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Christmas Eve- 24th December
In Poland we start celebrating Christmas on 24th December. It’s the most solemn day
for us. We usually gather in the house of the oldest person in the family. At the
beginning, we wait for the first star to appear in the sky and then we share the holy
wafer and say wishes. After that, we start the feast eating 12 traditional dishes. Then
we exchange gifts and sing carols. At midnight we take part in a special midnight
mass in a church and we are ready for Christmas.
In Poland most people cultivate a lot of Christmas traditions. Here are some of them:
•There should be exactly 12 dishes on Christmas table. People believe that if you try
all of them, you’ll be lucky in the New Year.
•People usually put some hay under the tablecloth to remember about the place
where Jesus was born.
•A lot of Polish families leave one free place by the table for an unexpected guest.
• We love singing Christmas carols. The most popular are: „Cicha Noc”(„Silent
Night”), „Bóg się rodzi”(„The God is Born”), „Dzisiaj w Betlejem”(„Today in
Bethlehem”)
by Adrian Florczak
CZERWONY BARSZCZ (RED BORSCH)
Ingredients:
•2kg of beetroot
•0,5kg of apples
•0,2kg of carrots
•4 large cloves of garlic
•10g of marjoram
•4 bay leaves
•4 grains of allspice
•a few grains of pepper
•100g of prunes
•50ml of balsamic vinegar
•4l of water
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