"On New Year’s Eve, for example, Marina has a tradition of eating 12 grapes at midnight. Each grape represents a wish—whether for yourself, your loved ones, or the world—for the upcoming year. I think it’s such a fun custom, says Roger.
What is a must-have for a Christmas dinner?
Roger: Homemade meatballs are nice, gravad lax is very important, sill, and Jansson’s temptation—made with potatoes and anchovies in cream—is wonderful. Another of my favourites is dried lamb meat in the oven.
Marina: Hallacas and pan de jamón from Venezuela, and salată de boeuf and sarmale from Romania. The best of both worlds…Mmmm!
What’s unique about Venezuelan Christmas? Tell me about your traditions.
Marina: I was raised both Venezuelan and Romanian, so in my family, we’ve combined food and traditions from both cultures.
In Venezuela, people set up the Christmas tree and a manger, covering baby Jesus with a tissue—to be revealed only on the 25th when he is born.
They have Santa, but baby Jesus also gives presents. Normally, you open the presents on the 25th, while the 24th is reserved for a big dinner with all the fantastic food. There’s a lot of dancing involved too!
What kind of food do you miss that you can’t get here?
Marina: Hallacas, although you can find most of the ingredients to make it here. However, hallacas is a lot of work.
It’s much easier when you have a few extra hands to help put them together. When making hallacas, everyone has a task or station with ingredients: someone spreads the dough, others add the filling, and finally, someone helps wrap them up.
This last task is very important because folding the banana leaf around the mixture and tying it into a beautiful package with string can be tricky. You don’t want them too loose or too tight!
A huge pile of hallacas ready to cook.
Making hallacas is a big family activity. You can spend an entire day making a lot of them to enjoy multiple times—that’s how treasured this dish is! Everyone participates while listening to music, dancing, and drinking eggnog (ponche crema), which is a popular Christmas drink.
Do you incorporate any Venezuelan or Romanian traditions into your Christmas celebrations?
Roger: Yes! Depending on what Marina cooks, we include either Venezuelan or Romanian dishes. We sometimes dance salsa or merengue too.
On New Year’s Eve, for example, Marina has a tradition of eating 12 grapes at midnight. Each grape represents a wish—whether for yourself, your loved ones, or the world—for the upcoming year. I think it’s such a fun custom!
Are there any culture clashes when you blend Christmas traditions?
Roger: No, not at all. We both think it’s fun to learn and try new things. The important thing for us is to feel happy and comfortable with what we like. Our traditions bring back good memories and make us feel loved. Including each other’s traditions means acknowledging who we are and where we come from. In the end, everything becomes tastier and more fun!
Is there anything you find odd about the Swedish Christmas?
Kalle Anka, again.
Marina: Not really—though maybe having to watch Kalle Anka at a specific time. I like Donald Duck; it’s a classic, and we have it in Venezuela too, so I don’t mind watching the cartoon. It’s just interesting that most people in Sweden watch the same programme at the same time every year.
Kalle Anka: Switch on or switch off?
Roger: Switch on! (He’s already whistling and singing the songs, laughs Marina.)
Marina: Well, I can watch it— if everyone else is, why not just go with the flow?
Marina: "If everyone else is watching Kalle Anka, why not just go with the flow?"