North America has quite a few Christmas culinary traditions, and while the big fat red man fuels his interstellar van most families will relax at home, the children will eagerly wait to rip open presents and people in general will be devouring turkeys and pies like fiends. However as people lives and routines change by living in an ever faster world, even these dearly held traditions start to shift and mutate. That might be the reason why on the recent years people flock to taste the wok fried Chinese dishes in Christmas rather than munching on their food filled Christmas food hampers. And while the good old turkey is still the king of the holiday feast, slowly but surely those sophisticated enough are trading their caviar crackers for the delicious Peking duck.
But why is this new habit emerging? And better yet, who are attracted by it? It appears that those who show up at Chinese restaurants include people who do not celebrate the Christian holiday: business people and international guests from downtown hotels, college students staying in the area and singles looking for a crowded and lively atmosphere (although it is not rare for a family wearing santa hats to drop in and celebrate their Christmas there from time to time.) Perhaps a bigger puller is just the desire for a different experience.
Whatever the reason might be, several Chinese restaurants are making a habit of staying open until 2 or 3 a.m. on Christmas morning, and, according to some owners, the business on said day increases from 10 to 20 percent. This is not a new discovery for them, the hardest part was to find the staff to stay open on Christmas, but those who did found out that it was great for business. Nowadays this is not such a huge problem and some waiters are even eager to work in Christmas since the tips are usually much bigger than through the rest of the year and in some places the staff organizes a big party after the business closes.
So, in case you are already dreading the work of making all that traditional Christmas food, you should forget about making a luxury hamper and consider taking your loved ones to a Chinese restaurant. If they need some further convincing remind them that Chinese food is not only delicious, but very nutritious and with the great variety of tastes no one will feel left out. Whatever your choice is, we hope you have a wonderful holiday and eat some tasty food!
The making of the delicious Peking Duck!
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