Christmas in Iraq: Recalling Holiday Traditions
Iraqi Christians attend a Christmas Eve Mass at the at the Sacred Heart Church of the Syriac Catholics in Basra, Iraq, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022. AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani
By Adhid Miri, PhD
Christmas celebrations vary from nation to nation owing to their distinct customs, culture, and religious practices. Christmas in Iraq, surrounded by those with different beliefs, is unique.
Many Christians in the West celebrate Christmas with door-to-door caroling, special church services, and family gatherings to share the joy of the birth of baby Jesus. But that is not the case in many restrictive and dangerous countries around the world, including Iraq.
In Iraq, Christmas is a unique occasion for Christians; the celebrations, customs, and traditions are very religious in nature. Persecuted for their faith, the people in Iraq associate the festival of Christmas with two things — the birth of Jesus Christ and celebrations of the mid-winter holidays. With great devotion, the Christians celebrate the festival of Christmas by carrying out religious services and reciting prayers. The celebrations are historically serene and peaceful.
Unfortunately, Christmas has not been the same in Iraq for some time now. In today’s Iraq, traditions of Christmas are disappearing quickly, and many are found only in the memories of our oldest community members. Since militants of the Islamic State stormed the Nineveh Plain towns near Mosul and began killing and driving out Christians, people fled to safety in Baghdad.
Celebrating Christmas in the “Cradle of Civilization” was once truly a distinctive experience, one this author would like to share with you.
Christmas Eve
The Christmas practices in Iraq are quite different when compared to other countries. A popular custom includes the lighting of the bonfire in the courtyards of houses on Christmas Eve. On that special night, Iraqi Christian families would gather and, following tradition, one of the children in the family would read the Nativity story from the Arabic Bible while other family members held lighted candles.
Once the story is over, a bonfire made of dried thorns would be lit in one corner of the house. According to the Iraqi people, they can predict the future of their household in the coming year by just watching the way the fire burns in the bonfire. For them, if the dried thorns burn to ashes, the family will be blessed with good fortune. A psalm was sung while the fire continued to burn. As the fire burnt out and the thorns reduced to ashes, the members of the family leapt over the ashes three times and completed the ceremony by making wishes towards the end.
On Christmas Eve, families and relatives came together and made elaborate preparations of cookies, cakes, and special dishes for their children. Families decorated real Christmas trees and put-up decorations like garlands and lights around the house. The young and old would dress up nicely for Christmas. Everyone would be joyous, and kids would always look forward to getting gifts. Outings to amusement parks, the movies, cousins, and relatives’ houses were truly special.
Christmas Day
On Christmas Day, religious services were held at all the churches around various cities. Christian families from all localities attended these services. In the villages and towns, a bonfire was lit inside the main church, followed by a procession. Church officials would march along with the bishop, who would be carrying a figure of the infant Jesus Christ, which was placed on a red cushion. After the procession, the bishop touched the hand of one person and the touch was passed on to all those present in the ceremony. This custom is known as the “Touch of Peace.” Thus, when Christmas service for the day ended, all the people in the church were blessed.
Families would eat breakfast together before going to church and then spent the day visiting relatives, wishing them a Merry Christmas. It was usual that some family members stayed in their own homes to receive guests, well-wishers, and relatives during the day. Each household visited would be given a gift, usually a box of chocolate or liquor.
Iraqis schedule the festivities of Christmas Day according to interests and priorities of visits, which usually begin with the family and the grandfather’s house, followed by family gatherings that help strengthen social relations and exchanging conversations about memories of the beautiful past.
In addition to preparing food for the guests, they meet for the meal at one dining table. These scenes do not occur very often the rest of the year, but they provide an important opportunity for Iraqi families to bond together. It also constitutes an occasion for resolving disputes and problems, as well as for visiting relatives whose work conditions do not allow frequent visits.
Gifts
Iraqi parents did not buy traditional Christmas gifts presents for their children, as that custom was not common. Instead, the children received a new outfit. Some more well-off parents would give their children money, which was spent on chocolate, ice cream and other sweets.
Greetings were exchanged amongst the families. Visitors were typically offered special food and an aromatized fortified wine drink (Vermouth) served with winter citrus jam (Tringe /Ugly Fruit).
In Baghdad, Muslims were often known to share the rituals of the occasion with Christians, exchanging congratulations, gifts, and visits. Social media has made meeting from a distance possible through the virtual world, but nothing can replace the feelings of in-person visits and the real-world exchange of congratulations, gifts, and greetings between people.
Recalling the holidays of my youth, it was all first-class food and new clothes. The church was warm, beautiful, and full of happiness. On a holiday like Christmas, we would always share food with our neighbors, and they would do the same for us during other holidays.
I love the memory of my parents taking me and my siblings to see relatives during Christmas. We didn’t have a car, but as kids, we would get excited to take the bus or a taxi and would enjoy the long drive from downtown Baghdad to the suburbs. We would make time to go to different relatives’ houses, taking a couple of days around Christmas to make those trips. As kids, we loved it and were often rewarded with a monetary gift, 250 Fils (about $1) — enough to buy a chocolate bar!
Baba Noel
There is neither snow in Iraq during Christmas nor chimneys to climb down, so Baba Noel (Santa Claus) was rumored to come in with his 4-wheel modified sleigh pulled by his trusted reindeer.
Baba Noel brought gifts and presents for the kids in Iraq just as he does for kids in the west. Dressed in red and white, he carried a brown sack filled with gifts and placed them under the Christmas tree while everyone was asleep at night.
As kids, we were led to believe that Santa’s favorite cookie was kleicha, and we would leave him those on a plate with a glass of milk on the kitchen table. Santa ate them all, and the note he left behind stated that he preferred the ones stuffed with dates!
Kleicha & Cake
In fact, Christmas was not complete unless kleicha were made. This traditional Iraqi delight is the queen of the season, a staple in many households, served during special occasions such as Christmas, Easter, weddings, and Eid. It is loved by all Iraqi groups, including Muslims, Christians, Chaldeans, Assyrians, and Kurds. Baked pieces are usually filled with Iraqi dates (the Khastawi type), plain or walnuts, and served to guests accompanied by tea.
Kleicha can be traced back to ancient Mesopotamia, where the cookie was called qullupu, a name that suggests it was shaped round like the moon. The qullupu cookies were prepared by filling portions of dough made with fine wheat flour and sesame oil with raisins or dates and baking them in a mud-made oven called a tannoor. Pottery molds were discovered in the palace at Mari (in present-day Syria near the Iraqi border) dating to around 1780 BCE. Tannoors are believed to have been used for forming breads into various decorative shapes, the initial versions of kleicha.
Iraqi kleicha is unlike any other baked cookie you’ll find in the world. The date cookies are a bit like Fig Newtons but with a wonderfully aromatic cardamom undertone; they’re much prettier, too! They are typically made with a combination of flour, sugar, butter, and spices such as cardamom, cinnamon, and nutmeg. The dough is rolled out, filled with fillings such as crushed walnuts and sugar or with coconut, and garnished with sesame seeds. They are typically filled and folded over in half-moon, round, or rectangular shapes before being baked to perfection.
Baking kleicha had a process of its own. Since the stoves in most Iraqi homes had only gas burners and no ovens, the women would place the kleicha in large trays and walk them over to the local bakery (sometimes with the help of strong brothers and fathers) to be baked. The women would sometimes balance the trays of kleicha on their heads as they made the trip.
At the bakery they would either wait or come back to pick them up in 30 minutes. After the kleicha were baked, they would be brought back home to cool off. The aroma of the warm kleicha filling the house was heavenly and irresistible.
In previous years, every home prepared kleicha, but for years families have been buying them ready-made from sweets and pastry shops.
Another traditional iconic delight in most Christian homes in Iraq and the US is the fruitcake. It makes an appearance at Christmas and all special occasions like engagement parties, weddings, anniversaries, communion celebrations and so on.
It is a good, rich, dark, and sometimes boozy Christmas fruitcake studded with a wide variety of tart and sweet dried fruit like golden raisins, dark raisins, figs, prunes, cherries, orange peel, apricots, and peaches. It is enriched with almonds and walnuts and soaked in brandy/sherry/vermouth/gin for a wonderful spicy holiday flavor. It is a must-have and holds a very prominent spot on a typical Christmas platter.
Pacha
If kleicha is the queen of Christmas delights, then pacha (stuffed tripe) is the king of the Christmas table. For Chaldeans, Christmas dinner isn’t complete without pacha. This delicious lamb dish is at the heart of a Chaldean Christmas dinner and a star at every table.
Iraqis have a deep appreciation for their own cuisine. Pacha is more than just a food, it is a symbol of Iraqi culture and identity. It represents the resilience and creativity of the Iraqi people who have endured many hardships and challenges. It also reflects the diversity and richness of Iraqi cuisine, which has been influenced by various civilizations and regions. Pacha is a dish that brings people together and celebrates life.
Comparing the Babylonian recipes to what we know of medieval cuisine and present-day culinary practices suggests that the stews represent an early stage of a long tradition that is still dominant in Iraqi cuisine. Boiling the meat into stew with spices and other ingredients was the basic culinary technique. Iraqi pacha is prepared in similar ways to those described in Babylonian tablets.
Pacha is believed to have been invented by poor people who could not afford to waste any part of the animal. They used every bit of the sheep, including the organs, bones, and skin, cooking them for hours until they became tender and flavorful. The stomach lining and intestine would be filled with rice and diced lamb and stitched with sewing thread; sheep brain is also included. Pacha is usually cooked in broth, boiled slowly, and eaten with bread. Serving it has come to be a symbol of hospitality and generosity in Iraqi culture.
The dish is incredibly hearty, perfect for cold winter months. It totally makes sense as a Christmas dish. Pacha is not easy to make at home, but you can find it in many restaurants and street stalls in Iraq. In Iraqi restaurants in the US, when customers order a pot of pacha they can supply their own pot or use the restaurant pot — provided they agree to bring it back!
This special delicacy could terrify someone from any other part of the world. It may sound strange or even gross to some of you, but trust me, it is delicious and nutritious!
Other Christmas and New Year Classics
Kubba yachnni is an Iraqi-Mosuli dish substantial enough to be a meal on its own. It is a combination of lamb dumplings cooked in lamb stock with chickpeas and onions; lamb shanks and stuffed intestine are later added to the broth. Some call it a soup, others call it white tashreeb or stew.
Iraqi recipes are always done from memory. Iraqis don’t cook with measurements; they cook with their senses. The correct tastes and textures were passed on through generations because they grew up watching their mother cook and eating her food. There is no way to describe the secrets of the mother’s recipes, and Iraqi food is just that; it is the food of your mother’s taste, and her taste is deeply rooted in Mesopotamian history.
Still in the kubba family, this time we have kubba qiesi. This is another Iraqi-Mosuli recipe, usually served at New Year celebrations to begin the new season with a sweet start. It is a sweet stew that is full of dark and light dried raisins, apricots, plums, and almonds.
This home delicacy is not served in any restaurant I know of; to have the real thing, you must go to the source and ask them to make it for you. It’s a certain truth that Iraqis will argue all night about the ‘correct’ way to make kubba qiesi, and the best answer always is, “How my mother makes it,” regardless of the chef. Believe me—the dish is lovely, and the taste is kingly.
Although turkeys aren’t native to Iraq, turkey (or in some cases, chicken) is served on New Year’s Eve. Contrary to how it is done is the States, Iraqi families usually buy the live bird around October to feed and fatten it before it becomes the centerpiece of the traditional New Year’s dinner. I n my memories, while in custody, the bird was kept on the roof of the house or in a cage for safe keeping and to keep it away from dogs or cats. To prevent it from flying away, it was tied with a strong rope to a pole or attached to a wall.
Just before the poor Alou-Alou/Phsephes (as it was commonly called) was martyred, Cognac or Scotch was forced down the throat of the bird with the belief that it would improve taste and reduce the pain of the ultimate guillotine and beheading.
Christmas Past and Present
Baghdad Christmases were once magical affairs, shared by Christians and Muslims alike. The streets were lit up, the municipality sponsored fireworks, and the last week of the year, from Christmas right through New Year’s, was one long party.
Christmas is no longer a big celebration in Iraq, now dominated by a Shia-Muslim government. Every year without fail, some Muslim clerics criticize parishioners for celebrating Christmas.
Today in Iraq, homes decorated for Christmas are a rarity, and holiday excursions, fireworks, or feasts during Christmastime are hard to find. You can’t see the friends you used to know; they are either dead or have left the country.
Nowadays, it is hard to find a natural Christmas tree in the Middle East. The Christmas wish lists of young boys reflect the country’s tragic trajectory. In the past, boys asked for train sets or a soccer ball or a toy car. Today, they ask for toy guns or a tank.
It’s not utterly hopeless, however; in 2018, the Iraqi government classified December 25, Christmas Day, as a national holiday. Only four other nations out of 20 in Iraq’s vicinity — Sudan, Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon — officially recognize Christmas.
And Christmas traditions practiced in Baghdad and other towns less than a century ago are like many of the traditions Chaldeans celebrate in the United States. Kleicha and pacha are more than just food. They are symbols of Iraqi Chaldean culture and identity. They represent the resilience and creativity of the Iraqi people who have endured many hardships and challenges. They also reflect the diversity and richness of Chaldean cuisine, which has been influenced by various civilizations and regions. Kleicha and pacha bring people together and celebrate life.
In the West, we continue to do the same things our ancestors did. We put a Christmas tree up, make kleicha, Christmas fruitcake, and pacha; we visit grandparents and cousins, but it felt more magical when we were kids. It’s now a blend of both ways, East and West.
In the United States, we adapted to the Christmas gift exchange, which we didn’t really do in Iraq. We decorate the exterior of our homes and surrounding trees with Christmas lights. Things change as we get older, however, one thing remains intact. Christmas is centered on the appreciation of one’s family, the blessings of the gifts of life along with never forgetting the reason for the holiday celebration: the birth of Christ.
Sources: The NY Times, Reuters, DW Deutsche Welle, Jonathan Pinto, Taghreed Thomas, Hanna Yousif, and Wikipedia.