Thursday, December 23, 2010

Christmas Traditions

I have enjoyed learning how other bloggers are celebrating their Christmases. I think that no matter what part of the world you live in, the central part of the celebration is always the meal.

Rolled oplatky and honey in Slovakia, 1998
My husband is from Slovakia (the eastern part of former Czechoslovakia), so we celebrate a traditional Slovak Christmas Eve. The meal is typically started with a prayer or good wishes said while a family member makes the sign of a cross (made with honey) on your forehead. Crispy wafers (oplatky) with Christmas scenes are distributed with honey and fresh garlic cloves. I know that it sounds awful, but the garlic and honey are a wonderful combination!

Next comes the soup. My husband's family (in Slovakia) always makes sauerkraut soup (kapustnica), made with pork sausage, pork roast, sauerkraut, dried mushrooms and garlic. My husband makes our sauerkraut soup ahead of time so that the flavors have time to marinate. It also makes a rather pungent smell in the kitchen :)

Dinner in Slovakia (we named her Miroslavka), 1998
The next part of the meal is fried fish. In Slovakia, the fish used is carp. Americans have an aversion to this type of fish, so my husband makes cod or trout. At this time of year, many Slovaks visit the fish vendors and take home live fish. When they arrive home, the carp goes into the bathtub to live out the last day or so of his life. This ensures that the carp is fresh for the dinner.  :) The fish is accompanied by potato salad and of course, plenty of liquor (another Slovak tradition).

Wherever you live and whatever your holiday traditions are, I wish you the happiest of holidays!

7 comments:

  1. here at my house, Puglia, southern Italy, also eat fish for Christmas dinner, possibly eels, and in order to have them fresh, you take living at home. the problem is how to cut them to pieces ... everywhere they escape, run away, and it is difficult to capture because they have slimy skin! something to be horrified, but this is our tradition! LOL!
    thank you for your shows!
    Merry Christmas to you and your husband too!
    Caterina

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  2. Carol, How interesting hearing about your Slovakian meal! My Mother is Bohemian. She was born in Iowa(farm girl) in a Czech community and didn't speak English until she started school. Our tradition is to always have Pork(with caraway), sauerkraut and Knedliky(potato dumplings) for the New Year dinner for Good Luck in the coming year. I think for Christmas at home my Mother's family had a goose for dinner.

    MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY!!

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  3. Dear Carol I wish you a Christmas full of joy and Peace. Every tradition is so interesting to know. My Christmas day is dedicate to our families in Rome and in Civitavecchia (where lives my husband family). I like in these days to go in "Piazza Navona" (Navona's Square). Don't you visited that place? I think yes... ;o) But the square is wonderful in this time... full of lights and joy in typical italian style. But I'm also ready to eat so much... arghhh. Kisses

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  4. ‎*★Merry★* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
    •。★Christmas★ 。* 。
    ° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
    ˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~\。˚ ˚ ˛
    ˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ |田田|門| ˚And a Happy New Year 2011•˚ *★...~ ~˚ *★ ˚ *˚ *★˚ *★˚ *★

    ReplyDelete
  5. ‎*★Merry★* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
    •。★Christmas★ 。* 。
    ° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
    ˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~\。˚ ˚ ˛
    ˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ |田田|門| ˚And a Happy New Year•˚ *★...~ ~˚ *★ ˚ *˚ *★˚ *★˚ *★

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  6. Hello Carol, yes eels were in the kitchen, but I did not have photos, because the Christmas lunch was at my mom .... I can try next time I eat them? I do not think that you were so concerned ... ah ah!
    kisses and happy New Year!
    Caterina

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  7. Carol, I love to here your 'multicultural' traditions. My family have tradition too. My hubby comes from Morocco and 25 years all my family=sister, aunt, uncle, cousin, granny and their families have had traditional moroccan tagine at x-mas table. Ingredients of tagine are meet, onions, plums, poiled eggs, cinamon and ciger. It is delicious! and goes well with typical finnish x-mas foods,carrot,potato and rutabaga casserolle. Ofcourse we have salmon(cooked, smoked, salted) too. The world is coming smaller every day. What will be our traditions after next 25 years?
    Happy new year!
    piikko

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