One of the most significant and revered Christian holidays is, of course, Christmas.
What should be on the menu, why exactly 12 dishes and why to set two festive tables, we will tell you in more detail.
Christmas food is a constant attribute of Christmas. They bring a sense of celebration to our home, and the Christmas table has an important symbolic meaning.
According to the old custom, the Christmas dinner should consist of 12 dishes - according to the number of Christ's Apostles. But first things first.
So, Christmas Eve or Christmas Eve is the most strict day of fasting. And therefore, the first table should be lean. Yes, 12 dishes and all lean.
Only two dishes are required - sochivo or kutia and vzvar or uzvar. The first dish is made from wheat grains.
Luscious as a symbol of union with God. In it, grain symbolizes eternal life and prosperity, and various additives - sweet life.
In a modern interpretation, it is boiled from rice or buckwheat and added with pieces of chocolate, almonds, marmalade, candied fruits and spices.
The second or rich supper, the main Christmas feast of the next day, also begins with the Sochi. After the Holy Evening, it is left overnight on the table so that the souls of the ancestors also taste a delicious treat.
The second significant and obligatory dish of the Lenten Christmas table is broth or uzvar.
This is something like dried fruit compote. Only it is not boiled, but steamed. Now this procedure can be done in a thermos.
You cannot eat on Christmas Eve until the first star appears in the sky. Therefore, it is allowed to have a little snack with lean dishes as it gets dark, since in the evening you have to be in church for the all-night vigil.
What else is on the lean table: mushrooms, lean pastries (pancakes, bread, pies), fish, pickled apples and berries, pickles and pickles, hot dishes from cabbage or other vegetables and cereals.
Even earlier, they cooked porridge, stewed cabbage in vegetable oil, made vinaigrette, etc.
Only after the service can the whole family sit down at the festive (second) table on Christmas itself and no longer deny themselves anything.
And now the main Christmas feast. There is no longer necessarily exactly twelve dishes, but at the same time not less than this figure. And better all 13 - like the 12 apostles and Christ himself.
What to cook? Of course, after a long fast, you want to please yourself and your loved ones with mouth-watering tasty dishes, so for the holiday they cook a lot of things besides sochi and uzvar.
In the villages, bread or pies are still baked, and in the city you can bake curly cookies. Make a stuffed bird, preferably a goose or duck.
And also bake meat or boiled pork. Don't forget about jellied meat or jelly.
It is interesting that many advise to cook borsch, dumplings or cabbage rolls for the Christmas table.
The latter, by the way, are consonant with the word "dove", which means the love that God gave to humanity.
In fact, it all depends on the family's budget and financial capabilities.
You can cook and buy a lot for the festive table. But after the New Year holidays, not everyone had money.
Therefore, cook juicy and uzvar, and the rest at will and abundance.
Good luck to you! And Merry Christmas.
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