dinner that brings together people who rarely see each other during the year, creating a more conciliatory or truce-like atmosphere (though it obviously doesn’t resolve all conflicts). Studies on spending for Christmas gifts for children show, for example, that it remains relatively stable despite economic crises, something economists have classified as “purge expenses” or “necessary expenses,” in the sense that they symbolize an action that hides or removes signs of unwanted crisis.
In the case of Christmas meals, posadas, and other December celebrations, we can dare to say that these are necessary consumptions, in the sense that sharing these foods not only gives meaning to our tradition through what is eaten, but also through the social bond preserved by sharing a meal. In that moment of celebration, people seek to return to the fundamental values that allow us to live in community, such as solidarity. Whatever our creed, these fundamental values are undoubtedly exercised when we eat in celebration.
And it is paradoxical to think that it is precisely when we are most aware of these pleasures that we are least likely to indulge in excess food or drink, because we are truly enjoying the meal in the company of those we care about. Thus, the journey through Lupe–Reyes, instead of a high-performance marathon, becomes a relaxed hike.
Happy holidays!
Originally published in El Economista
— This article was originally published in Spanish by Liliana Martínez Lomelí. Translation generated with AI from the original text.