Christmas Dishes from Around the World
Australia candy canes
Before the Christmas holidays, many kinds of sweet biscuits are prepared. Traditionally, the more kinds the housewife prepares, the greater appreciation she gets. The Christmas cookies are then served during the whole Christmas period and exchanged among friends and neighbours. Very popular is also a preparation of small ginger breads garnished by sugar icing.
[edit] Denmark Danish Christmas meal Main article: Cuisine of Denmark
[edit] Venezuela Hallaca
Australia candy canes
- roast turkey, chicken and ham[1]
- Stuffing[2]
- Christmas cake or Christmas pudding (Traditionally with a small treat baked inside, often a silver coin such as a Threepence or Sixpence. Australian decimal currency coins cannot be used as they are cupro-nickel not silver, which due to contamination risks isn't safe to be cooked in foods).[1]
- custard
- gingerbread in Christmas shapes
- Christmas damper - in wreath or star shape, served with butter, jam, honey or golden syrup. Made in the Australian bush in the 19th century.[3]
- lollies, such as rocky road; rum balls; candy canes
- Champagne[citation needed]
- cold turkey and cold ham[1]
- seafood and salads[1]
- trifle
- Pavlova[2]
- mince pies
- cougnou (with various like cougnolle), sweet bread in the form of the infant Jesus[4]
- lombo à Califórnia - pork loins
- rabanada - French toast
- pernil - roast pork
- perú - roast turkey
- bacalhau - codfish
- farofa - raw manioc flour roasted with butter, salt, bacon or smoked meat, and spices, with a smoky and slightly salty taste
- turkey
- Brazil nut
- Panettone
- apple cider
- bûche de Noël
- butter tarts
- candy canes
- Christmas pudding
- satsumas
- doughnuts
- eggnog
- fruitcake
- gingerbread, often in the form of a Gingerbread house or Gingerbread man
- mixed nuts in the shell and spiced nuts
- tourtière (pâté à la viande & Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean varieties)
- pumpkin pie
- mince pie
- roast turkey
- shortbread
- stuffing
- trifle
- cranberry sauce
- Cola de mono - (Literally, "Monkey's Tail) A Chilean Christmas beverage, with aguardiente, milk, coffee, and flavoured with vanilla and cloves[5]
- Pan de Pascua - Chilean Christmas sponge cake flavoured with cloves and with bits of candied fruits, raisins, walnuts and almonds.[6]
- Roasted turkey
- Ponche a la romana - Eggnog-style beverage made of champagne and pineapple-flavoured icecream.
- Buñuelos
- Natillas
- Manjar Blanco
- Hojuelas
- Sweet bread filled with fruits like raisins and raspberries.
- Crema De Vie - Cuban eggnog, made with condensed milk, rum, sugar syrup, lemon rind, cinnamon, and egg yolk.
- majarete - corn pudding made with coconut milk, fresh corn, cornstarch, milk, water, vanilla, cinnamon and sugar
- Platillo Moros y Cristianos
- lechon asado
- vánoční rybí polévka - Christmas fish soup
- carp
- potato salad with mayonnaise, hard-boiled eggs and boiled vegetables
- vánoční cukroví - Christmas cookies
- fruitcake
- gingerbread
Before the Christmas holidays, many kinds of sweet biscuits are prepared. Traditionally, the more kinds the housewife prepares, the greater appreciation she gets. The Christmas cookies are then served during the whole Christmas period and exchanged among friends and neighbours. Very popular is also a preparation of small ginger breads garnished by sugar icing.
[edit] Denmark Danish Christmas meal Main article: Cuisine of Denmark
- æbleskiver - traditional Danish spherical pancakes (a type of doughnut with no hole), sprinkled with powdered sugar and served with raspberry or strawberry jam
- roasted chestnuts with salt and butter
- boiled whole potatoes
- brun sovs (brown sauce) - a traditional dark gravy, used to cover meat dishes like roasted pork and duck (flæskesteg, andesteg) and the boiled potato
- brunede kartofler - caramelised potatoes
- Julebryg - Christmas beer[7]
- gløgg - mulled red wine combined with spices, sugar and chopped chestnuts typically served warm.
- risalamande - rice pudding. A dish made from rice, whipped cream and almonds, served cold with cherry sauce (kirsebærsauce)[8][9]
- flæskesteg - roast pork steak with cracklings
- andesteg - roast duck with apple and prune stuffing
- rødkål - red cabbage pickled, sweet-sour red cabbage served hot as a side dish
- Christmas cookies - Vaniljekranse, klejner, jødekager, pebernødder, honningkager og finskbrød.
- konfekt, marzipan, caramelised fruits, nougat and chocolate-covered nuts.
- Moro de guandules con coco - rice with pigeon peas and coconut milk
- ponche - eggnog
- majarete - corn pudding made with coconut milk, fresh corn, cornstarch, milk, water, vanilla, cinnamon and sugar
- Russian potato salad - not Dominican but has become a tradition. Some Dominicans add pigeon peas
- Macaroni salad - American macaroni salad
- Pasteles de hojas - Root tamales
- Jengibre - ginger tea
- Pig roast
- Pollo al Orno - Roasted Chicken
- Telera - Mexican bread
- Fruit platter - Consists of oranges, apples, bananas, grapes, and mangos
- Cheese and guava platter - a platter with squared white cheese, yellow potato cheese, soda crackers, and guava paste chunks
- Christmas ham with mustard (almost every family has one for Christmas)
- turkey (kalkkuna)
- freshly salted salmon (gravlax graavilohi)
- pickled herring in various forms (tomato, mustard, matjes or onion sauces)
- lutefisk and Béchamel sauce[10]
- whitefish and pikeperch
- liver casserole
- potato casserole[10] (sweetened or not, depending on preference)
- boiled potatoes
- carrot casserole[10]
- rutabaga casserole (lanttulaatikko)[10]
- rosolli (salad from boiled beetroots, carrots, potatoes, apples and pickled cucumber. If served with herring, it becomes herring-salad, sillisalaatti)
- various sauces
- assortment of cheese, most commonly (leipäjuusto) and Aura (aura-juusto)
- Christmas bread, usually sweet bread (Joululimppu)
- Karelian pasties, rice pasties, served with egg-butter (Karjalanpiirakka)
- Karelian hot pot, traditional meat stew originating from the region of Karelia (Karjalanpaisti)
- reindeer (in northern Finland) (poro)
- cold smoked salmon (kylmäsavulohi)
- rice pudding or rice porridge topped with cinnamon, sugar and cold milk or with mixed fruit soup (riisipuuro)
- gingerbread,[10] sometimes in the form of a gingerbread house or gingerbread man (piparkakut)
- chocolate (given as presents, eaten in-between meals, called suklaa)
- prune jam pastries (Joulutortut)[10]
- mixed fruit soup or prune soup (sekahedelmäkiisseli, luumukiisseli)
- glogg or mulled wine (glögi)
- Christmas beer (Jouluolut)
- home beer (non-alcoholic beer-like drink) (kotikalja)
- red wine (punaviini)
- Marski's tipple (akvavit, vermouth and gin) (Marskin ryyppy)
- milk (maito)
- sour milk (often drunk by older people)
- coffee (kahvi)
- oysters[11]
- foie gras[11]
- smoked salmon
- crêpes (Brittany)[12]
- chapon (roasted chicken)
- dinde aux marrons (chestnut-stuffed turkey)
- ganzeltopf (goose) (Alsace)[11]
- bûche de Noël.[13]
- kouglof (Alsace)
- berauwecka (dried-fruit cake) (Alsace)
- thirteen desserts (Provence):[11] The thirteen desserts are the traditional Christmas dessert in the French region of Provence. The Christmas supper ends with 13 dessert items, representing Jesus Christ and the 12 apostles. The desserts are traditionally set out Christmas Eve and remain on the table three days until December 27.[14]
- walnut
- quince cheese[15]
- almond
- raisin
- casse-dents of Allauch (biscuit)
- calisson of Aix-en-Provence
- nougat blanc
- nougat noir au miel
- apple
- pear
- orange
- winter melon
- fougasse (Provençal bread)
- Christstollen[16] Stollen is a fruitcake with bits of candied fruits, raisins, walnuts and almonds and spices such as cardamom and cinnamon; sprinkled with icing sugar. Often there's also a core of marzipan.[17]
- Pfefferkuchenhaus - a gingerbread house decorated with candies, sweets and sugar icing (in reference to the gingerbread house of the fairy tale Hänsel und Gretel)
- Weisswurst - sausages with veal and bacon, usually flavored with parsley, lemon, mace, onions, ginger and cardamom
- Kartoffelsalat (potato salad) with Wiener (sausages) is traditionally eaten in northern Germany for lunch on Christmas Eve
- Schäufele (a corned, smoked ham) usually served with potato salad in southern Germany for dinner on Christmas Eve.
- Printen[18]
- Oblaten Lebkuchen
- Springerle
- Weihnachtsplätzchen (Christmas cookies)
- Roasted goose
- Carp
- tamales
- ponche (Christmas fruit punch served hot with lots of fruits)
- pavo (Turkey)
- buñuelos (Fluffy sweet dessert made with corn with maple syrup)
- chicken (Prepared with different stuffings and accompanied with various side dishes such as salads or rice)
- fish (Prepared with different spices and side dishes based on rice and coconut, very typical of the northern areas of Guatemala)
- fish soup (halászlé) various recipes
- stuffed cabbage (töltött káposzta)
- roast goose
- roast duck
- roast turkey
- pastry roll filled with walnut or poppy seed (bejgli)
- bread pudding with poppy seed (mákos guba or bobájka)
- szaloncukor
- Hamborgarhryggur, a smoked, cured pork roast.
- Ptarmigan, gamebird in the grouse family.
- Hangikjöt
- Oven-roasted turkey
- Möndlugrautur - a Christmas rice pudding with an almond hidden inside (the same as the Swedish Julgröt)
- Caramelised potatoes, Icelandic. Brúnaðar kartöflur (same as in Danish cuisine).
- Pickled red cabbage
- Smákökur - small cookies of various sorts
- panettone (Milan)[19][20]
- tortellini (Bologna)
- pandoro (Verona)[clarification needed]
- panforte (Tuscany)[clarification needed]
- prosecco (Veneto)[clarification needed]
- spumante (Piedmont)[clarification needed]
- ravioli
- christmas (fruit) cake or black cake - a heavy fruit cake made with dried fruit, wine and rum.
- sorrel - often served to guests with Christmas cake; Sorrel is made from the same sepals as Latin American drink "Jamaica," but is more concentrated and usually flavored with ginger. Adding rum is traditional at Christmas time.
- curry goat
- rice and peas - a Sunday staple, at Christmas dinner is usually made with green (fresh) gungo (pigeon) peas instead of dried kidney beans or other dried legumes.
- christmas ham
- chicken
- Christmas cake - Different from a UK Christmas cake or American fruitcake, the Japanese style Christmas cake is often a white cream cake, sponge cake frosted with whipped cream, topped with strawberries and with a chocolate plate that says Merry Christmas,[21] though yule logs are also available.
- KFC fried chicken - With turkey as a dish being virtually unknown in Japan[22] the popularity of this item at Christmas is such that orders are placed as much as two months in advance.[23]
- twelve-dish Christmas Eve supper - twelve dishes representing the twelve Apostles or twelve months of the year - plays the main role in Lithuanian Christmas tradition. The traditional dishes are served on December 24.
- Ensalada de Noche Buena - Christmas Eve Salad
- bacalao - clipfish or cod
- romeritos - small green leaves of a particular type mixed generally with mole and potatoes; generally accompanied with "tortitas de camarón" (shrimp bread)
- pavo - Turkey
- tamales - Some Mexican families, particularly in the northern part of Mexico and southern American states have tamales only at Christmas Eve instead of the typical Bacalao, Romeritos and/or Turkey.
- ponche - a hot, sweet drink made with apples, sugar cane, prunes and tejocotes. For grown-ups, ponche is never complete without its "piquete" - either tequila or rum
- Pavlova
- sausages
- ham
- turkey
- strawberries
- Christmas pudding
- Christmas mince pies
- wine
- chocolate
- trifle
- brandy snaps
- potato salad
- gløgg - mulled wine
- Julepølse - Pork sausage made with powdered ginger, cloves, mustard seeds and nutmeg. Served steamed or roasted.
- lutefisk - fish preserved with lye that has been washed and boiled
- pinnekjøtt - salted, dried, and smoked lamb's ribs which are rehydrated and then steamed, traditionally over birch branches
- svineribbe - pork ribs roasted whole with the skin on, rather than spare ribs
- Julegrøt - Christmas rice pudding with an almond hidden inside
- sossiser - small Christmas sausages
- medisterkaker - Large meatballs made from a mix of pork meat and pork fat
- rødkål - sweet and sour red cabbage, as a side dish
- kålrabistappe - Purée of rutabaga, as a sidedish to pinnekjøtt
- pepperkake - gingerbread-like spice cookies flavoured with black pepper
- lussekatter - St. Lucia Buns
- ham[24]
- queso de bola (edam cheese)[24]
- puto bumbong - a purple-coloured Filipino dessert made of sweet rice cooked in hollow bamboo tubes placed on a special steamer-cooker. When cooked, they are spread with margarine and sprinkled with sugar and grated coconut.[25]
- bibingka - traditional dessert made with rice flour, sugar, clarified butter and coconut milk. baked in layers and topped with butter and sugar.[25]
- Lechon
- salads(either fruit, coconut or garden)
- Pancit - Filipino style noodle dish made with sliced meat and vegetables
- borscht (beetroot soup) with uszka (ravioli) - Classic Polish Christmas starter.
- carp fillet with potato salad, carp in aspic etc. Carp provides a main component of the Christmas Eve meal across Poland.
- pickled maatjesharing, rollmops
- pierogi with sauerkraut and forest mushrooms; filled with white cheese and potatoes
- fish soup
- kiełbasa - sausage, and ham
- poppy seed cakes (makowiec, and makówki in Silesia)
- bigos - savory stew of cabbage and meat
- fruit compote
- kutia sweet grain pudding/ in the eastern regions (Białystok)
- perú assado - roasted turkey
- bacalhau – codfish (any recipe - there are more than 1001 ways to prepare it)
- cabrito assadao - roasted goat
- borrego assado - roasted lamb
- polvo cozido - boiled octopus
- Bolo Rei (King Cake) - a beautifully decorated fluffy fruitcake
- Bolo-Rei Escangalhado (Broken King Cake)- it is like the first one, but has also cinnamon and chilacayote jam (doce de gila)
- Bolo-Rei de Chocolate (Chocolate King Cake) - it is like the King Cake, but only has chilacayote jam, nuts, raisins and less (or no) fruit, which is replaced by lots of chocolate chips
- Bolo-Rainha (Queen Cake) - similar to Bolo-Rei, but with only nuts, raisins and almonds
- Bolo-Rei Escangalhado (Broken King Cake) - similar to the Bolo-Rei, but in its recipe are added cinnamon and chilacayote jam (gila)
- Bolo-Rei de Chocolate - it is like the Bolo-Rei, but has less (or no) fruit, nuts, chilacayote jam and lots of chocolate chips
- broa castelar - a small, soft and thin cake made of sweet potato and orange
- fatias douradas - golden slices, known as french toast - slices of pan bread, soaked in egg with sugar, fried and sprinkled with powdered sugar and cinnamon
- rabanadas - they are like fatias douradas, but made with common bread
- formigos - a delicious dessert made with sugar, eggs, pieces of bread, almonds, port wine and powdered with cinnamon
- filhoses - depending on the region, the may be thin or fluffy pieces of a fried dough made of eggs, honey, orange, lemon, flour and anise, sprinkled - or not with icing sugar
- coscorões - thin squares of a fried orange flavoured dough
- azevias de grão, batata-doce ou gila - deep fried thin dough pastries filled with a delicious cream made of chickpea, sweet potato or chilacayote, powdered with sugar and cinnamon
- tarte de amêndoa - almond pie
- tronco de Natal - Christmas log - a delicious Swiss roll, resembling a tree's trunk, filled with chocolate cream, decorated with chocolate and mini - 2 cm Christmas trees
- brigadeiros - creamy chocolate balls
- lampreia de ovos - a sweet made of eggs, well decorated
- sonhos - an orange flavoured fried yeast dough, powdered with icing sugar
- velhoses - they are like the sonhos, but made with pumpkin
- bolo de Natal - Christmas cake
- pudim de Natal - Christmas pudding
- chocolate quente - hot chocolate
- vinho quente - eggnog made with boiled wine, egg yolk, sugar and cinnamon
- arroz con dulce - rice pudding with spices, milk, coconut milk and coconut cream.
- arroz con gandules - yellow-rice and pigeon peas with olives, capers, and pieces of ham.
- coquito - Puerto Rican spiced coconut eggnog.
- majarete - rice and coconut custard, made of coconut milk, milk, rice flour, sugar, and vanilla or sour orange leaves with cinnamon served on top.
- morcilla
- ensalada de pulpo - octopus salad
- pasta de guayaba con queso - guava paste with Puerto Rican white cheese, sharp cheddar, manchego, and/or gouda on a soda cracker.
- guineitos en escabeche - boiled green bananas in Puerto Rican style escabeche.
- pasteles
- pasteles de guineo
- pasteles de yucca
- pastelón - sweet plantain "lasagna" smiler to pionono.
- pig roast
- potato salad - made with chorizo and hard-boiled eggs.
- tembleque - a pudding made with coconut milk, milk, sugar and cornstarch. **Cinnamon, vanilla, and orange blossom water can also be added.
- piftie - pork and beef based aspic, with pork meat, vegetables and garlic
- cârnaţi - pork-based sausages
- tobā - various cuttings of pork, liver boiled, diced and "packed" in pork stomach like a salami
- sarmale - rolls of cabbage pickled in brine and filled with meat and rice (see sarma)
- cozonac, sort of Romanian equivalent of panettone
- Strong spirits:
- fish soup for the Christmas Eve
- koljivo - boiled wheat which is used liturgically in the Eastern Orthodox and Greek-Catholic churches
- Česnica - Christmas soda bread with a silver coin to bring health and good luck baked in the bread
- meat
- sweets Turrón
- yema - egg-based dessert
- mantecados & polvorones - crumbly cakes
- marzipan, almond cakes
- King cake known as roscón de Reyes in Spanish and tortell in Catalan.
- Julbord[26] - Christmas smorgasbord ("Christmas table"), a catch-all term for all the dishes served during Christmas Eve:
- köttbullar - Swedish meatballs
- Julskinka - Christmas ham
- dopp i grytan ("dipping in the kettle") - dipping bread slices in the ham broth after boiling the Christmas ham.[27]
- prinskorv - small hot dog sausages
- fläskkorv - pork sausages
- isterband - smoked fresh pork sausage
- revbensspjäll - spare ribs
- inlagd sill - pickled herring (usually of different types)
- gravad lax - lox
- Janssons frestelse ("Jansson's Temptation") - warm scalloped potato casserole with anchovies
- vörtlimpa - Swedish rye bread with grated orange peel made for Christmas, with or without raisins.
- knäckebröd - dry crisp bread
- rödkål - sweet and sour red cabbage, as a side dish
- grönkål - sweet and sour kale as a side dish
- brunkål ("brown cabbage")- cabbage flavoured with syrup hence the name
- rödbetor - sliced beet root
- an array of cheeses - bondost, herrgårdsost, prästost, Getost (hard goat milk cheese)
- lutefisk[28] - Lye-fish (whitefish) that has been boiled served with white gravy
- Julmust - a traditional, very sweet, stout-like, Christmas soft drink, originally intended as an alternative to alcohol beverage called Mumma
- glögg - mulled wine
- knäck - Christmas toffee
- pepparkakor (Gingerbread) - brown cookies flavoured with a variety of traditional Christmas spices
- Julost - Christmas cheese
- Julgröt - Christmas rice pudding with an almond hidden inside
- lussekatter - Saint Lucy saffron buns
- Brandy butter
- Bread sauce
- Brussels sprouts[29]
- Chocolate yule log
- Christmas cake
- Christmas ham - Usually a honey or marmalade glazed roast or boiled gammon joint.
- Christmas pudding[30]
- Dundee cake, traditional Scottish fruit cake
- Mince pies[31]
- Nut roast (a popular vegetarian alternative)
- Pigs in a blanket - Chipolata sausages wrapped in bacon
- Roast turkey[31]
- Roast beef
- Roast duck
- Roast goose
- Roast pheasant
- Roast potatoes - roasting with goose or duck fat is becoming more popular[32]
- Stuffing
- Trifle
- apple cider
- boiled custard
- candy canes
- Champagne, or sparkling apple cider
- chicken and dumplings, primarily in the southern states.
- Christmas cookies
- cranberry sauce
- Dungeness Crab, primarily in California
- eggnog
- fruitcake
- gingerbread, often in the form of a gingerbread house or gingerbread man
- Christmas Ham
- hot buttered rum
- hot chocolate
- lutefisk (among those with Scandinavian ancestry]]
- mashed potato
- mixed nuts
- oyster stew, composed of oysters simmered in cream or milk and butter.
- persimmon pudding
- pie
- Prime Rib
- plum pudding
- Russian tea cakes
- Tamales
- roast turkey, less often roast duck, goose, or pheasant
- Smithfield ham, often served on a biscuit or a roll
- stuffing, also known as dressing, particularly in the Southern U.S.
- lefse rolled with butter and sugar, particularly in Northern Wisconsin and Minnesota
[edit] Venezuela Hallaca
- hallaca - rectangle-shaped meal made of maize, filled with beef, pork, olives, raisins and caper, and wrapped in plantain leaves
- pan de jamón - ham-filled bread with olives and raisins
- dulce de lechosa - dessert made of cooked sliced unripe papaya in sugar syrup
- ensalada de gallina - salad made of potato, carrot, apple and shredded chicken
- pernil[33] - roast pork shoulder
Christmas Island
The Territory of Christmas Island is a territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean. It is located 2,600 kilometres (1,600 mi) northwest of the Western Australian city of Perth, 360 km (220 mi) south of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, and 975 km (606 mi) ENE of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. It has a population of 1,403 residents who live in a number of "settlement areas" on the northern tip of the island: Flying Fish Cove (also known as Kampong), Silver City, Poon Saan, and Drumsite.
The island’s geographic isolation and history of minimal human disturbance has led to a high level of endemism among its flora and fauna, which is of significant interest to scientists and naturalists.[2] 63% of its 135 square kilometres (52 sq mi) is an Australian national park. There exist large areas of primary monsoonal forest.
Captain William Mynors of the Royal Mary, a British East India Company vessel, named the island when he sailed past it on Christmas Day in 1643.[3] The island was included on British and Dutch navigation charts as early as the beginning of the seventeenth century, but it was not until 1666 when a map published by Dutch cartographer Pieter Goos included the island. Goos labelled the island Mony, the meaning of which is unclear.[4] British navigator William Dampier, aboard the British ship Cygnet, made the earliest recorded visit to sea round the island in March 1688. He found it uninhabited.[5] Dampier gave an account of the visit which can be found in his Voyages[6] Dampier was trying to reach Cocos from New Holland. His ship was pulled off course in an easterly direction, arriving at Christmas Island 28 days later. Dampier landed at the Dales (on the west coast). Two of his crewmen were the first recorded humans to have set foot on Christmas Island.
Daniel Beekman made the next recorded visit, chronicled in his 1718 book, A Voyage to and from the Island of Borneo, in the East Indies.
Phosphate, deposited originally as dead marine organisms (not guano as often thought), has been mined on the island for many years.
The Territory of Christmas Island is a territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean. It is located 2,600 kilometres (1,600 mi) northwest of the Western Australian city of Perth, 360 km (220 mi) south of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, and 975 km (606 mi) ENE of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. It has a population of 1,403 residents who live in a number of "settlement areas" on the northern tip of the island: Flying Fish Cove (also known as Kampong), Silver City, Poon Saan, and Drumsite.
The island’s geographic isolation and history of minimal human disturbance has led to a high level of endemism among its flora and fauna, which is of significant interest to scientists and naturalists.[2] 63% of its 135 square kilometres (52 sq mi) is an Australian national park. There exist large areas of primary monsoonal forest.
Captain William Mynors of the Royal Mary, a British East India Company vessel, named the island when he sailed past it on Christmas Day in 1643.[3] The island was included on British and Dutch navigation charts as early as the beginning of the seventeenth century, but it was not until 1666 when a map published by Dutch cartographer Pieter Goos included the island. Goos labelled the island Mony, the meaning of which is unclear.[4] British navigator William Dampier, aboard the British ship Cygnet, made the earliest recorded visit to sea round the island in March 1688. He found it uninhabited.[5] Dampier gave an account of the visit which can be found in his Voyages[6] Dampier was trying to reach Cocos from New Holland. His ship was pulled off course in an easterly direction, arriving at Christmas Island 28 days later. Dampier landed at the Dales (on the west coast). Two of his crewmen were the first recorded humans to have set foot on Christmas Island.
Daniel Beekman made the next recorded visit, chronicled in his 1718 book, A Voyage to and from the Island of Borneo, in the East Indies.
Phosphate, deposited originally as dead marine organisms (not guano as often thought), has been mined on the island for many years.