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Little-known facts about classic Christmas foods

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The Daily Meal

Christmas Day is almost upon us, and after all the presents are opened, that day’s main event usually involves food. We bet that there are a lot of things you didn’t know about classic Christmas fare.

Little-Known Facts About Classic Christmas Foods (Slideshow)

Just like the rest of the world, the United States has its own collection of traditional Christmas foods, and while it may appear that candy canes, turkey or ham, and sugar plums (whatever those are) have been deeply engrained in Christmas tradition for as long as the holiday has existed, in reality, that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

We tend to think of Christmas dinner as rather set, sticking to a tried-and-true formula; a roast of some kind, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, and maybe some roasted root vegetables seem to be the norm (with some regional variations), with pie or Christmas pudding for dessert. In reality, Christmas traditions have developed over time and vary across the globe - and there is often an unexpected story behind the foods we take for granted.

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From the origin of fruitcake and candy canes to just how many calories are in that Christmas dinner, we bet that there are a lot of things about Christmas foods that you may not know.

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