Christmas Around the World Series: in the Tropics
THE Christmas dans les Antilles dure plusieurs jours et se déroule dans la joie. Autrefois, les festivités commençaient bien avant le 25 décembre.
Traditions
From the end of November, islanders begin soaking orange peels in rum and drying them in the sun. This is followed by the preparation of a typical aniseed-flavored redcurrant syrup.
The pig, well-fed throughout the year, is reaching its final days. Its meat is used to make Creole blood sausage, smoked ham, small stuffed pies, and a spicy stew that is loved by both children and adults.
On the first day of Advent, the festivities begin with a "chanté Noel": carols are sung together in each family. Neighbors gather at each other's homes to sing and dance, often until the early hours. Drums, sillac, chacha, ti-bois, violin, and harmonica provide rhythm for the local dances, the biguine, the mazurka, and the waltz.
On Christmas Eve, each housewife serves a variety of small dishes washed down with rum. No one would dream of missing Midnight Mass, because Christmas in the tropics is first and foremost a Christian holiday. Upon returning from the celebration, the "Christmas carol" resumes with enthusiasm. The inhabitants go from house to house to feast until the next day.
Si dans les familles plus aisées, le Santa Claus laisse des cadeaux (souvent importés de France), dans celles qui sont plus modestes, les enfants devront se contenter de quelques sucreries ou d’un simple ballon de baudruche.
With internationalization, we find more and more decorated Christmas trees and turkey with chestnuts served...among the better-off.
The Creole table at Christmas
For days, the Christmas table overflows with dishes typical of the tropics: various stews, roast pork, smoked ham, sausages and black puddings, wild peas (Angole), yams, white rice, cakes of all kinds, fruits (especially mandarins).
All these victuals are washed down with punch made from currants, shrubb, or rum.