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Here, Christmas spirit starts just after Thanksgiving and the 3rd weekend of January with San Sebastian carnaval. Christmas Dinner usually served on Nochebuena (Christmas Eve) before attending Midnight Mass; known as the Misa de Gallo or “Rooster’s Mass.” where you might just catch a live reenactment of the nativity scene. Here, fruitcake, egg nog (as you know it) and ham or turkey take a back seat to island specialties.
Pasteles
Typically made from mashed green bananas / plantains (or sometimes yucca), which is spread out a banana leaf and then filled with a meat filing usually made with pork. The plantain leaf is then wrapped for a festive, Christmas-gifty look and then cooked in boiling water
Morcilla
Puerto Rico’s version of blood sausage, adopted from the Spanish morcilla. It contains rice, culantro, cilantro, chilies and garlic.
Lechon
Popular all year round, Lechon is a sacred food all over the island, a weekend tradition and the perfect thing for group gatherings. But in Christmas it takes on additional importance; for most Puerto Ricans, no holiday is complete without it. Whole roasted pig is cooked slowly for hours on a spit. Families take time to cook their own Lechon at Christmas.
It is usually served with Arroz con Gandules (Rice with Pigeon Peas) and plátanos.
Tembleque
Delicious, creamy, coconut pudding that will go down smooth and easy after a rich holiday meal. It is the official dessert
You may find also:
Arroz con dulce
Rice pudding with coconut milk and spices
Pudin de pan
A bread pudding puertorican style
Oh, and don’t forget the odd glass or two of Coquito, the Puerto Rico’s unofficial Christmas drink made with rum, coconut milk, condensed and evaporated milk.
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