'Wigilia', the traditional Christmas Eve supper in Poland

An article describing 'Wigilia', and the 'twelve dishes'.

szczecinian.eu/2012/12/wigilia-christmas-eve-in-poland/

There is a mistake:
"‘Wigilia’, Christmas Eve, December 25th"

Wigilia is on December 24th :)

Thank you for pointing out the 'typo'.

Kompot (stewed dried fruit), potable or eaten with a spoon from small dessert dishes, is also a common item on the Wigilia table, as are kluski z makiem.

I didn't know it was your article ;)

Also gingerbread cake is quite common, we eat it every year.

It isn't 'my' article, I'm just translating it. Here is the next one in the series. Hope there are no mistakes.

/the-twelve-dishes-in-a-polish-wigilia-1-oplatek-wafer/

BTW, it is hay not straw that is strewn across the table-top. (I presume the article was written by a city-slicker who doesn't distinguish hay (dried mown grass used as fodder) from straw (grain stems used for cowshed bedding). In the peasant cottages of yore straw was scattered round hte floor or tied to the table legs. A sheaf of unthreshed grain stood in the corner.

With "traditional" Christmas Eve dishes, you take a group of 10 unrelated people who live in the same area, and have roots there and will come with at least 20 dishes. Also the way you count to 12 is pretty arbitrary, is wafer a meal, are different versions of pierogi different meals, what about "uszka", or "kompot".

It all boils down to: Fish is a must, meat is a sin. ;)

And carp is crap. Disgusting fish.

Yes.


I just love it.

Is it more disgusting than the kebabs you live on?

Anyway, carp is a PRL relic.

At least he can afford a kebab.

No matter how I describe Wigilia to my Western friends, they all make a disgusted face and ask "how can anyone call that a celebration?"

The girlfriend has promised I can grab a burger before we go to her grandmother's this year, to compensate for the "meal".

And while I mean no malice to Poland or its cuisine, the traditional Wigilia dishes are at best bland, and at worst utterly revolting.

Just stick to your culinary extravagances like burgers...

In Poland, to grab a burger means you will have to hit McDonald's...on Christmas Eve. How sad for you. Why would you even go to grandma's? Come on, tell us "Out of respect, of course."

Don't worry, when your girlfriend finishes using you for free English lessons, she will dump you.

lol
As much as I look forward to the pickeld hearing, ryba w galarecie, ryba po grecku, barszcz... my son can't handle that fare either, so I can sympathize. ;)

barszcz z uszkami done well is far from bland


now that's another story :(

Well, I think it is sad that Polish emigrants like you can wipe out generations of our culture in one generation. The Russians have tried, the Germans have tried, but you did it. Live with it.

Pretty much, yes. But don't worry, after all these years I think she's got all the English lessons she will ever need, so I'm sure I can expect her to dump me any time now.


I completely agree. It falls into the "utterly disgusting" category.

Polska, Polska uber alles...no wait...that was somebody else.
I wonder why you try to imitate them.

Kids sometimes can't handle some meals, while they love other. If you are the person responsible for cooking you can spice it the way you like and choose what you think is the best for your family. There migh be dishes that are not traditional in your family, but are traditional in your region, I think there are at least 100 of different traditional potrawy wigilijne in Poland

First thing I had to do was to substitute Karp with a different fish.
I also add more dishes with shrimp, lobster and scallops.

Carp, mutton and wildgame can be reovlitng if not prepared properly. If properly handled, seasoned and cooked, they can be very nice indeed.
Carp was the imperial fish of China's emperors and any commner caught poaching them was beheaded. Today one billion Asians can't be wrong, because carp is that continent's prime freshwater fish.

I would say yes except I only eat a kebab maybe once or twice a year. I prefer to cook my own meals. Lamb is great.

Lamb is great if someone knows how to prepare it.If they don't,I find it to be quite bland.

The second dish, barszcz, Polish beetroot soup.

And em French fries and Crisps!

First dish - sledzie?

You always start with "opłatek", some people count it as dish, some don't.