I'm a simple emigrant and I love raclette

Traditions in Germany go like this: on the evening of December 24 you should be more modest and eat “poor” food, and on December 25, the first day of Christmas, you can already lay a fancy table, stuff yourself, and celebrate. On Christmas Eve it’s customary to eat potato salad and fried sausages. Why the first thing is called a “salad,” I’ve never understood: in the most basic version it’s boiled potatoes with onions and a dressing of mayonnaise, oil, broth, and mustard. And indeed quite a lot of people adhere to this tradition. I think, firstly, because it’s not difficult, and secondly, because sausages with potatoes are generally part of the German diet. But on the Christmas table the main dish is goose or duck. Truthfully, I personally don’t know anyone who would go to such lengths. Since the very first year here I have celebrated holidays in the company of German families in Bavaria, Hesse, and NRW. And it has always been different salads and raclette. The salads are mainly potato, pasta, and cabbage, plus a salad of fresh vegetables, and then whatever else one fancies. People naturally expect Olivier from me. In addition, on the table there are various raw meats, shrimp, vegetables, potatoes, and a lot of cheese—all this for raclette. Statistics show that goose, duck, and raclette at the festive table are chosen by roughly the same number of people. Before moving to Germany, I didn’t know about raclette, and after moving there I instantly fell in love. Essentially it’s a grill, with space for small pans. You put inside, for example, vegetables and cover them with cheese, and on the surface everyone can fry for themselves whatever they want and as much as they want. For me, as a child from an Armenian family, it’s simply some kind of miracle. Our mom stood by the stove for a week before the holidays, and during the feasts she ran to the kitchen nonstop. I just wanted everyone to sit at the table and enjoy. Raclette is exactly what you need: everyone eats what they want, but it doesn’t turn into one person’s problem. I recommend it to everyone. And did you celebrate Catholic Christmas? What did you eat? #holidays #food photo © CK_Print-Magazin / Chiara Cigliutti