Holidays Abroad

Travel is broadening, and this is particularly true if you eat the food.  And Christmas is a time for food, right?

A few years ago I was in Singapore and was surprised to discover that Spongebob was an important part of the Christmas holiday.

Now I find out that in Japan, Christmas is celebrated with Kurisumasu ni wa Kentakkii, or Kentucky for Christmas.  Kentucky, that is, as in KFC.

KFC in Japan has marketed itself as a Christmas tradition, and features a special deluxe menu that sometimes requires reservations made weeks ahead of time.

Japanese don’t get a day off for Christmas, and cooking a big meal of Christmas goose and trimmings is impractical on a work day, so picking up a barrel of extra-crispy on the way home from work makes sense.  Every Christmas season an estimated 3.6 million Japanese families treat themselves to fried chicken from the American fast-food chain, in what has become a nationwide tradition . . . “It filled a void,” Rokka says. “There was no tradition of Christmas in Japan, and so KFC came in and said, this is what you should do on Christmas.”

You can even get bottles of wine— or is it sake?— with the Colonel’s smiling face on the label.

Personally I don’t see this replacing posole or tamales here in New Mexico, but each to his own.

Bon appétit, y’all!