Vsauce!
Kevin here.
Plymouth Colonists and Wampanoag Native Americans shared an autumn feast in 1621 marking what
many refer to as the first Thanksgiving.
Four men were sent on a "fowling mission" to prepare for the three day event.
It's believed they brought back wild turkey which were in abundance at the time, thus
starting the tradition of eating turkey on Thanksgiving in the United States.
A holiday often referred to as "Turkey Day"
Only 1% of the population of Japan is estimated to be Christian so Christmas is obviously
not a national holiday.
But in 1974 KFC's marketing campaign "Kentucky For Christmas" was a huge hit and remains
popular to this day.
The lines of people waiting for a bucket of chicken can be over two hours long and some
order their holiday chicken buckets months in advance.
Italian tradition states that Le Befana flies around Italy leaving fruits, nuts candy for
good children and coal candy for bad ones.
It's said she sheltered the three wise men for a night and when asked to join them on
their journey to find the infant baby jesus she declined because she had too much housework.
The next day she regretted her decision and tried to find them unsuccessfully.
So to this day Le Befana flies around on her broomstick looking for the baby Jesus and
giving candy, good or bad, to children.
King's cake is known in many different countries but has become especially popular in the Southern
United States during Mardi Gras celebrations originally brought by colonists from France
and Spain.
The cake is often made from twisted cinnamon bread topped with icing featuring a hidden
plastic baby figurine or other trinket inside.
The person that eats the slice with the trinket will be blessed with good luck but is then
obligated to make the next king's cake.
In the 12 seconds before midnight on New Years Eve in Spain it's tradition to eat 12 grapes,
one with each chime of the bell to predict your luck for the upcoming year.
Each grape represents a different month of the year and if you can eat all of the grapes
it's said to bring prosperity.
It's believed this custom started in 1909 when popular wine growers had an abundance
of grapes.
Eating red bean paste porridge with small rice balls is a popular Korean tradition for
the Winter Solstice.
Red beans symbolize the chasing away of evil spirits and the rice balls symbolize new life.
Bowls of this porridge are placed around the house to ward off evil and if you eat the
same number of rice balls as your age it symbolizes the successful passing of the upcoming year.
Pan de Muerto or bread of the dead is made in the weeks prior to Dia de los Muertos - celebrated
on November 1st and 2nd in Mexico.
The bread is enjoyed by the family of the deceased and set upon the altar of loved ones
that have passed and it's often decorated with bones and a tear.
Other dishes are also placed on the altar to help feed the traveling souls of the dead.
Finally, France is Europe's number one producer, exporter and consumer of oysters and 50% of
their annual oyster consumption occurs between Christmas and New Years.
So if you're in France during that time - you'll probably be eating oysters.
If you like eating oysters.
Whether you're eating grapes, oysters, turkey, or around a tiny plastic baby - have a happy
holiday and as always - thanks for watching.