Feast

Switzerland

Berner platte is a traditional celebratory dish originating from Bern. It consists of a large plate that's filled with a variety of sauerkraut, meat, offal, potatoes, and green beans. The meat, vegetables, and side dishes are all prepared separately, then served on the same plate &ndash; the meat is often boiled with onions and bay leaves, the green beans are saut&eacute;ed in butter, the potatoes are boiled and fried with butter and chives, and the sauerkraut is typically cooked in white wine with currants and bacon. In some cases, Berner platte is served as an open buffet, so each person can choose the ingredients for their (regular) plate.

Berner Platte

Australia

This traditional New Caledonian dish combines coconut milk with various root vegetables such as taro, manioc, and yams. Occasionally elevated with chicken, pork, or seafood, the combination is wrapped in banana leaves before it is placed over hot coals in traditional earthen ovens. Bougna is the most popular dish among the Kanak people, indigenous inhabitants of New Caledonia, and is commonly prepared for special occasional and traditional feasts.

Bougna

Peru

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Chiri Uchu is a traditional dish from the Cusco region of Peru that dates back to the Inca times and is particularly significant during the Inti Raymi (Festival of the Sun) and Corpus Christi celebrations. The name translates to "cold spicy" in Quechua, reflecting its nature as a cold dish with a spicy kick. The dish comprises a combination of various ingredients, such as guinea pig, chicken, charqui, roasted corn, boiled potatoes, and rocoto peppers, each representing the diversity of ecosystems in the Cusco region. All these components are layered or placed together on a plate and usually enjoyed with a spicy rocoto pepper sauce.
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Chiri Uchu

United States

What was once a Native American tradition of cooking clams and lobsters in sand pits dating back 2000 years is nowadays a popular New England dish consisting of lobsters, mussels, crabs, and clams steamed in sand pits over several layers of seaweed. The tradition of digging up sand pits stems from the Natives, who did not own any cooking pots, so earth was used as a cooking vessel instead. As the dish evolved over the years, people have started to add vegetables such as corn, onions, and carrots into it. By the end of the 19th century, clambake became a unique American tradition, and is now typically prepared at festive events throughout New England. It is an activity that lasts all day, but yields favorable results that act as a reminder of ancestry, humility, and the connection between the sea and the earth.

Clam Bake

Canada

Cold plate is a typical rural dish from the Canadian province of Newfoundland. This fundraiser staple is typically served for lunch or dinner, and it is especially popular at weddings and similar festive events with large groups of people. It consists of several components &ndash; pasta salads, salads based on mashed potatoes, ham, roast beef, turkey breast, tomatoes, lettuce, bread, cranberry sauce, and traditional Newfoundland poultry dressing (breadcrumbs, onions, and summer savory). In the 1960s and 1970s, cold plate was a weekly occurrence, when the leftovers from Sunday roast would be served for dinner along with a variety of salads.

Cold plate

Chile

Curanto is a traditional technique of cooking meat and seafood originating from Chilo&eacute;. In order to prepare it, chicken, pork, sausages, seafood (clams, mussels, giant barnacles), chapaleles potato dumplings, potatoes, and various vegetables are placed in a pit that's lined with curanto, meaning hot stones. Each layer of the ingredients is topped with large nalca (Chilean rhubarb) leaves that keep the steam trapped inside. Once cooked, the meat and seafood are usually served with pebre, hot sauce, and milcao potato pancakes. Ideally, the feast should be paired with a pisco sour for an authentic experience.

Curanto

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A family-style chicken dinner refers to a meal where a large quantity of food, with chicken dishes being the central part, is served on platters, and everyone at the table serves themselves. The chicken can be fried, roasted, or grilled and is served alongside a variety of side dishes. These sides could include vegetables, salads, potatoes, bread, and often other dishes like pasta or rice. The specific dishes can vary widely based on regional cuisine and personal preference. One notable example of a family-style chicken dinner is the meal served at Zehnder's in Frankenmuth, Michigan. Here, the chicken dinner includes not only their signature fried chicken but also side dishes like mashed potatoes, gravy, noodles, and dressing, served in a manner that encourages sharing and a sense of community among diners. 
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Family-style chicken dinner

Colombia

Fiambre colombiano is a traditional feast that consists of a hearty combination of various ingredients wrapped in banana leaves, especially popular in the Antioquia region. It&rsquo;s a portable, picnic-style meal wrapped in banana leaves, making it ideal for outdoor gatherings, journeys, and festivities. The components of fiambre colombiano vary, but it typically includes rice as a base, along with an assortment of meats like chicken, pork, sausage, or beef. Additional ingredients can include fried plantains, boiled potatoes, yucca (cassava), and beans. These ingredients are layered and wrapped securely in a large banana leaf, which not only makes it easy to carry but also imparts a unique, earthy flavor to the food. The leaf-wrapped package is then either steamed or kept as-is, depending on how it will be served.

Fiambre colombiano

Heimabl&iacute;dni is a Faroese tradition where guests pay to experience traditional meals in local people's homes. The word itself means home hospitality and refers to authentic and intimate dining experiences &ndash; local food that's combined with interesting stories about the village where heimabl&iacute;dni is held. As a part of the feast, guests can try local delicacies such as sk&aelig;rpikj&oslash;t (dried sheep), dried (r&aelig;st) cod, whale blubber, sliced whale meat, and vegetables such as carrots, kohlrabi, broccoli, rhubarb, and potatoes. And if luck is on your side, you might even get a taste of local schnapps served out of a lamb's horn!

Heimablídni

Hog fry is a traditional social event organized by the Oklahoma Cherokees. At the event, big iron kettles are typically placed over open fires before they're filled with either lard or oil. During the course of the event, pieces of pork are placed into greased kettles, then seasoned with salt and fried until fully cooked. Hog fry is regularly held by tribes, families, or church groups in the area.

Hog Fry

Serbia

Originating from Leskovac, Serbia, leskovački voz is a popular barbecued meat dish that can also be considered a feast. Here's why &ndash; it consists of a variety of meat dishes and sides, and each meat dish is followed by another one. Typical dishes of leskovački voz include čevapčići, pljeskavica, stuffed pork loin, leskovački u&scaron;tipci, mućkalica, and sausages. The name of the dish means Leskovac train, which only stops once you tell the staff that you can't eat any more. On the side, there is usually lepinja flatbread, gravče na tavče, and various fresh salads.

Leskovački voz

Ma&rsquo;a Tahiti, meaning Tahitian food, consists of a vast variety of traditional specialties that Tahitians typically prepare for festive occasions and Sunday family gatherings. A traditional Tahitian meal typically includes both raw and cooked food items such as fish, seafood, meat, different root crops (sweet potatoes, yams, and taro), and a variety of exotic fruits and desserts, all of which are usually washed down with Tahitian punch, beer, wine, or coconut water. Typically, the food is encased in leaves, and it is then prepared in an underground oven called ahima&rsquo;a, which cooks the food by steaming it to perfection using heated volcanic stones. Once cooked, the dishes are served in containers made of wood or braided leaves, and the food is meant to be eaten with hands. Traditional ma&rsquo;a Tahiti is a staple at any island celebration or feast, including the traditional Tahitian feast known as tama&rsquo;ara&rsquo;a.

Ma'a Tahiti

Oyster roast is a traditional event originating from the Low Country, an area along the South Carolina coast. Similar to a clambake in the Northeast, the oysters are placed into a roasting kettle, covered with a burlap sack, then placed over hot coals until fully cooked. Once done, they are traditionally served on picnic tables lined with newspapers and pried open with special knives. The oyster roast has some standard accompaniments such as crackers, cocktail sauce, hot sauce, and sometimes horseradish. When hosting an oyster roast, it's recommended to have a few bottles of cold beer on hand, or gin and whiskey-based cocktails.

Oyster Roast

Spain

Plato Alpujarre&ntilde;o is a traditional meal originating from Andalusia. The recipe has many variations, but it usually consists of a mix of fried eggs, morcilla blood sausages, chorizo, pork loin, sweet peppers, Serrano ham, potatoes, and migas. The dish is quite simple and inexpensive to prepare, but the combination is one of the most requested dishes in restaurants and bars in the region. Plato Alpujarre&ntilde;o is traditionally served hot.

Plato Alpujarreño

Rijsttafel, Dutch for "rice table", is a colonial-era banquet format rather than a single dish: plain rice at the centre and a dozen to forty small plates of Indonesian food around it, served all at once so that each diner builds their own plate from sweet, sour, hot and savoury components. It was assembled by Dutch planters and officials in the East Indies in the nineteenth century, who took the Sumatran habit of serving many side dishes with rice, as in nasi padang, and inflated it into a display of wealth with a servant carrying each dish. After Indonesian independence the format faded there, and it survives mainly in the Netherlands, where Indonesian and Indo-Dutch restaurants in The Hague, Amsterdam and Leiden serve it as their set menu, and in a reduced home version, the nasi rames, which puts a selection on one plate. In Indonesia today the word is rarely used, and the dishes are eaten separately.

A credible rijsttafel is built around a core of recognisable Indonesian preparations rather than a random spread. Expect white rice and often yellow nasi kuning, a slow braise such as rendang or semur, a satay with peanut sauce, a coconut-milk curry like gulai or opor ayam, a vegetable dish such as sayur lodeh or gado-gado with its peanut dressing, a fried egg or telur balado in chilli sambal, sambal goreng of green beans or tempeh, krupuk crackers, serundeng of fried spiced coconut, acar pickles, and at least two sambals of different heat. The dishes are cooked separately and in advance, most of them improving over a day, and are kept warm at the table on small burners; the restaurant's work is in the balance of the selection, so that no two dishes share a dominant flavour, and in the quality of the sambals, which are made in house or should be.

Judge it as a set, then dish by dish. The spread should have genuine range in temperature, texture and heat, with the rice plain enough to carry everything; the rendang should be dark and dry with the sauce cooked into the meat, the satay grilled over charcoal rather than steamed in sauce, the vegetables still green, and the krupuk crisp. Mark down a table where everything tastes of the same sweet soy and coconut, dishes that have clearly sat in a bain-marie since lunch, satay that is boiled chicken under peanut sauce, a sambal from a jar, and padding with non-Indonesian items such as spring rolls or plain fried noodles to reach a dish count. Quantity is not the point: twelve well-made dishes outscore thirty tired ones.

Rijsttafel

Originating from the Santa Maria Valley in California, this barbecue style isn't a dish or a technique, but a full-on feast. It consists of grilled beef that's served with beans, garlic bread, salad, macaroni salad, and chunky salsa. This huge meal is traditionally prepared for large groups of people at events such as family reunions, church suppers, and fundraisers. The key part of this meal is grilled beef &ndash; tri-tip or beef sirloin are rubbed with salt, pepper, and garlic powder before being grilled over local red oak. The meat is served with small pink pinquito beans, a chunky tomato salsa, garlic bread (used for soaking up the juices of other dishes), and a fresh salad that's dressed with vinaigrette, French dressing, or Blue Cheese dressing. And after all that food, a traditional Santa Maria barbecue is finished with coffee and a few scoops of ice cream for dessert. Interestingly, President Ronald Reagan was a huge fan of this barbecue style.

Santa Maria-Style Barbecue

Germany

Schlachteplatte is a traditional Bavarian feast that consists of different types of meat and sausages. It typically contains smoked pork chops, slab bacon, bratwurst, blood sausages, liver sausages, bauernwurst, knackwurst, and wienerwurst. Grilled or cooked, the meat varieties are placed on a large serving platter, usually topped with freshly chopped parsley. A typical winter specialty, the dish is traditionally accompanied by cooked sauerkraut, potatoes, gravy, potato dumplings, or bread dumplings. The dish&rsquo;s name translates as butcher&rsquo;s plate from the German words Schlachten and Platte, which mean to butcher and platter, respectively. This German meat specialty most certainly got its name after the tradition of preparing it during the slaughter period in Germany.

Schlachteplatte

Tama&rsquo;ara&rsquo;a is a traditional Tahitian feast or banquet organized for special occasions, holidays, and celebrations. A vast variety of Tahitian specialties that are part of ma&rsquo;a Tahiti (a typical Tahitian meal) are offered during the feast, and they are typically washed down with beverages such as punch, beer, wine, and coconut water. The preparation of copious amounts of food is a whole spectacle in itself as the food is traditionally steamed in leaves in a unique underground oven called ahima&rsquo;a, which is filled with hot volcanic stones. After having been cooked slowly for several hours, the food comes out tender, flavorful, and fragrant. The meal typically consists of fish, pork, chicken, bananas, breadfruit, various root vegetables, exotic fruits, and delectable desserts such as the beloved po&rsquo;e (a creamy mixture of banana, papaya, or pumpkin and coconut milk). Apart from savoring local cuisine, guests can also experience Tahitian culture and tradition through traditional music, singing, and dancing, which are an indispensable part of any Tahitian gathering. Tama&rsquo;ara&rsquo;a feasts are commonly held at most resorts throughout French Polynesia.

Tama'ara'a

For most Americans, the Thanksgiving dinner usually includes seasonal dishes such as stuffed roasted turkey and side dishes such as mashed potatoes, a rich cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie, among others. This celebratory meal dates back to November 1621, when the Pilgrims and the Native Wampanoag Indians got together at Plymouth for an autumn harvest celebration, now considered America's first Thanksgiving. The first feast contained turkey (debatable), venison, fish, clams, berries, lobster, pumpkin, waterfowl, and squash, and many of the foods remained a staple of modern Thanksgiving dinners. Turkey is so synonymous with the holiday that the day is sometimes colloquially called Turkey Day. Today, the dinner centers on cooking and sharing a plentiful meal with close family and friends, and it is so popular that there are annual Thanksgiving parades throughout the United States, the largest and most famous of them being Macy's parade in New York City, featuring marching bands, floats, and performers, and attracting about two to three million spectators to the streets.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Indonesia

Traditionally associated with the island of Java, this complex Indonesian dish consists of a heap of cone-shaped rice that is surrounded by numerous other traditional Indonesian dishes. Due to its complexity, tumpeng is usually prepared for special occasions, and like many other dishes in Indonesia, it has a strong symbolic meaning. The shape of rice is a reminder that everything leads to higher power, and the height of the cone symbolizes the importance of deities in Indonesian culture. The dishes served around the rice represent abundance and prosperity, and everything is usually presented on a round plate to symbolize continuity. If served on special occasions, tumpeng represents the most prestigious dish of the ceremony. After saying their blessings, the attendees will cut the top of tumpeng to symbolize the beginning of the feast.