It will come as no surprise that different countries all have their own Christmas traditions. For example, the Polish traditionally lay an extra plate at the Christmas table for an unexpected guest while in some parts of South Africa, deep-fried Emperor Moth caterpillars are a festive delicacy.

In the UK, contemporary festive traditions include feigning delight when Gran gives you a genuine 1970s bottle of Brut and finishing the emergency supply of Rennies before Downton has even started.

The good people at Hello Fresh have collated a variety of Christmas factoids from around the world. We’ve added our own thoughts.

Tuck in:

Don’t carp

In Slovakia, carp is eaten for Christmas dinner. Tradition dictates that the carp must first swim in the family bathtub for at least a day or two before being prepared. This has the added bonus of allowing the carp to nibble the dead skin on your feet while showering – rather like those fish spa pedicures which were all the rage a couple of years back.

Breaking bad table manners

Another delightful Slovakian tradition is that the oldest man in the family flings a spoon of lokshe pancake onto the ceiling, the more that stays up the better. Adorable when the 80 year-old Gramps does it at Christmas but somehow seems less admirable when you look at the ceiling in a secondary school dining hall.

That’s how they roll

In Venezuela, people go to Christmas Mass on roller skates. We’re not making this up.

End of Tinder?

In Sweden, their Christmas pudding has a hidden peeled almond in it and whoever finds it will get married within the year. Cute but worrying if you’re nine years-old when you happen upon the lucky almond.

Eyes on the pies

Last year, British children left 7 million mince pies out for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. (Who verifies this, Ed?)

January gym boom

All this extra food consumption means that the average person puts on an extra 5lbs (2kg) in weight. We’re confident that this one rings true.

Bitter, moi?

70% of people have a gene that causes us to dislike the bitter flavours of a Brussels sprout. This is sort of true. The bitter characteristics are being slowly but surely bred out of sprouts.

Say it with KFC

36% of Germans eat sausages and potato salad on Christmas Eve. Fair enough. In Japan, KFC has somehow wangled it so that Japanese believe Westerners celebrate the festive period with a chicken dinner. Inviting a potential partner out to KFC on Christmas Eve is seen as deeply romantic. Obviously, nothing says ‘I love you’ with more panache than a KFC variety bucket.

USA gives turkey the bird

Americans eat 22 million turkeys during the holiday season – surprisingly few when you consider that the population of the USA is around 320 million.