Christmas is a time for family and tradition. Each year the same people get together to exchange gifts, eat the now traditional turkey, and share a bottle of two or wine. Usually, everyone joins in the happy banter on Christmas morning prior to lunch and everybody tucks into the freshly roasted turkey, even if they are not overly enamoured with this particular type of meat. The great thing about tradition, of course, is that they can be changed and if your family and friends are quick to complain that they are no great lovers of turkey, then why not make that change this year, look up a top quality cooking guide and treat your gathered throng to a Christmas meal with a difference?

Tradition simply means doing the same things at the same time repeatedly, and while some traditions can be enjoyable to celebrate each year, if you are not a particularly big lover of turkey and roast dinners, then Christmas Day can be a little daunting. So, why not begin your own yuletide tradition and try something a little different on December 25th?

You do not have to look far to see how other countries have adopted their own tantalising and tasty traditions for the Christmas Day meal. There are several Greek recipes that are cooked to celebrate Christmas in the Greek Orthodox Church, but which can be adapted for a British Christmas with ease.

In Greece, lamb and pork are cooked in ovens and over spits for gatherings of the family, and these meals often provide an enticing alternative to turkey, or if you have a particularly hungry family, as a starter to accompany the main meal. Lamb souvlaki with Greek salad and tzatsiki is a particularly tasty and versatile dish, which can be served in larger portions as a main meal, or better still, in smaller portions as a tasty starter. The lamb is prepared using a special blend of lamb spices, lemon juice and zest and a little olive oil. The Greek salad is made from green peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, feta cheese and a blend of special pepper and mint herbs and spices that are available from the shop.

The tzatsiki dip is made using Greek yoghurt, lemon juice, cucumber, mint, salt and black pepper and is a refreshing addition to the tastiness of the salad and the succulent lamb.

To cook the meat, the lamb is spiced gently beforehand and then fried lightly in olive oil. When it is cooked through, the lamb is slid onto soaked skewers and served with the salad and dip. These can provide a perfect starter to get your guests in the mood for the sumptuous Christmas lunch to follow. The lamb and the salad combined with the tart tzatsiki dip are a perfect start to a Christmas meal; gently flavoured and delicately spiced, yet enough of a contrast with the hearty dish that is set to follow.

Of course, Christmas minus the turkey does not necessarily mean a Christmas without a roast dinner for the main course. There are plenty of other meats available that you can use to replace turkey and cook in a different way to give your Christmas meal that touch of rare quality.

The notion of turkey being the traditional Christmas meal is something of a fallacy. It is only since the 1950s, when refrigeration became widely available in the modern home, that turkey began to dominate the Christmas menu in Britain. Before then, goose, pheasant, peacock and swan were equally traditional forms of the Christmas menu, while for some families a roasted boar's head decorated with holly and fruit was their preferred meal of the day!

So, why not experiment a little this Christmas? One perfect dish that is equally festive and delicious at Christmas time is one of the simplest pork recipes available; roast pork with apple and sage wedges. Take a rolled and tied pork shoulder and drizzle it with olive oil and rub in a little salt and pepper, or you can add a little sage at this point too. Cook the pork for 30 minutes and remove from the oven. Then take some eating apples and core them before quartering. Remove the pork from the baking tray and place some bay leaves on the bottom, place the quartered apple on the bay leaves and add sage to the mixture, ensuring a good covering. Slide the pork back over the leaves, apple and sage mixture and cook for a further hour and 40 minutes.

The juices from the pork will then mix with the sage and bay leaves and infuse the apple with a myriad of wonderful tastes, while the pork too will absorb some of the tang of the fruit and the tastes of the sage and bay leaves.

To make this succulent roast dinner even more festive, you can serve it with some pork and cranberry stuffing meatballs. Made with pork mince, onions, cranberries, sage, breadcrumbs, cloves, lemon, bacon and salt and pepper, these delicious accompaniments to the roasted pork are the perfect equivalent for the ‘pigs in blankets’ sausage wrapped in bacon that tends to accompany a Christmas dinner.

Making them could not be simpler. Mix the mince, onions, cranberries, sage, cloves, breadcrumbs and lemon together well and season with salt and pepper. Then simply make a small stuffing ball and wrap the ball in bacon; streaky bacon works particularly well for this. Refrigerate the meatballs for 30 minutes before cooking, which helps them stick together and then cook in an oven for 35 to 40 minutes until crisp.

Served with the roasted pork, a selection of seasonal vegetables, some goose fat roasted potatoes and a selection of fine wines and your guest are guaranteed to enjoy a sumptuous Christmas feast.

So, if you are feeling creative and want to make that break with tradition, why not take a look at some of the traditional Christmas recipes from around the world, or make your own Christmas dinner with a twist and show that Christmas lunch does not always have to be about the turkey.