Holidays in Poland (Christams, New Year)

I just came back from Poland where I was for the holidays. It had been a long time since I didn’t see my family and my city so I decided to share with you my thoughts after all.

I arrived on 20th of December just before Christmas time. During the current situation in the world (covid-19) it is a little bit different. First of all I decided to not meet people that are not my closest family so most of our contact was by the phone. Probably in different situation I would spend more time visiting them.

Next thing that was different was the fact that during this Christmas there were not so many people as it used to be but anyway we spent nice time with my parents and my brother.

Because of the fact that we didn’t have as many people as always during Christmas Eve (24.12) there weren’t so many meals as it used to be. Below I decided to share with you some typical Christmas meals in my home.

  1. Barszcz czerwony z uszkami- probably the most typical christmas dish in Poland for most families. Some people don’t like it and make mushroom soup which is also really good. Uszka – small kind of pierogi (dumplings) filled with mushrooms.
  2. Karp w galarecie-carp that is cutted in pieces and put with vegetables, sometimes also with raisins, in yelly.
  3. Karp smazony – fried carp.
  4. Kompot z suszu – compote made from dried fruits like plums, apples, prunes, apricots, pears.
  5. Kapusta z grzybami – cabbage with mushrooms.
  6. Desert: Gingerbread, Makowiec and cookies

After this feast we gave each other gifts which were waiting for all

evening under the Christmas Tree.

In next days we were having more dishes that are also typical like for example:

  1. Cwikla – red beet horseradish.
  2. Hams, pate, sussages.

Before I came here I wanted to spend New Year in Lisbon to see how it is celebrated. Because of restrictions there was no way to do it…so my New Year`s Eve I spent at home in pyjama.