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| A Nativity Scene in the Novo Hamburgo Cathedral, Rio Grande do Sul (Photo: Diego Mandarino) |
How is Christmas celebrated in your country? More specifically, how does your family celebrate it?
These are two interesting questions because, even though each country seems to have its own distinctive customs, traditions also vary accross different families of the same nationality. I'm going to talk about some Brazilian practices at Christmas, including food, and also how my familiy usually celebrates the holiday.
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| The Christmas Tree at my godparents' house (Photo: Cleia Catarina Wagner) |
Decoration
As in most countries where this Christian holiday is observed, decorated Christmas trees are put up some time before December 25th, the Christmas Day. It consists of an often fake pine tree. Brazil, besides being partly equatorial, has almost all of its territory in the Southern Hemisphere, where it is summer on Christmas. So, actual pine trees either do not exist or easily die after a short time period if they are cut off and planted in a vase. That being said, a few people in the South, where the climate is temperate, have the habit of cutting off a bough of a real pine tree and placing it in their living room to be adorned from top to bottom.
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| A Christmas Garland (Photo: Diego Mandarino) |
There is not an exact date when Brazilians in general set up their season decoration; on the streets, some stores may display colorful tinsels and Christmas lights as early as late October! Which is obviously a suggestive way of reminding customers that they should get their end-of-the-year shopping done. In contrast, some families do not get to adorn their homes before December, without observing a specific date. This happens due to the fact that many people are either not aware of, or concerned with, the Christian tradition according to which the preparation for the birth of Jesus starts on the fourth Sunday before December 25th - it's the start of the Advent period - and that's when decorations are supposed to be put up. On the other hand, it is a widespread custom to take down the ornaments on January 6th, the date when Christians recall the narrative in the Gospel of Matthew about the arrival of three wise men from the east who visited newborn Jesus.
The ornaments on the Christmas Tree are varied, the most popular of them being the traditional colored balls, the baubles. Small angels, bells, Santas and other characters and symbols are also common. On top of the tree, a star resembling the Star of Bethlehem is usually placed, though sometimes there is no tree-topper at all. Differently from North-America, candy canes and stockings are not part of the Brazilian tradition.
Another very common piece of decoration in Brazil is the Nativity Scene (presépio) It may consist of a singular sculped object or a set of figurines put together to show baby Jesus in a manger, with Mary and Joseph standing on each side of it. Nativity Scenes often portray the Holy Family in a stable or grotto, surrounded by farm animals, some shepherds that have dropped by from the surroundings and, a little further away, the three wise men on their journey to the manger.
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| A Nativity Scene featuring the Holy Family in a stable (Photo: Diego Mandarino) |
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| Another example of a Manger Scene (Photo: Cleia Catarina Wagner) / (and the drawing of a Christmas tree under the tree is from my 4 year-old goddaughter, Victoria) |
Christmas garlands on doors are also ubiquitous at this time of the year in Brazil. What may not be so common is the tradition of the Advent Wreath. In my family, my parents usually place it on a coffee table. The wreath has four candles, each of a different color: the green one, representing hope, is lit on the fourth Sunday before Christmas; both the green and the red candle, symbolizing love, are lit on the following Sunday; on the second Sunday before the 25th, the green, red an pink candles (pink symbolizes joy) are lit; finally, on the Sunday before Christmas and on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, all four candles are lit, including the white one (peace).
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| An Advent Wreath (Photo: Diego Mandarino) |
Gift Exchange
The exchange of gifts usually takes place in the evening of December 24th, when families gather to have dinner. In my family, each person or couple usually buys one present for each member of the family. In the companies where I have worked, the staff does a Secret Santa some time in December before Christmas Day.
Santa Claus
Santa Claus (Papai Noel) has become a very popular character in Brazil as of the 20th Century. In some families and places like villages or neighborhoods, someone dresses up as Santa and delivers gifts and candy to the children. In virtually all shopping malls and some town squares, Santa Claus shows up to talk to the children and listen to their requests.
Food
In Brazil, the main meal associated with the holiday is Christmas Eve's dinner. There is a distinctive dish that has become very popular in the country over the years: the roasted Chester, which is a particular type of very big chicken grown especially for the date. Its meat is tenderer than a turkey's. The latter is also common in Brazil.
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| A “Chester” chicken with farofa on the side (Photo: Diego Mandarino) |
The accompaniments are usually farofa (fried cassava flour) or rice and some type of salad. Raisins, contrary to what is normal in Brazilian cuisine in the rest of the year, are often added to these side dishes by whoever prepares the dinner, much to the disgust of many of the guests and children - so much so that the presence of raisins at the Christmas dinner has become the object of some jokes and internet memes. I actually like the raisins, and they are usually present in my family's recipes.
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| My family’s Christmas dinner this year: a salad with pineapple, carrots, raisins, cabbage and lettuce; “Chester” chicken with farofa and rice (Photo: Diego Mandarino) |
Some families prepare a sweet side dish to accompany the chester or turkey, which is called fios de ovos (egg threads). Another common side dish is rabanadas, which consist of sweet fried slices of bread; this tradition comes from Portugal.
Outside the Christmas dinner per se, the panettone is a Christmas staple in Brazil. It is also a common gift. The panettone, of Italian origin, is a loaf of bread that is sweet and takes dried fruit; an even more popular version of it in Brazil takes chocolate instead of dried fruit (the latter is not the cup of tea of many Brazilians). In my family, we usually have both and I like them both, but I like the "chocottone" better.
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| A Panettone with dried fruit sold in Brazil (Photo: Diego Mandarino) |
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