Nochebuena is a Spanish word referring to the night of Christmas Eve and celebrated on December 24 every year. For Latin American cultures, it is often the biggest feast for the Christmas season and is the annual Spanish tradition. Nochebuena is the Spanish word for Christmas Eve. Some regions include a fasting before midnight dinner. In Spain, Latin America, Pacific Islands, and the Philippines, the evening consists of a traditional family dinner. Roasted pig, or lechón is often the center of Nochebuena for feasts around the world. It is believed that the tradition dates back to the 15th century when Caribbean colonists hunted down pigs and roasted them with a powerful flame.
Observances
Pacific
In the Philippines, Hawaii, and the Native Pacific Islands the traditional dinner comes at midnight after the family hears the late evening Mass known as Misa de Gallo . Some of the more conventional dishes served for the main course include: lechón, pancit, sweet-tasting spaghetti, fried chicken, jamón, queso de bola, arróz caldo, lumpia, turkey, relyenongbangus, adobo, steamed rice, and various breads such as pan de sal. Desserts include úbe halayá, bibingka, membrilyo, fruit salad, various rice- and flour-based cakes, ice cream, pastries and fruits, while popular beverages such as tsokolate as well as coffee, soda, wine, beer, and fruit juices accompany the feast.
In the Islands dishes include shrimp kelaguen; coconut crab; and kadon octopus, octopus stewed in sweet peppers and coconut milk. Beef is a rarity, but a popular dish is tinaktak, ground beef in coconut milk
Europe
In Spain, Nochebuena includes a dinner with family and friends. It is particularly common to start the meal with a seafood dish, followed by a bowl of hot homemade soup, and lamb or roasted pig. It is also common to have desserts such as turrón.
North America
In Cuban and Cuban-Floridian tradition, the pig is sometimes cooked in a Caja China, a large box where an entire pig is placed below hot coals. The dinner features many side dishes and desserts, and often games of dominoes are played. The tradition is continued by Cuban families in Florida and the United States.
The dinner on the 24th, Christmas Eve itself, is the center of the celebration. That day — it may also be 31 — for many it is important to wear a new piece of clothing, be it a jacket or underwear. The Cuban family does not have a fixed time for dinner. It is necessary, yes, in most of the Island, to have it as a family, and it is expected to be all at the table to start tasting the frijoles negros dormidos and the arroz blanco desgranado y reluciente , the yuca con mojo , the roasted pork or the stuffed or unfilled guanajo that, along with homemade desserts, such as Christmas fritters, and a wide range of sweets in syrup and Spanish nougat, are the dishes - also the scallop in black sauce - that make up the meal of the date that, in a country without tradition or wine culture, it is usually irrigated with ice-cold beer. There are not frequent on Cuban Christmas Eve the lamb or the fish and shellfish, nor the cod, common in other latitudes. The visit to the archipelago of Pope Juan Pablo II, in 1998, promoted the Cuban State, in a gesture of goodwill, to declare December 25 again as a holiday, which had stopped happening for several decades. A moment was reconquered to devote to the family.
Nochebuena is also celebrated on Christmas Eve with La Sangre de Navidad, and marks the final evening of the Posadas celebrations, in others a dinner is served with the family usually after attended the late Mass known as Misa de Gallo.
In Peru, a large, juicy turkey is the star for Noche Buena.
In Venezuela, hallacas are normally the staple dish for Noche Buena alongside of either ham or pork leg known as "pernil", panettone, rum and "Ponche Crema". The night is usually accompanied by traditional Christmas music known as "aguinaldos;" in Venezuela, the traditional music is known as joropo.
The 2016 Elena of Avalor season one episode, "Navidad", focused on Nochebuena. As part of its special "Dora's Christmas Carol Adventure," Dora the Explorer featured a song titled "Nochebuena" regarding the celebration on the musical album for the special.
