Portugal Christmas

Like in spain the traditional christmas meal in portugal called consoada is eaten during the evening of christmas eve and consists of codfish with green vegetables and boiled potatoes this is normally followed by shellfish wild meats or other expensive foods.

Portugal christmas. Portuguese use christmas trees and santa claus pai natal and the parents tell their children that baby jesus helps santa with the presents. Lisbon is a city brimming with history and tradition and the christmas season is no exception. Christmas in portugal is a holiday season for family re unions. Visit portugal christmas in lisbon.

Christmas isn t as big an affair in portugal as it is in other countries on the surface at least. Seven brilliant ways to spend the holidays. The festival is a private affair. Nearly every house will feature portugal s national dish bacalhãu dried salted cod as part of consoada bacalhãu de consoada is a relatively simple recipe of cod with cabbage potatoes boiled eggs and a hearty amount of olive oil.

After the meal people go to church for the missa do galo or mass of the rooster service. The important customs for celebration of christmas in portugal include set up of the nativity scene in every portuguese homes and exchange of christmas gifts. If you ve ever wanted to spend christmas in lisbon we ve got seven great reasons why 2019 is your year. They sing christmas songs like happy christmas silent night white christmas.

Families usually set up a nativity scene presépio with mary joseph the cow and donkey the three wise men but the. São martinho do porto launched europe s biggest floating christmas tree a couple of years ago and celebrated with fireworks over the bay. Christmas lights are a big thing in portugal especially in the cities and most will be switched on by the end of november. As portugal is a catholic country meat doesn t feature at all.

Christmas day for the portuguese is a much more low key day similar to our boxing day and all family members are expected to go to church. It is always advisable to pre book a table for a christmas meal. The portuguesse on christmas eat boiled cod fish and they also eat turkey for lunch. Christmas lights and decorations in portugal.

In portugal christmas celebrations are broadly similar to those in other countries. The people of portugal have a cool tradition they open their presents on midnight they also decorate their house with paper ribbons candles flowers and other cool stuff. Portugal s national dish bacalhau is probably the most traditional option for christmas dinner although octopus is also common in the north of portugal and in the algarve. In northern portugal and the algarve you ll see octopus served as a traditional.

Consoada is the traditional portuguese dinner on christmas eve.