Christmas in Palestine

With Christmas 10 days away, I thought it a fitting topic for today’s blog.

There are a total of 331,000 Christian Palestinians living in the occupied Palestinian territory and surrounding areas. Christmas is very important in Palestine, as it contains Bethlehem, the town in which Jesus was born.

Christmas Eve in England often means getting knocked over every other step battling through the hectic town centre whilst doing the last bit of Christmas shopping. Christmas Eve in Palestine sees a parade through the town with an abundance of bagpipe bands! A tradition left over from when the British army occupied the area between 1920 and 1948.

Arguably the most famous part of Christmas in Bethlehem is the church service of the Mass of the Nativity. It is held on Christmas Eve in the afternoon, evening and at midnight in the Church of Nativity. This is where it is traditionally thought Jesus was born. There’s a small door into the church called the door of humility.

The most beautiful part of the service in the Church of Nativity is seeing the many local people, as well as the countless visitors from all over the world.  The church is so crowded and lots of frankincense is burnt.

Most importantly, of course, the Palestinian’s know how to create the best Christmas food ever!! And it’s all about the Lamb! What really distinguishes festivities in Palestine is the value of the dish, the scarcity of the cooked ingredients, and, in true gastro-spirit, the time and energy expended in its preparation and cooking.

The Christmas feast in Palestine also recognises the consumption of sweets such as Kunafeh and Katayef. Katayef is one of my favourite desserts, one of Nanny Constantine’s specialties, a creamy ricotta inside with a crispy outer layer of pastry goodness! If any of you feel like culinary master chefs this Christmas I strongly recommend you make this Arabic bite of heaven!

Christmas in Palestine is like Christmas everywhere, a time for Food, Family and Friends!

Merry Christmas from me and Happy Hugging Wednesday [it being Happy Hug Day an’ all!]

Natalia