Christmas celebration in Poland typically spans over three days and involves a sumptuous amount of food and eating (or more often overeating). The first Christmas meal, eaten on Christmas Eve, is called Wigilia, which can be translated into English as “vigil”. At a traditional Wigilia, one will likely encounter at least twelve kinds of food. The sample below includes some of the more common Wigilia dishes.
Fish at the Polish Christmas Dinner
Since Poles abstain from eating meat on Christmas Eve for religious reasons, Wigilia is one of those rare occasions in the year when fish takes precedence at the Polish table. Carp is the fish of choice and can be cooked in many different ways. Frying in batter is a popular way to prepare this fish. For years, carp helped Polish kids to avoid taking bath during the days before Christmas, since bathtub was often a popular choice for storing live carps bought from the market.
Borscht with Mushroom Raviolis
Borscht is an Eastern European beet soup usually eaten in Poland with boiled eggs and sour cream. For Wigilia, borscht gets a fancier treatment. Small mushroom raviolis, known as "uszka z grzybami” in Polish, replace eggs in this delicious soup. Rosol, a Polish chicken noodle soup that rivals borscht in popularity, fails to get chosen for the Wigilia table because its recipe calls for meat.
Healthy Simple Beet Salad with Vinegar and Onion
Beets has a strong presence in the Polish Christmas Eve meal. Beets salads of various kinds are served alongside with carp and other dishes. Grated boiled beets, fresh onions and vinegar combine to make a highly enjoyable salad and a healthy balance to the heavier dishes at the table.
Polish Baked Cabbage
There are many kinds of golabki, a traditional Polish dish of baked cabbage leaves filled with tasty things, from rice to buckwheat to ground meat. For Wigilia, people tend to favor golabki with potato, buckwheat and mushroom. A thick mushroom or tomato-based sauce usually accompanies these vegetarian golabki.
Traditional Polish Kompot
A popular drink at Wigilia and during Christmas season in general, Polish compote can be made with apples, prunes, figs, pears, apricots, and grapes, though apples is by far the most popular choice of fruit. Pre-packaged compote ingredients are available abundantly in stores and can make Christmas cooking schedule a little less hectic. There are after all at least twelve dishes to prepare.
Polish Cheesecake Sernik
A piece of sernik, a general term for Polish cheesecake, is a wonderful way to end Wigilia. As with golabki, there can be many variations of sernik. Sernik is made with Polish white cheese and has a mild, extremely pleasant taste.
