Rosemary Parkinson,Contributor 
WHEN PEOPLE say, 'Bwoy, I love Christmas in Ame-rica (or Englan') -- lights in di street, snow pan de groun', big turkey, carols (blah blah blah), but no sah, I like my Christmas right here,' I agree.
I love Christmas and I do believe in Santa Claus, but he has to come to the Caribbean to see me. We just happen to have the best of the best Christmases. Before we have a glimpse into homes of islanders, let me mention this:
DID YOU KNOW?
Great Britain celebrated Christmas on January 6 according to the Julian Calendar and it was not until the adaptation of the Gregorian Calendar in 1752 that December 25 was established as the anniversary of Jesus' birth?
USA residents in isolated rural communities ignored this new December 25 business and continued to celebrate 'Old Christmas' way up until the middle of the 20th century. January 6 was a time for storytelling.
Legend had it that at midnight on Old Christmas Eve (January 5) all farm animals kneeled in their stalls to adore the newborn Jesus praising Him with human voices. Bees joined in the celebration humming the 100th Psalm. Water in wells and streams magically turned into wine with fruit trees bearing miraculously vanishing by daybreak.
People born on January 6 were thought to possess special powers and had the ability (like Dr. Doolittle!) to talk to animals. They could see ghosts, locate hidden treasure and cure diseases.
CHRISTMAS IN THE CARIBBEAN/SOUTH AMERICA
The Island of Margarita on the north coast of Venezuela has its Dia De Los Reyes (Day of the Kings) on January 6. It is on this day that The Three Kings 'arrive' and there is much festivity. Christmas dinner is on December 24, the following day El Nino Jesus (Baby Jesus) brings the children's gifts. Ol' St. Nick has little to do with Christmas here.
During this time islanders fill the churches to celebrate the blessed birth and Hallacas (spicy meats in corn meal 'patty' wrapped in banana leaves), Jamon Endulsado con Pina (Baked Ham with Pineapple), Pan de Jamon (Ham Bread), Dulce de Lechosa (Papaya Sweet) are some of the delicious foods seen on the tables while Aguinaldos (local carols) provide the festive Christmas music. Dates are abundant, picked fresh and sold in little brown paper bags.
In Curacao the Jewish Community which purports to have the oldest synagogue in the Americas, celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year during The Ten Days of Repentance culminating in a 24-hour fast on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The Book of Life is then opened by God and He decides who shall remain on it for the year. At the end of this period, special foods grace the tables of the Sephardic community.
During the holidays bread is served two loaves at a time, for God gave the Jews in the desert "Double Mannah" on Friday. He could not provide it for them on Saturday as it was the Sabbath. During Rosh Hashanah bread dough is rolled into one long piece and wound round and round to make a loaf. A piece is removed, blessed by a woman of the Jewish faith, placed into a hot oven until it burns. Once thrown away, the rest of the bread or Challah is placed in the oven to bake. Chicken soup is served with Chalapches (stuffed cabbage) and Sangria.
Trinidad's Christmas is about food, drink & party. Everybody is in the melee -- street vendors to restaurants, hotels to homes -- with the African, Indian, European, Chinese and Lebanese influences creating a potpourri of traditions.
Children know that de 'bogey' man will come and take them away if bad behaviour continues. Papa Bois in the forest looks out to see who is behaving. Parang (a patois version of the Venezuelan Aguinaldos) from the hills of Santa Rosa and Paramin invade the towns and soca-parang hits the radio stations and recreational venues with a vengeance. Ponche Crema, sorrel, ginger beer, Carib and Fernandes Rum, Johnny Walker Black, Pastelles (same as Hallacas) are abundant and no Trini home is without them.
Grenada, land of spice, prefers the local pine trees at Christmas. Parang groups armed with everything that could possibly make music, serenading from house to house and there's stiff competition on the island of Carriacou.
Black fruit cake is baked and soaked from October in port wine and Clark's Court White Rum. The Christmas table is decked with stuffed turkey, ham, macaroni pie, green pigeon peas and rice. Ginger beer, sorrel and Clark's are the favourite drinks, spiked of course with nutmeg and the various spices that Grenada is so famous for. As in all islands, Christmas Eve is a time of prayer and the churches are filled at midnight mass.
Barbados is a little more British. Christmas Carols abound and some calypsonians have now begun to put out a sort of calypso Christmas fare. Stores are made beautiful with traditional Christmas decor and lights of all sizes and shapes abound.
Particular villages and urban areas are known for their brilliant display of lights and many a night is spent 'lightseeing'. Bajans love to spruce up -- buying new curtains and painting their houses before Christmas while red Poinsettia and Snow On The Mountain are resplendent in gardens.
The 25th brings stuffed suckling pig, ham and turkey, flying fish, jug jug, sweet potato pie, baked yam and pickled breadfruit, sorrel, ginger beer Mauby, Banks beer and Mount Gay Rum. Christmas is a family thing with church and home being the scene.
In St. Lucia, from early afternoon until midnight in November, the harsh booming sounds from homemade 'cannons' announce the Christmas festivities.
Kush-kush, pigeon peas, dasheen, tania, plantain and a special Christmas yam called Banja abound. Black Pudding (a spicy sausage made from pig's blood) is prepared. Piglets, kid or lamb are slaughtered on Christmas Eve in the villages and pots on red-hot coals blaze with the preparations. Hairoun Beer and Bounty Rum abound. Left-overs are soaked in brine and stored in earthenware pots called "kanwani" for eating in January and February when the pinch of Yuletide expenditures is felt.
On Boxing Day in Bermuda the Gombeys are out in full force, dressed in colourful homemade costumes with sequin- and mirror-decorated capes and amazing headdresses topped by tall elegant peacock feathers.
These male dancers carry tomahawks and bullwhips through the streets feigning menacing movements to the sway of the rapid, rhythmic beat of side-drums. A group may stop, challenging each other with fast steps which get more difficult with each invitation. At the end of each performance, collections are taken from the crowd and woe be to those who will not give. Gombeys always wear masks that reflect the African, West Indian and Native American influences.
Street vendors are everywhere serving up Bermuda Fish Chowder, Cassava Pie and Rum Swizzle (see recipe) made from Meyers Rum or even Dark & Stormy (rum and ginger beer).
During slavery in The Bahamas, the Africans were given three days off at Christmas to leave the plantation to be with their families. They celebrated these holidays with African dance, costumes and music.
Today the Jonkunoo Festival starts in the wee hours of Boxing Day and continues through to New Year's Day. Parades are led by groups with names like The Saxons, Valley Boys and Roots. Months in advance colourful floats have been built out of papier mache behind closed doors. Musicians with bugles, whistles, horns and cowbells lead the floats while dancers in bright fringed costumes inter-wine between them moving with intricate step to the Gombey beat. "Rushing" is the term used for participating. If you are not rushing you are just a member of the crowd.
Bahamian fried chicken, potato salad, cracked conch, conch fritters and Kalik Beer are the order of the day. The spectacle is one of wild abandon, a carnival if you must, right into daylight. When the music stops costumes are put aside never to be used again.
Rosemary Parkinson is Author Culinaria: The Caribbean
