What makes the holiday season most special are the traditions we create and share; in that way, we make them uniquely our own. Even those who do not celebrate Christmas have still found ways to participate in the season’s joy. For us Jews, eating Chinese food on Christmas Day has become an international tradition that started in New York in the 1930s. They say that necessity is the mother of invention. Jews looking for a special way to celebrate a day off on December 25th in a friendly place with a welcoming atmosphere featuring exotic food they didn’t normally eat were hard-pressed to find any restaurants open except those whose proprietors did not celebrate Christmas either. In most neighborhoods, Chinese restaurants were the only ones open on Christmas Day. And so, as many things in life come to be, out of necessity or by process of elimination, a delightful tradition was born.
My maternal grandparents were married on December 25th and celebrated every anniversary by following this tradition. They, in turn, passed it down to my mother
, who continued it when she married and had children, and passed it down to us. I cannot recall any Jew I knew who did not go out for Chinese food on Christmas Day.
Chinese food was the first foreign food I was introduced to as a small child. I spent the early years of my childhood in Linden, New Jersey, a bedroom community southwest of Manhattan. One particularly cold and snowy Christmas day, my father was under the weather, so rather than eat at a Chinese restaurant like we normally would, my mother brought in take-out Chinese food instead. We ate Chinese food throughout the year, and my mother frequented a neighborhood Chinese take-out. We got to know the owner, a kind and generous older Chinese man who always paid me special attention. That evening, I accompanied my mother to pick up dinner. When it was our turn to order, I told the owner I didn’t want to eat his food anymore because he put worms in it. He wasn’t offended, but he asked me to show him the worms. I pointed to some translucent squiggly-looking worms in the chow mein he was about to put into a container as part of our order. He asked my mother if I could come back to the kitchen with him. She said yes. We went into the kitchen, and he sat me on a stool next to him in the preparation area. He showed me how he cut the onions and how he cooked them. When they were done, he explained that they were not worms, but the same thin onion strips he had just cut, which, when cooked, only looked like worms to me (I was about 5 years old). When I was still not completely convinced, he gave me one to taste, and then I was sold. He and I became best friends after that…I always got extra fortune cookies and almond cookies.
As an adult with a family of my own, I have continued this holiday tradition. We have Chinese food at Christmas every year. As our son lives overseas, most of the time it is just my husband and me. We also have enjoyed sharing this tradition with both our Jewish friends and Gentiles who celebrate the holiday with us. Sharing our tradition with those of other faiths is the most special for us because it truly embodies the fraternal spirit of the season in the sweetest possible way.
Since this holiday tradition was such an important part of my life, I wanted to learn more. If you are the curious sort like me, click the link and read a more in-depth history of the love affair we Jews have with Chinese food. https://blog.judaicawebstore.com/why-jews-eat-chinese-food-on-christmas/
The good news is you don’t have to be Jewish to eat Chinese food on Christmas…but it helps. Whichever way you celebrate the holiday, may your traditions bring you and yours the joy that comes with the sense of belonging that binds us humans together.