Christmas Dinner in Poland

I was just wondering what xmas dinner was like in Poland in the UK it's usually eaten mid day and has a starter (usually soup or something light) then a full roast either with turkey (most popular) or Duck, then followed by Xmas pudding and then a slice of xmas cake (home made about two months before with lots of added brandy)

My family always ate late due to lots of family calling round all day.....during which lots of home made mice pies were eaten...

Also the turkey would be cooked with streaky bacon wrapped over it to keep it moist and juicy..usually this would be cooked on xmas eve so the only thing to prepare was the vegies..

And fresh mince pies cooked on xmas day...

The Christmas meal is eaten on the 24th traditionaly, when the first star appears in the sky. In truth it is usually a little later. In this house it's at about 6 or 7pm.

The main dish is carp, which can be served in a variety of ways [usually fried].
There are many regional differences and I'm sure that you will see some differences of opinion when posters discuss this.
I won't tell you everything, but one strange thing is the extra plate setting for an unexpected guest.

(I remembered) Saw it on a documentary on Russia and they do the same...

hehe that's made me all christmassy and also made my mouth water...thanks Amethyst :) What's that rumbling? A train? A far off avalance? Nope, just my stomach

I was really shocked by the fact poles eat fish on xmas eve, I think i just automatically assumed a British xmas was a universal xmas but, I guess it actually makes a lot of sense from a religious pov...though that said my lass much prefers the English version of christmas...as she said last year; it's a lot tastier! :)

btw do you set fire to your xmas pud? (I never got that, why pour lots of alcohol over a cake, just to burn it all off again!) Of course, followed up by lashings and lashings of brandy sauce...? (Sensing an alcoholic theme to my household...but we're all T total, promise!)

Huegel,

We have a Polish Christmas on the 24th and an English Christmas on the 26th. [not 25th]

Twice I have poured brandy on the pud, my wife has lit it and I managed to set her on fire.

There shouldn't be any alcohol on a Polish Christmas table. But I've yet to meet anyone who follows this tradition.

this is what we eat on the boxing day a lot of meat,salads,chicken soup,cakes ect-virtually everything.if you want to drink alcohol on xmas eve you can do it after midnight or when you come back from the mass which usually starts at...12am.

i have to admit that i don't follow the last rule:)

Oooppss!!!
What are you buying her for xmas this year? A fire extinguisher? :) :)

Really, you have an English style xmas on the 26th in Poland too? Ahh ok (background needed) We all live in Austria, so I just assumed they were having an Austrian (English) style xmas afterwards to not seem rude or whatever...

Oh ok, thanks for the info you two! Very interesting... Actually, question: Is there any one dish that no Polish xmas would be complete without?

home made none out out of a packet....mummys own special treat...

Yup...out of a packet=heresy. :)

I just love xmas day, with the smells around the home the baking and the cooking...its like time has stood still, nothing has changed in my home since I was a child...apart from the mince pies my buys them now as my mum cannot make pastry like my gran...but the rest is the same...its a bistow moment..hmmmmmm

Huegel,

We get everything [apart from the turkey] sent from the UK. We have the meal on the 26th because the family here insist on having a Polish 24th and 25th. The English style Christmas we have here is because I asked for it and also because I cook it.

It's not a Polish Christmas without carp.

after eating my mums xmas cake, which has been fermenting in brandy for 2 months its advisable to stay away from live flames...she puts a wire thing in it and poors brandy in it to keep it moist (yeah right) for about 2 months!

its quite funny you mention karp, because my friend is a really faddy eater and she eat Karp when we were in Krakow and said it was really nice, alway associated it with fish my brother caught and threw back....sorry...

Amathyst,

Are the decorations on your Chritmas cake handed down ?

My mum has been using the same ones since I don't know when.

Shall we tell the Polish folk on here how to feed a homemade Christmas cake ?

You beat me to it.

A lot of young people don't like carp at Christmas. It's because it has too many bones.

ooo I had this carp (I think) in some clear jellly. Didn't care for that too much. I think barszcz is popular

Carp in jelly is called Jewish Carp.

If it was very sweet it might have been Pike. Also eaten at Christmas.

My parents always made a full twelve dishes for Cristmas eve.
This included Barszcz but the fish was always sledg and always the spare plate for a visitor.

This continued while we, the children were at home, after we left or married sadly it all stopped.

Oh yes midnight mass, I think I may do that this year, its been a long time since I did.

Yes another thing I just remembered ...The breaking of communion bread ( can't remember the name of those)before the meal and having to promise to mend our ways rather like making new years resolutions.

Do these things still occur these days?

thankfully the decorations are new - the ones we had as kids were the ones we made, bless her she probably hated them but put them up to please us...

The majority of Polish people, myself included, actually hate carp. But they still buy it and put it on the table, although they don't eat it

Who wants to invite me for christmas dinner??

Decorator.

If you see a candle in the window of a Polish home on Christmas Eve, there should be an extra plate for an unexpected guest.

It's up to you to find the candle.

I'll have to find out address of all the local polish people in London now.. thanks

ok we've talked about food.
What are the customs for presents?On Christmas Eve or whenever and do people in poland ever eat the american treat fruit cake and how do you do the smileys?

the communion bread is called oplatki.

eys my family does the breaking of the oplatki every year on xmas eve

sorry not eys i ment yes

David, as far I remember, we always had a X-mas dinner on X-mas Eve and is called Wigilia. There should be 12 different items on the table (12 apostles) and an empty plate because NOBODY should be alone that night. Traditionally, there is no meat and alcohol allowed. Anybody could be a guest that evening ( I don't think anybody opens a door for someone they don't know nowadays :(, however). Gifts were usually for kids only. There was no X-mas shopping hoopla when I grew up in Poland.

The fruit cake is an awfully tasting cake and in my 27 years in the US, I had it only once.
As to smileys, click a smiley above or the 4 underlined dots and pick one that suits your mood.

In true Polish tradition there is never alcohol served on the 24th of Dec.

i think they also eat nuts with there christmas dinner

I hate you for reminding me of what I am missing on Christmas day, Carp in jelly, sledg, fish with everything on Christmas eve, no alcohol, ba humbug, *sniff sniff* I miss my homeland at Christmas :O)

what is a Polish 25th ?

24th is the main Christmas meal ..... but what is a traditionally Polish 25th .... apart from recovering after the 24th !!

we usually have the traditional English Christams dinner on 25th ... turkey with all the trimmings :o)

Come to think about it, Polish Christmas is all f-ed up!
We celebrate Christmas one day before Christmas day and we make this huge elaborate dinner with an inedible fish (carp - yuk!) as the main course! Before that, we keep this fish in our bathtub for days! Ooops!

Oh, yeah - there is no Boxing Day - those cheap bastards! :) But if there was one, then I guess it would have to be on the Christmas Day... WTF???

Our Polish Christmas traditions is the Americanized version thanks to my Father and Grandfather.

We still begin with the Oplatki
We changed the soup from mushroom to Potato (nobody but me eats mushrooms)
We eliminated the carp and added Kielbasa. (We all know it isn't meatless this way, but it sure does taste better!)
We eat right not long after sundown at about 5-6 pm.
We still have cheese and kraut pierogis.
We have cottage cheese, and fresh placek.
After our meal is when we exchange presents and then enjoy our wine or champagne.
We changed the non alcoholic version of Christmas as well.
We still have lit candles and one in the front window along with the extra place setting on the table.

I was always told that the extra place setting at the table was for Jesus. Granted I was a child when I was told that. Is that not true?