Do you know how Christmas is celebrated in Belgium? Learn about Belgian Christmas traditions in our article

How is Christmas celebrated in a country known since time immemorial for the feud between the Flemish and the Walloons?

What can you taste at traditional Christmas markets?

Why do Belgian children prefer Nicholas to Jesus?

What does a Christmas log taste like?

Come and see how Christmas is celebrated in Belgium.

When is Christmas celebrated in Belgium?

Belgium is historically and culturally made up of two distinct communities, the Dutch-speaking Flemish in the north of the country and the French-speaking Walloons in the south. In addition to them, a minority of German-speaking residents also live in the country. This has an impact not only on the country’s linguistic and ethnic diversity but also on Christmas customs and traditions.

Christmas in Belgium is celebrated on the evening of December 24 and the morning of December 25. Depending on which part of Belgium people live in, they celebrate Christmas differently. Celebrations can be similar to the traditions of Dutch, French, or German culture.

In Belgian Dutch/Flemish you say Merry Christmas Vrolijk Kerstfeest, in Walloon Djoyeus Noyé, in French Joyeux Noël and in German Frohe Weihnachten.

Do you know Belgian Christmas traditions?

Markets with wooden stalls and a typical atmosphere have a great tradition in the run-up to the Belgian Christmas. These Christmas markets are also associated with several traditional delicacies such as waffles, pancakes, smoutebollen, or fried sweet dumplings. Drinks include mulled wine, jenever or Flemish gin, and hot chocolate. Skating on ice rinks is usually also used for entertainment.

Many children give each other presents at school on the last day before the Christmas holidays. When giving gifts, music usually plays and everyone sits in a circle and sends gifts to each other. When the music stops playing, whoever is holding the package at that moment keeps the gift. Therefore, the gift should be something that everyone would like.

Who brings the children’s presents?

In Belgium, children are brought small gifts on the night between December 5 and 6 St. Nicholas or Sinterklaas/St. Niklaas (Flemish) or Saint Nicholas (Walloon). Traditionally, children put shoes in front of the fireplace, along with something for Sinterklaas, such as a drawing or cookies, carrots for Sinterklaas’s horse, and something for Zwarte Piet/Sooty Piet/Roetpiet, or Black Peter, Sinterklaas’ helper.

Sinterklaas is said to arrive on his horse with Piet on the roof, Piet climbs into the house through the chimney and leaves presents in and around the children’s shoes. Sinterklaas has a book in which he writes the names of all the children and whether they have been naughty or nice. Piet can put them in a sack and take them away if they’ve been naughty.

No Santa Claus or similar Santa Claus brings gifts to children in Belgium, but families unwrap smaller gifts under the tree on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning the ones they bought each other.

What do you eat in Belgium at Christmas?

Christmas Eve (Kerstavond in Flemish and Le révelion de Noël in Walloon) Belgians usually celebrate with their close family, the main meal being Christmas Eve dinner. It starts with an aperitif and appetizers, followed by an appetizer, especially seafood, and then a stuffed turkey. Potato croquettes are never missing.

A traditional Christmas dessert is Kerststronk (Flemish) or La bûche de Noël (Walloon), a chocolate Christmas log or sponge roll with chocolate cream.

Many families serve a special Christmas breakfast on the second day after Christmas. These are freshly baked crispy rolls with butter and sausage, or jam, followed by pastries called koffiekoek or coffee cakes.

In the Walloon regions in the south of Belgium, a special sweet pastry similar to our Christmas, called cougnou or cougnolle, is eaten for Christmas breakfast. But its peculiarity is that it has the shape of Jesus Christ and often a small pink sugar figure of Baby Jesus is stuck into it.

How to bake your own Christmas log?

The Christmas log, known as La bûche de Noël, is a traditional dessert commonly found in Belgium and France. The dessert is shaped like a wooden log and is considered an auspicious symbol in these countries. It is typically a sponge roll filled with chocolate cream.

Ingredients:

Dough

• 1/2 cup plain flour
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 2 tbsp hot water
• 4 egg whites beaten until stiff
• peel from one orange
• pinch of salt

Cream

• 1 cup of softened butter
• 1 cup of melted dark chocolate
• 1 cup of powdered sugar
• 5 egg yolks

Method:

1. Beat the egg yolks, sugar, salt, and water with an electric mixer until foamy.
2. Add the orange peel, and carefully mix in the stiff egg whites and flour in parts.
3. Work into a dough.
4. Put the dough on a tray lined with baking paper and roll it into a rectangle approximately 1 cm thick.
5. Bake in an oven preheated to 392°F for about 8 minutes.
6. After removing it from the oven, flip the cake immediately without removing the baking paper.
7. Cover with a towel and leave to cool.
8. In the meantime, prepare the buttercream.
9. Beat the egg yolks and powdered sugar until creamy.
10. Gradually stir in the butter and then the melted chocolate.
11. Then spread half of the buttercream onto the sponge, leaving a 2 cm border on each side.
12. Roll the greased sponge dough tightly lengthwise.
13. Spread the rest of the buttercream around the outside edge and use a fork to make a pattern to make the dessert look like a tree branch.
14. Leave to harden in the fridge.

You can also use shavings from bitter chocolate and other decorations for decoration.