Candy canes, mulled wine and turkey with all the trimmings. Every Christmas, we tuck into dishes that we have known and loved for generations. But why do we eat specific foods around the festive season? We've delved into culinary traditions around the world to find the answers.

It's believed that panettone in some form has been baked since the Middle Ages but there are many stories around how it rose to popularity. One such legend is that during a Christmas banquet held by the Duke of Milan in the 1400s, the dessert was burned. Luckily, a young cook called Toni came to the rescue and created a rich brioche bread filled with raisins and candied fruit. The Duke loved it and it quickly became a beloved national festive bake.

According to folklore, the iconic peppermint-flavored boiled sweet dates back to 1670, when a German choirmaster asked a local confectioner to make them to keep his young singers peaceful during services. Some stories say that he designed the candy in the shape of a crook to represent the shepherds who visited baby Jesus.

Mince pies did used to contain meat, often mutton or ground pork. To make it go further, the meat was mixed with dried fruits, spices and suet. In the 1800s, pies without meat became more popular among the upper classes and the version we know and love today came into existence.

When fresh citrus fruit was not readily available, an orange at Christmas was considered a luxury. The tradition of placing an orange in Christmas stockings also references an old Christmas tale in which St Nicholas gave three gold balls to a father who couldn't afford his daughters' dowries. The balls were tossed down the chimney and fell into stockings hanging by the fire.

Eggnog, a classic creamy drink that many drink around Christmas, has its roots in 13th-century Europe when medieval monks in Britain drank posset – a warm, milky ale punch made with figs and eggs. Fast forward several centuries and the drink was spiked with sherry, Madeira or brandy and popular with the upper classes. When it crossed to the US during the 18th century, inexpensive rum was used and it was enjoyed by all. Give our top eggnog recipe a go.

Turkey arrived in England in the 1500s and Henry VIII was purportedly the first monarch to serve turkey as part of the Christmas feast. It gained in popularity during Victorian Britain and Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol in 1843 helped spread the festive tradition and eventually it was cemented as Christmas Day's dining table centerpiece.

Also known as a yule ham, this sumptuous roast originated from ancient Norse pagans paying tribute to the god Freyr – the god of fertility, harvest and boars. The medieval tradition of eating ham is still associated with a modern Christmas.

Goose has been eaten around the festive season for thousands of years, during the ancient pagan festival of Michaelmas, through the 16th and 17th centuries at British Tudor banquets. Goose remained the popular Christmas roast until the Victorian era. It's also a seasonal bird, at full maturity towards the end of the year.

This sweet treat goes all the way back to the Middle Ages when spices such as nutmeg, cinnamon and black pepper become more available. By the 16th century, cookies had become popular across Europe and it's thought that they made their way to America via Dutch immigrants in the early 17th century. Nowadays, they're a staple sugary snack all year round and especially at Christmas.

Also known as a yule log, a bûche de Noël (as it's called in France) is a log-shaped chocolate cake that evokes an old European tradition of specially selecting a wooden log to burn on the hearth at Christmastime. The first recipe appeared during the 19th century and has remained a popular festive dessert.

Towards the end of the 1800s, when Brussels sprouts were becoming more readily available, modern Christmas traditions were also being created and so the divisive green became synonymous with 25 December. Winter is also when sprouts are at their seasonal best. Check out our recipe for a traditional way to serve Brussels or an alternative dish of Brussels sprouts and Comté gratin.

The story goes that Christmas cake, traditionally a dense, rich fruitcake, began as plum porridge. The oatmeal-based dish was eaten on Christmas Eve and dried fruit, spices and honey were added to the mix. By the 16th century, it found a new lease of life as Christmas pudding as the oats were removed and replaced by butter, flour and eggs, and it was boiled. Eventually, the mixture morphed again into a baked cake. Find our best Christmas cake recipes and tips here.

This well-loved winter brew was originally used to warm Romans during the cold winters. Throughout the Middle Ages, it gained in popularity as Europeans added herbs and spices to avoid sickness and the craze only continued apace. It wasn't until the 1890s when it became associated with Christmas. Try our mulled wine hot chocolate recipe which puts a twist on the classic hot beverage.

Shaping gingerbread figures can be traced back to the 15th century and by the early 1800s, German bakers were fashioning houses. They were likely inspired, or at least popularized, by the Grimm brothers' fairy tale Hansel and Gretel. Creating your own this festive season? Check out our top tips for making the best-ever gingerbread house.

We have the Romans to thank for this tradition. The earliest written record of stuffing inside of meat was in a cookbook called Apicius De Re Coquinaria. The stuffing consisted of vegetables, spices, nuts, herbs, spelt and organ meat. By 1836, stuffing became a staple with various places adapting it to incorporate local ingredients.

Why do South Americans feast on tamales at Christmas? Corn was a very important crop throughout Mesoamerica and because many believed that humanity was created from corn, these delicacies became an integral part of ritual offerings, particularly at Christmas. Over time, tamales have been seen as a symbol of the Virgin Mary and many tamales contain an olive, which symbolizes the baby Jesus.

This mysterious tradition apparently began in Germany when a Christmas pickle, a weihnachtsgurke, was hidden within the branches of the tree. On Christmas morning, the first child to find the pickle receives either an extra present or the privilege of opening the first present. Others say that it began when a dying 19th-century Bavarian soldier requested a pickle that eventually cured him entirely. Since then, he hung a pickle on his Christmas tree every year.

Dating back to the Twelfth Night Cake that was eaten on the ‘Twelfth Night’ of Christmas, the lucky person who found the silver sixpence would become the ‘king' or 'queen’ for the night. Other items were also used such as a bachelor’s button, an old maid’s thimble and a ring which determined whether someone would stay single or get married.

We can thank a 19th-century German innovation for these. Designed to mark the advent period, many calendars were made with concealed sweet treats to engage children in the tradition. Nowadays, you can find a plethora of advent calendars filled with delectable treats and gourmet surprises.

A firm favorite among children across the globe, there are various stories about chocolate coins. Some say they represent gold gifted to baby Jesus by the three wise men in the nativity story. Others believe that, like oranges, they reference the bags of gold that St Nicholas supposedly left in Christmas stockings.

Many Italian-American families celebrate La Vigilia di Natale, or Feast of the Seven Fishes, on Christmas Eve, where they eat an extensive seafood feast before midnight mass. This tradition dates back to the Roman Catholic custom of abstining from meat and dairy products on the eve of important holidays. Why seven? The seven courses of fish refer to the seven sacraments, seven days of the creation story and the seven deadly sins.

Setting the Christmas pudding on fire isn’t just to burn off excess brandy, this tradition harks back to pagan winter solstice festivals. Once Christianity was popularized, it came to represent the passion of Christ and has since become a Western festive tradition.

In the 1970s, fast food chain KFC ran a highly successful marketing campaign in Japan, for a holiday fried chicken bucket. Ever since, it's a must-have for families and it's rumored that some people reserve their meal up to two months in advance.