Customs of food and drink

The customs around eating and drinking: feasts, fasts, hosting and ceremony. Not recipes.

EveryParampara follows the customs around food, not the dishes: the blessing before a meal, the order in which guests are served, the feast that marks a day, the fast and how it is broken, the ceremony of pouring tea. A named food appears here only where it has a role in the custom, such as the sweet offered at a shrine or the bread broken at a Sabbath table. For dishes, recipes and cuisines, see Thali, our food guide.

Meals as rituals

Many meals are ritual in themselves: the Passover seder follows a script, the iftar ends a day of fasting with a prayer, a wedding feast has toasts in a set order. EveryParampara lists these by country and by meal, with the dates where the day moves each year.

Manners at the table

Table customs vary widely: eating with the right hand, sharing a single dish, waiting for the eldest to begin, leaving a little on the plate or clearing it entirely. A guest learns the rules by watching, and a host will forgive mistakes. Behind the rules is a simple idea: the meal is a way of showing respect.

About this page

Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Customs of food and drink (kind of tradition). Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

🇺🇿 Bukhara, UzbekistanNavruzNavroʻz The spring equinox festival celebrated across Uzbekistan with sumalak and family visits.Seasonal · Sweets given and shared 🇫🇷 France and 5 moreRéveillon A luxurious late-night feast that stretches until dawn across the winter holidaysTable custom · Dinner 🇨🇳 China and 1 moreReunion dinner團圓飯 A family gathering meal on lunar new year's eve, kept in China and VietnamTable custom · Dinner

🇮🇳 IndiaSadyaസദ്യ A vegetarian feast from Kerala, served on a banana leaf at Onam, Vishu and weddingsTable custom · Lunch 🇺🇸 United StatesRehearsal dinner A meal the night before a US wedding, when the wedding party gathers to toast and thankRite of passage · Dinner

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreSaffron bun A golden, spiced yeast roll flavoured with saffron, baked for festive and holy daysTable custom · Tea-time and snacking customs

🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 3 moreBanitsaБаница A layered Bulgarian cheese pastry baked for morning meals and holiday fortunesTable custom · Breakfast

🇲🇽 Tijuana, Mexico and 1 moreBirria A rich, seasoned meat stew from western Mexico, cooked for gatherings and holidaysTable custom · Feasts and festival meals

🇬🇷 GreeceMagiritsaΜαγειρίτσα A Greek lamb offal soup eaten after the midnight Easter service to break the fastTable custom · Fasting and breaking the fast

🇩🇿 AlgeriaMawlid in Algeriaيوم المولد النبوي The Prophet Muhammad's birthday celebration in Algeria with family feasts and prayersFestival · Feasts and festival meals

🇩🇰 DenmarkJul Winter feasts, carols around the tree, and family gatherings across DenmarkFestival · Lunch

🇪🇸 Seville, SpainSeville FairFeria de Abril de Sevilla A week-long spring festival in Seville of carriage parades, marquee tents and dancingFestival · Dinner

🇳🇴 Norway and 2 moreJulebord A Scandinavian Christmas banquet of traditional dishes, festive drinks and celebrationTable custom · Feasts and festival meals

🇱🇧 Beirut, Lebanon and 7 moreEid il-Burbaraعيد البربارة A winter feast of costumes, sweet boiled wheat, and sprouting seeds across the LevantFestival · Feasts and festival meals 🇮🇸 IcelandÞorrablót An Icelandic midwinter feast of dinner, speeches and poetryFestival · Dinner

🇦🇫 Mazar-i-Sharif, AfghanistanNowruzنوروز The Afghan spring new year, celebrated with picnics, wheat pudding and dried fruit.Seasonal · Feasts and festival meals

🇮🇪 Galway, IrelandGalway International Oyster Festival An annual autumn gathering in Galway honouring native oysters with shucking contestsTable custom · Feasts and festival meals

🇪🇸 Jijona, Spain and 5 moreTurrón A festive Mediterranean nut-and-honey confection shared at Christmas and local feastsTable custom · Sweets given and shared

🇵🇱 PolandEaster in Poland A spring holiday of family breakfasts, blessed baskets, decorated eggs, and water games.Festival · Breakfast 🇪🇹 Ethiopia and 1 moreFasikaፋሲካ The celebration of Easter and the end of Lent across Ethiopia and EritreaSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals

🇨🇳 Suzhou, China and 3 moreDongzhi冬至 A midwinter festival celebrating the return of light with family feasts and dumplingsSeasonal · Dinner

🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanJapanese New Year正月 An annual celebration of renewal, seasonal foods, and bell ringing across JapanSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals

🇮🇳 Hyderabad, India and 3 moreBonalu An annual festival of thanksgiving to Goddess Mahakali across Telangana, IndiaFestival · Feasts and festival meals

🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreRussian tea culture The everyday cup of Russia, brewed strong and diluted to taste, with jam and sweetsTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies

🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreSuper Bowl Sunday The day the NFL championship is played, kept with gatherings and buffet foodFestival · Feasts and festival meals

🇨🇳 Beijing, China and 1 moreLaba congee腊八粥 A ceremonial Chinese porridge of rice, beans and dried fruit, eaten at the Laba FestivalTable custom · Feasts and festival meals

🇸🇪 Stockholm, Sweden and 2 moreSmorgasbordsmörgåsbord A Swedish table of hot and cold dishes where guests serve themselvesTable custom · Lunch

🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanJapanese tea ceremony茶道 (Sadō / Chadō), 茶の湯 (Chanoyu) The formal serving of powdered matcha, shaped by Zen, Shinto and wabiTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies

🇺🇦 Ukraine and 4 moreKorovaiкоровай (Ukrainian), каравай (Russian) A round wedding bread of Eastern Europe, baked with songs and shared by all the guestsTable custom · Feasts and festival meals

🇮🇷 Mashhad, Iran and 7 moreIftarإفطار The sunset meal that breaks the Ramadan fast, eaten with family and communityTable custom · Fasting and breaking the fast

🇮🇱 Israel and 5 moreChallahחַלָּה A braided Jewish bread, blessed and shared at Shabbat and holiday tablesTable custom · Feasts and festival meals

🇵🇱 PolandWigilia Poland's meatless Christmas Eve supper, begun when the first star appearsTable custom · Feasts and festival meals

🇱🇰 Sri LankaKiribathකිරිබත් Rice cooked in coconut milk, the dish of Sinhalese New Year and family beginningsTable custom · Breakfast

🇬🇪 Tbilisi, GeorgiaSupraსუფრა A Georgian feast led by a toastmaster, where toasts, wine and food carry the mealTable custom · Feasts and festival meals

🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreZakuskiзакуски A laid-out table of cold small dishes that opens a Russian festive mealTable custom · Tea-time and snacking customs

🇺🇸 United StatesLūʻau A Hawaiian feast of kālua pig and poi, eaten by hand outdoors with music and hulaTable custom · Feasts and festival meals

🇸🇪 Sweden and 3 moreCrayfish partykräftskiva Boiled crayfish, snaps and paper lanterns at a late-summer party in Sweden and FinlandTable custom · Feasts and festival meals

🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreTailgate party Grilling, sharing and drinking beside a car before the game, mostly in North AmericaTable custom · Feasts and festival meals

🇦🇷 Argentina and 4 moreAsado A slow fire, a grill and a shared table: how people gather to cook and eat meatTable custom · Feasts and festival meals

🇮🇩 Jakarta, Indonesia and 3 moreRijsttafel Many small dishes around rice: a colonial-era banquet still served in the NetherlandsTable custom · Feasts and festival meals

🇺🇸 Cleveland, United StatesClambake Shellfish steamed over seaweed in a pit, eaten outdoors along the New England coastTable custom · Feasts and festival meals

🇪🇨 Quito, EcuadorFanesca Ecuador's Holy Week soup of grains, beans and salt cod, made for Good FridayTable custom · Lunch

🇳🇱 Amsterdam, Netherlands and 4 moreSinterklaasSinterklaas / Sint-Nicolaas A Dutch winter feast on 5 and 6 December, when Saint Nicholas brings gifts to childrenFestival · Sweets given and shared

🇮🇩 Bali, IndonesiaTumpengꦠꦸꦩ꧀ꦥꦼꦁ (Javanese); ᬢᬸᬫ᭄ᬧᭂᬂ (Balinese) A tall cone of rice ringed with side dishes, central to Javanese ceremonies and partiesTable custom · Feasts and festival meals

🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan and 4 moreBeshbarmakбешбармак Boiled meat and noodles, eaten by hand from one platter, with a set cut for each guestTable custom · Feasts and festival meals

🇬🇷 Greece and 4 moreVasilopitaΒασιλόπιτα A New Year bread or cake with a coin baked inside, shared out slice by sliceTable custom · Sweets given and shared

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreChristmas dinner The festive family meal of Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, with roast meats and puddingsTable custom · Dinner 🇳🇴 NorwayJul An eight-week Norwegian midwinter season of feasts, family gatherings, and gift-givingSeasonal · Lunch

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

Sadya: Augustus Binu / facebook, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Shabbat meals: Yoninah, Public domain, source
Navruz: dalbera, CC BY 2.0, source
Saffron bun: Nenniu, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Banitsa: Sheku80, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Birria: Equipo 9mkt, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Magiritsa: Andrew Dalby, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Mawlid in Algeria: Hammiche Hakim, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Jul: Erik Christensen, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Seville Fair: Sevilla Congress & Convention Bureau, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Julebord: Holger.Ellgaard, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Eid il-Burbara: Durziil89, CC0, source
Nowruz: Peretz Partensky, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Galway International Oyster Festival: Thoslee, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Turrón: Tamorlan, CC BY 3.0, source
Easter in Poland: Silar, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Dongzhi: N509FZ, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Japanese New Year: No machine-readable author provided. Sixgimic assumed (based on copyri, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Bonalu: Randhirreddy at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Russian tea culture: Boris Kustodiev, Public domain, source
Super Bowl Sunday: Tech. Sgt. Steve Horton, U.S. Air Force, Public domain, source
Laba congee: N509FZ, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Smorgasbord: Jordan Klein, CC BY 2.0, source
Japanese tea ceremony: Photograph taken by Stephane D'Alu ( en:User:Sdalu ) in April 2004, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Korovai: Olli Niemitalo, CC0, source
Iftar: Shariful Islam (Masum), CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Wigilia: Przykuta, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Kiribath: AntanO, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Supra: Public domain Public domain false false This work is in the public dom, Public domain, source
Zakuski: Timothy Post, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Lūʻau: Ralawami, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Crayfish party: Holger.Ellgaard, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Tailgate party: Ben Vardi, Public domain, source
Asado: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
Rijsttafel: Takeaway, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Clambake: inuyaki.com, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Fanesca: Agencia de Noticias ANDES, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Sinterklaas: R.F. (Roel) Jorna, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Tumpeng: brother-harahap, CC BY 2.0, source
Beshbarmak: NataAllice, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Vasilopita: Μυρμηγκάκι, Public domain, source
Christmas dinner: Austin McGee, CC BY-SA 2.0, source