Surprisingly, turkey is included in many of the country’s traditional menus. But who would have thought that the Czech Republic’s traditional Christmas meal would be fried carp and potato salad!

I learned that “In England, the evolution of the main course into turkey did not take place for years, or even centuries. At first, in Medieval England, the main course was either a peacock or a boar, the boar usually the mainstay. After the French Jesuits imported the turkey into Great Britain, it became the main course in the 1700s.”

Of course, the United States got many of its traditions from England because of our history. But these days, with the many cultures found in the United States, we should be seeing some variations on this.

Perhaps some of our readers will share their variations?

Take New Years, for example. My mother-in-law has Slovak /German heritage and it was traditional for her to serve pork and saurkraut for “good luck” for the New Year. But here, in the South, it is traditional to have black-eyed peas and greens, among other things.

One thing I noticed, when I traveled a lot years ago, is that it is common for Americans to be “ethno-centric” – thinking that everyone does things like we do. But, I found that it is not the case.