Every day is a celebration

Today is National Margarita Day in the United States. This is, of course, not an official holiday, but a quick Google search turns up a plethora of similar food celebration days in the US and the UK. (My search for specific UK food holidays was hampered by the different use of the word holiday in these countries. I guess the saying that the US and the UK are two countries separated by a common language is true. But I digress.)

While we missed British Yorkshire Pudding Day in the UK (February 2), we can look forward to British Sandwich Week, which commences May 11. The US is the clear winner in the “food holiday” celebration index, with literally a different food celebrated every day. These days range from National Cream Puff Day in January to Oatmeal Muffin Day in December. (All of these days may help explain why the US leads in obesity rates. And I take issue with National Pie Day being on January 23 instead of March 14. But I digress again.)

While a handful of food celebration days are recognized worldwide (International Beer Day, for example), my searches for food holidays in other countries were less fruitful. Food awareness days don’t seem to be prevalent in Australia, but I did happen upon National Nude Food Day. This is (thankfully) not a nudist celebration of food, but according to the official website, Nude Food Day “encourages individuals to make their lunch a healthy, nutritious and environmentally friendly meal by filling it with fresh food and eliminating all unnecessary wrapping!”

But while specific food celebration days aren’t popular in other countries, food festivals abound. In Sicily, sagra (local fairs) celebrate everything from cannoli to couscous. Germany has been celebrating onions, complete with an onion queen, in Weimar for centuries. Mexico hosts similar festivals, with an annual ice cream festival held in Mexico City for 129 years, and a vanilla festival held each year in Veracruz.

While these food festivals showcase a region’s agricultural specialties or food traditions, the origins of specific food days are generally unknown. However, I am sure no one will be surprised to find that the list of official sponsors for National Margarita Day includes makers of tequila and margarita mix. Perhaps these food “holidays” are crassly commercialized, but they are fun to celebrate nonetheless. I’m looking forward to Banana Cream Pie Day on March 2. But for today, here are great margarita recipes from the EYB library.

What’s your favorite food celebration day?

Photo by Darcie Boschee