Christmas Polish food is festive, very traditional and exceptionally good. And the most exciting of all is the Christmas Eve meal. Dishes served on the 24th are made only once a year and the recipes used to make them are often family secrets that are passed down from generation to generation. The preparation of the Christmas Eve feast can take days. Rules are strict, the workload is high, but the reward is absolutely worth it.
In Poland, the 24th of December is probably the most important day of Christmas and therefore the most effort goes into the preparation of the Christmas Eve dinner. The tradition says that there must be exactly 12 dishes (including desserts) on the table and everyone has to try every each of them. Thanks to that the whole year (12 months) is going to be happy and successful.
The dinner starts with a soup. The most common choice is clear, bullion style beetroot soup served with small dumplings stuffed with cabbage and mushroom. Other options are fish soup or wild mushroom soup. Both quite light and clear. The main purpose of the soup is to start the digestion process and allow you to eat more later. Let’s face it, you need to eat 11 more dishes that evening! The biggest star of the evening, and that can surprise many people, is carp. This fish is not eaten in Poland on any other occasion but for some weird reason, it became Christmas Eve staple.
Thankfully for people who don’t like fish, there are other specialities. Pierogi stuffed with wild mushroom or cabbage (or a mix of both), fried with onion can please even the most sublime palate. If you fancy something a bit sweeter you should try Kutia. Tradition Kutia is made of wheat berries, poppy seeds and honey, but very often walnuts, raisins, almonds and other dry fruits are added. It’s a lovely sweet dish that can give you a break from other quite heavy dishes. Last on the list is Christmas compote, a non-alcoholic drink made of dry fruits (plums, apricots, and apples) cooked in a water with sugar. It’s served cold and helps with digestion. Our catering offers all traditional Christmas dishes.
In our menu you will find all the christmas meals necessary on your table. Order food from us and you will save time and delight all your guests at the Christmas Eve table.