Christmas is coming and homes everywhere will soon be filled with all the various traditional aromas that people enjoy in their part of the world. Traditional confectionery is often given a creatively innovative gourmet twist (take, for example, the many variations on the Italian panettone theme) but there are sometimes quite new ideas mixed in with the old favourites. Once again our Host Ambassadors offer us a glimpse of how people will be rounding off their meals this year.

We start in Italy, where Laura La Monaca is in no doubt what Christmas 2020’s big hit is going to be: Sicilian cassata! Not that people will be shunning Italy’s two big festive classics: panettone and pandoro. “These are still a must at mealtimes over Christmas in Italy,” says Aline Borghese, who notes that there will also be innovative alternatives, in the form of “gluten-free, sugar-free or even flour-free cakes”.

Nancy & Namrata remind us that in the multicultural United Arab Emirates there are many nationalities celebrating Christmas, and “with the different faiths come many eclectic foods, with everything from mince pies, rum cake and Yule logs to gingerbread cookies, trifle, German Stollen, Indian Goan Kalkals, Mangalorean Kuswar (from the Indian state of Karnataka), Filipino Bibingka and more.” The Arab population also have their own traditional desserts that are eaten around the Christmas holidays. “The most popular of these are kunafa made with shredded filo pastry and cheese, basbousa, which is a semolina cake topped with sugar syrup, maamoul (a semolina biscuit filled with dates) and ghraybeh, which are Middle Eastern butter cookies.”

The most common Christmas confectionery items in India, says Vernika Awal, are “plum cake and tea cakes, which are commonly made in most regions and metro cities of India. There are different regional dishes that are specific to India’s different communities. For instance Goa and Kerala have a huge Christian population and much use is made of coconut because of the coastal belt they are based in. Dishes like prawn balchao and chicken cafreal are common in Goa, whereas dishes like Achappam, rosette cookies, are common in Kerala.”

The favourite desserts in Argentina are dulce de leche and chocolate, explains Sabrina Cuculiansky. “In Argentina it’s summertime, so as well as the typical cakes, panettone, nougat, chocolate peanuts, soaked almonds, alfajores and mantecol (peanut paste and glucose syrup), people eat a lot of ice cream and fresh fruit. Chefs generally prepare more summery confections using cheese, fruit and nuts.”

The UK Christmas is a very traditional affair, as Sally Prosser explains: “I begin soaking the fruit for my Christmas cake in early autumn, before baking it weeks ahead of the 25th and feeding it with more booze. The last Sunday before Advent is Stir Up Sunday, when Christmas puddings are made, charms added and everyone takes a turn at stirring the mixture and making a wish. Yule logs have become more popular recently at Christmas, but other puddings such as trifle are eaten over the whole festive period.”

Recipes for mince pies and puddings have been modernised of late. “Traditional rum or whisky might be replaced with Cointreau or cream liqueurs or even omitted completely for customers who avoid alcohol for health or religious reasons. Collaborations with celebrity chefs are common in supermarket ranges, and Waitrose produces a festive line with Heston Blumenthal. His mince pies this year are radically different from traditional ones: made with carrot and caraway shortcrust pastry (formed in the shape of a clock face), filled with mincemeat made with vine fruits, carrots and sherry, and with smoke-flavoured sugar sprinkled on top.”

Christmas on the other side of the Atlantic is rather similar, but features America’s own traditional cookies, cakes and pies. Aaron Arizpe tells us how panettone has become very trendy even among those with no Italian origins. A good example is “From Roy” by chef Roy Shvartzapel, who was mentored by panettone master Iginio Massari and uses mother yeasts to create what he describes as “the Mount Everest of the baking world”.

A much more recent tradition, finally, is found in Japan, we learn from Marc Matsumoto: “Christmas is more an occasion to go on a date or meet up with friends than to spend time with family. The traditional Christmas dessert is a Christmas cake, which here is a sponge cake with whipped cream and strawberries. New Year is the traditional holiday in Japan when families gather and eat and drink. On this occasion, foods are known as Osechi Ryouri and each food is a symbolic wish for the new year. For example, Datémaki is a sweet rolled omelet made with egg, sugar and fish, and because the rolled cross-section looks like a scroll, it is believed to ensure a year of learning and wisdom.”