Australian Christmas versus tropical French Christmas

Who will win?!

Christmas in Australia

For anyone who’s used to a European Christmas (Snow! Christmas markets! Mulled wine!), an Aussie Christmas can feel truly bizarre.

First of all, it’s usually hot. There’s a real sense of cognitive dissonance seeing the traditional Christmas imagery, like snowmen and snowflakes, while Santa’s sweating bullets in his polyester suit and itchy fake beard.

The heat doesn’t lend itself well to a traditional Christmas dinner, either. While my family will usually do a ham and a turkey, plenty of Australians go the seafood route. We’ll be chucking some prawns on the barbie (note: if you call them shrimp you will get laughed out of town), someone will be shucking ice cold oysters, if you want to get fancy you might serve some scallops.

A pavlova always goes down a treat, and there’s usually a big box of in-season cherries. Christmas pudding may make an appearance, and no matter how hot it is, there’s always room for Christmas pud.

Our family is a bit different. Everyone has a specialty that they bring alongside most of the above. For mum, it’s her world famous mac ‘n’ cheese. Why mac ‘n’ cheese? No one knows, she just started making it one year and it was so good it got requested every year. One cousin is sausage rolls, another chocolate slice. All civility goes out the window when Aunty Renuka’s samosas emerge from the kitchen. Alongside the Christmas classics (ham, turkey, etc), we usually have 3 or so different curries with rice.

Then there’s the pickles. ‘French pickles’, as nana calls them. Someone has usually made these in advance, they have a slight curry and vinegar flavour and a deep yellow turmeric colour. The days post-Christmas are spent making ham and pickle sandwiches on white bread.

Nana’s pickle recipe, which you can make only if you can decipher her handwriting.

We do a kk (secret Santa) with nana playing Santa and handing out the gifts. Everyone collapses in a food coma in the heat.

Christmas in French Polynesia

I was here last year for Christmas, and I’ll be here again this year. Once again, it’s hot, but the food and the traditions are so different from home and so charming.

The first is the nativity scene (or Crèche de Noël). Martin’s mum sets it up outside, with little fronds of greenery for palm trees, a foil river and rocks, blue fabric for the sky. We and the children take turns placing the figures in there, however it’s not just the standard Mary, Joseph and donkey; you also have the shepherdess, the guy selling metal stuff, the woman with a basket of geese, and the village simpleton. These are called santons and originate from Provence, depicting not just the religious figures but people of various trades from the villages.

The main celebration is Christmas eve rather than Christmas Day. Last year, we went to mass on Christmas eve, and I got to hear familiar carols in both French and Tahitian. We used to go to church every year when I was young, so it feels pleasantly nostalgic to go through the familiar rituals.

Everything is decorated in flowers and greenery, including Mary and Joseph.

Dinner is roast chicken, foie gras, potatoes, champagne, local prawns and Vietnamese salad. Last year, we were all too full to eat the dessert, a chocolate ‘log’ with the tiny figurines on the top. We ended up eating it the next day.

On Christmas Day, gifts are exchanged and leftovers are eaten, but it’s not so big an event as the previous night. We ended up going out on the boat and having a dip in the lagoon, the perfect lazy activity when you have a food hangover.

This will be my second French/tropical Christmas

I said ‘Aussie versus French’ at the start, but I don’t think I can say that Christmas here or Christmas with the family in Australia is better; both have their ritual, their special moments. I’ll make samosas again this year so I have a taste of home and I’ll have a twinge of homesickness when I chat to my family over video, but otherwise I’m going to eat my foie gras and be merry.

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To you lovely few who are supporting my work by being a paid subscriber, I’ve made you a customisable Christmas card filled with plenty of ‘Aussie’ Christmas stuff to send to friends and family. And if you’re somewhere cold (looking at you, Lucas!) just send it to someone you know will be in a warm climate like Australia.

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