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guy fawkes day

Guy Fawkes Day, November 5, United Kingdom

Not exactly a celebration of independence but the commemoration of the foiling of a plot to blow up Parliament by Fawkes and his band of Roman Catholic conspirators, which certainly would have led to a loss of liberty for many. “Bonfire Night is mainly an excuse for kids to play with dangerous fireworks, tie them to dog’s tails, and put them through old ladies’ letterboxes,” says British writer James Cameron. As for any special food, he says, “I grew up on a farm. The traditional thing was baked potatoes, cooked in the embers. That was it.”

Photograph by Michael St. Maur Sheil/CORBIS

australia day

Australia Day, January 26

This has got to be the closest thing to the Fourth of July anywhere on earth (it’s even summer Down Under), and Gourmet’s Australia correspondent, Pat Nourse confirms that “much beer is drunk” but also that plenty of people now grill fish, shuck oysters, and make chipotle pork cheeseburgers. However, he says, “the classic old-school barbie scene hasn’t completely died out—the gals making the iceberg salads with supermarket tomatoes and the guys sinking tinnies of VB [downing cans of Victoria Bitter beer, that is] while turning and burning the T-bones.” Australia Day, though, is a kind of backward celebration of independence, commemorating as it does the proclamation of British sovereignty over the island, in 1778 (and, in some eyes, “the beginning of the destruction of indigenous Australian culture,” he says). “The 26th has also been dubbed Invasion Day, and protests over aboriginal-rights have become a regular sight in recent decades.”

Photograph by Chad Ehlers/Getty Images

canada day

Canada Day, July 1

According to Canadian-born contributing editor Barry Estabrook, Canada Day “is pretty much the same as the Fourth of July except much lower key, as befits a commemoration of Queen Victoria signing a note saying it was perfectly fine with her if a bunch of mutton-chopped geezers on the other side of the Atlantic decided that it wouldn’t hurt if the British colonies in North America formed a loose confederation but didn’t become independent from Mother England. No, no, no. That would be rude and ungrateful. The fireworks aren’t as impressive; the beer, however, is better.” A slightly more unusual Canada Day tradition is the annual Saturna Island Lamb Barbeque, pictured above. (Shucks, and to think we just missed it.)

Photograph by Gunter Marx Photography/CORBIS

bastille day

Bastille Day, July 14, France

There’s a dreary military parade followed by fireworks over the Seine, but the best part of Bastille Day, says Alexander Lobrano, Gourmet’s European correspondent, are the bals populaires, which are held in the street the night before. “In Paris,” he says, “the balls are hosted by the sapeurs-pompiers, and it’s very much a part of local lore that it’s your big chance to bag one of the hunky firemen.” As for food, Bastille Day, says Lobrano, “is the only time the French don’t feel self-conscious about barbecuing, and they like Merguez (north African lamb sausage that’s usually homemade), kebabs, and grilled fish.”

Photograph by Peter Turnley/CORBIS

independence day

Independence Day, September 15, Mexico

“We wouldn’t be Mexicans,” says journalist and writer Alma Guillermoprieto, “if we didn’t celebrate each feast day with its own special food. On the 15th, the day on which the rebel priest Miguel Hidalgo called for insurrection against the Spaniards, we make chiles en nogada (fresh walnut sauce), a dish in the red, white, and green colors of our national flag and truly one of the glories of the Mexican kitchen—so absolutely delicious that one helping is never enough. It is, by the way, important that the walnuts be fresh-harvested, still slightly green-tasting (they come into season around August here). They’re a bitch to peel, but they can taste bitter if you don’t.”

Photograph by Stuart Franklin/Magnum Photos

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