According to ancient traditions, 12 dishes were made for the Christmas table, including drinks. Some of them were prepared in a lean version, they were served on January 6 in the evening, other dishes were consumed on the morning of the 7th. Some dishes were included in the compulsory set, others were chosen at their discretion.
Sochivo - the highlight of the Christmas table
It is often called kutia, these cereals are similar, but have a difference in purpose, consistency, and some ingredients. The dish is served first on the table on Christmas night. It symbolizes rebirth, joy, wealth, goodness and prosperity. Traditionally, honey is certainly prepared from wheat; rice and bulgur are allowed. Boil the grain, season with sweet ingredients.
What else is added to the sympathy:
- boiled and crushed poppy;
- roasted nuts of various kinds;
- bee honey (sometimes replaced with syrup);
- dried fruits;
- spices (ginger, zest, cinnamon);
- uzvar, he's a fruit broth.
It has a liquidy consistency, it is eaten with a spoon and only after the first star appears in the sky. This dish helps restore strength after the hardest and most rigorous day of Christmas fasting. In addition to juices, baked vegetables and fruits, mushrooms and similar lean dishes are served. The next day, in the morning, you can safely put other conversations on the Christmas table.
Goose with apples
At the end of the Christmas post, it is customary to cook the whole bird on the table. Since ancient times in Russia it was a goose with apples, but you can also cook chicken or duck. Now often pay attention to the turkey. In America, it is it that is fried for their Christmas, which is celebrated on December 25. Regardless of the type of bird, it is important to cook it deliciously, preferably pickling in advance. If you don’t like apples, you can cook a goose with other fillings.
What can I bake a bird with:
- potatoes and other vegetables;
- rice, buckwheat, various cereals;
- fresh and dry fruits, nuts;
- mushrooms with vegetables or cereals.
You can add nothing to a goose or other bird at all. The main thing is to grate with spices, sauces, you can marinate in advance. In order to please the dish with juiciness and tenderness, the goose is usually baked in the sleeve or under the foil, and at the end of the process it is opened. For a fragrant crust, you can pour fat, grease with honey or its mixture with mustard, cognac. The bird will be beautifully fried.
Milk pig with horseradish
For a long time, one of the main dishes on the festive table was a whole roast pig. Sometimes it was cooked on a spit, but more often it was baked on a baking sheet or in a form. Like a bird, the piglet was pickled, rubbed with different seasonings, but always left a head.
What can you pickle a pig:
- pepper of different types;
- mayonnaise, sour cream;
- vegetable oil;
- garlic, onion;
- soy sauce;
- mustard.
For the marinade, you can use absolutely any seasoning to your taste, and spices for barbecue are also suitable. It is important only to immediately remove large pieces, otherwise they will burn, spoil the look and crust. Serve such a piglet with grated horseradish or sauce based on it.
Jellied garlic
There was no sausage and ham on the Christmas table, nor was cheese. The traditional appetizer has always been jellied meat. It was prepared from pork and always with garlic. In the old days, meat parts were put on the stove and languished all night, after which they were torn to pieces, filled with saturated broth, sent to the canopy for freezing. If a simple aspic seems boring, then you can add eggs, green peas, carrots or other vegetables to it.
What is traditional jelly cooked from:
- legs
- pork heads;
- shanks.
If there is no desire to cook greasy jelly from pork, then you can make beef jelly or aspic from poultry, fish. These dishes will also take their rightful place on the Christmas table, but will have a lighter taste. Do not forget to prepare mustard for serving. Purchased sauce is not good. It is better to make a real and vigorous mustard, which will delight with pungency and punching aroma.
Rye pies
In addition to meat dishes, pastries were always held in high esteem. Prepared large pies and kulebyaki with various fillings. The dough was kneaded with yeast and always with the addition of rye flour. Baking with it was notable for its density and special aroma.
What was used for the filling:
- stewed and sauerkraut;
- fish and meat;
- mushrooms;
- eggs, onions;
- cereals.
Large cakes were placed on the Christmas table, coulibiacs and small cakes were prepared for children and other guests who came to visit. There were no cream cakes and pastries on the festive table. Later they began to cook gingerbread cakes for Christmas, and then painted gingerbread cookies, cookies, houses. These traditions migrated to us from Western countries.
Uzvar: for strength, health and pleasure
The main drink on the festive table was a fruit Uzvar. This is not a simple compote. It was prepared from various dried fruits and berries, insisted on a warm oven for at least ten hours, served with pieces of fruit. The uzvar is also used for filling the oats.
What is the decoction made of:
- dried apples;
- pears
- plums, prunes, cherry plum and other stone fruits;
- raisins;
- cranberries, lingonberries.
In fact, you can use any dried fruit up to the rose hips. Pieces of zest, cinnamon sticks, various spices are added for the aroma. For sweetness, honey is introduced into the uzvar. If the drink turns out to be fresh, then lemon or cranberry juice will add brightness.
What else to cook?
In addition to the standard set for the Christmas table, you can cook other dishes. But they should all be simple. No overseas and fanciful ingredients. We give preference to ancient Slavic dishes and natural products.
What else can you cook:
- whole baked fish (pike, carp, carp);
- pancakes with different fillings or just with butter, sour cream;
- vinaigrette with sauerkraut;
- dumplings with different fillings;
- sbitn, mead, jelly and other Russian drinks.
You can put soaked apples, sauerkraut, pickles and mushrooms, smoked lard, boiled tongue, stuffed stomach on the table. It does not matter if the result is more than 12 dishes and drinks. Let the Christmas table spoil with generosity and diversity, and the coming year brings only joy!
