Why We Kiss Under Mistletoe And Toast With Eggnog

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Discussion Ideas

Jelly doughnuts are a Hanukkah treat. What is the geography of the jelly doughnut?
- According to NPR, the jelly-filled doughnut, now known as sufganiyah, can be traced Germany and neighboring countries during the 16th century. Today, Israeli sufganiyot boast fillings such as foie gras, mango, and jalapeno.
- Use our fun, map-based study guide to trace the origins of doughnuts from ancient Roman scriblita to the Big Easy.

Eggnog is a sweet, creamy—and, yes, sometimes boozy—holiday treat. What is the geography of eggnog?
- Eggnog is a mixture of heavily spiced liquors, raw eggs, milk, and cream. Eggnog has its roots in 13th-century England, although the dairy is a 17th-century American addition.

I understand the egg. What’s the nog all about?
- One theory is that nog derives from the word noggin, which was a Middle English word for a type of mug for serving alcohol. The Online Etymology Dictionary says nog means “strong ale.” A third theory claims that the name is derived from a Colonial term for rum: egg-and-grog. Shortened to egg’n’grog, it then eventually became eggnog.

So, why eggnog during the winter holidays?
- Eggnog may have started out as a symbol of a family’s wealth. In medieval Europe, only the wealthy could afford spices such as nutmeg, which had to be imported from the tropical islands of Southeast Asia. Learn more about how Europeans went nutty for nutmeg here.

Chinese food on Christmas is “American-Jewish as apple pie.” What is the geography this eat-in or takeout treat?
- The origin of the tradition goes back to the turn of the 20th century in the United States, when Jewish and Chinese immigrants were among the largest non-Christian populations in the country.

So, why Chinese food among Jewish communities on Christmas?
- “Honestly, the Chinese restaurant was a safe haven for American Jews who felt like outsiders on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. You go to a Chinese restaurant, you become an insider. You can celebrate somebody else’s [holiday] and yet be amongst friends and family and members of the tribe — thereby the outsider on Christmas becomes the insider.” Learn more about food, culture, and ritual with our activity.

Kissing beneath a sprig of mistletoe is a holiday custom. What’s the geography of this romantic tradition?
- Hanging a sprig of the parasitic plant above doorways is attributed to Celtic Druids in Great Britain during the 1st century CE.
- Learn a little more about mistletoe with our short article here.

So, why kiss under the mistletoe?
- The Druids, like many ancient cultures, associated mistletoe with fertility because it’s one of the few plants that stays green during winter.
- Norse mythology associates mistletoe berries with the goddess Frigg’s enduring love for her son, Baldur.
- Ultimately, “We don’t have one answer for why people began to kiss under mistletoe. Really, the first recordings we have of people doing this are in the 18th century. The origin of traditions is hard to trace and it does seem like there was some evolution from it being a special, maybe romantic plant that you would hang up sometimes around the winter solstice,” but even cultural historians aren’t so sure.

Poinsettias are one of the most familiar flowers in Christmas-themed displays. What’s the geography of Euphorbia pulcherrima?
- Poinsettias are small shrubs indigenous to the tropical and dry forests of southern Mexico. The flowers are named after the first U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Joel Roberts Poinsett, who introduced the plant to the U.S. in 1825.

So, why poinsettias at Christmas?
- The pretty, bright red bracts (they’re not leaves!) on poinsettias have been associated with Christmas stories in Mexico since the 16th century, when Christianity was introduced to the country. In fact, poinsettias are often called flor de Noche Buena (Christmas Eve flower) in Mexico and other Latin American countries.
  - The most familiar legend associated with the Christmas poinsettia is about a young girl, Pepita, who is too poor to offer grand gifts for her church’s Christmas display. The twigs she gathered from the roadside blossomed into poinsettias when placed on the church altar.
- What other flowers are associated with Christmas?

TEACHERS TOOLKIT

NPR: Why We Kiss Under Mistletoe And Toast With Eggnog