An alternative Christmas
Japan's love affair with fried chicken and the story of a very Chinese Jewish Christmas
The Food Chain · BBC World Service
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Show Notes
What dish says Christmas to you - roast turkey, goat? Carp perhaps? What about fried chicken?
In Japan nothing says ‘festive family food’ more than a bucket of KFC fried chicken. And if you’re Jewish and from the US, a Christmas meal will almost certainly mean a trip to Chinatown.
Ruth Alexander unearths the origin stories of these two unlikely, but incredibly popular, - alternative Christmas food traditions, and finds out how food can help give you a sense of belonging, even if celebrating Christmas isn’t for you.
(Picture: Bucket of fried chicken and bowl of Chinese food. Credit: Getty/BBC)
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Contributors:
Nina Li Coomes, writer based in Chicago, USA
Rabbi Joshua Plaut, author ‘A Kosher Christmas: ‘Tis the Season to be Kosher’.
Producers: Sarah Stolarz and Simon Tulett