Polish Christmas Eve Traditions and Food for Wigilia Dinner
Traditional Polish Christmas Eve Dinner (Wigilia)
In Poland, Christmas Eve is a very important night to gather with family, decorate and remember lost loved ones. This night is traditionally called “Wilgilia” (the vigil) and it is a night in which people symbolize the wait for the birth of Jesus Christ (which in effect gives more importance to this day than Christmas itself). During this night, the Poles cook delicious food as part of the celebration.
Polish Christmas Eve Traditions
In Wiligia, Poles decorate their houses with evergreen trees, ornaments, apples, lights, nuts, and candles. they also hang”Pijama(the cobweb as decorations) of the ceiling, dozynki (colorful garlands) on the wall and a beamed fir tree on the ceiling. Perhaps the most important tradition is the preparation of the table. Traditionally, the hay is placed under a white linen table to symbolize the bed of Jesus in the manger and the veil of Mary. The grandmother of the family places hosts (oplatki) on the table to symbolize communion. These are usually placed on the best piece of china. When setting the table, an extra is put in case a hungry person passes by, this is taken from this story of José. Finally, the mother of the family lights candles in the window to celebrate the welcome of the baby Jesus.
After dinner, Santa Claus (the Star Man) accompanied by his singing Star Boys, visits the children and rewards them for being good. He brings gifts from Star Land for the good children and scolds the children who misbehaved during the year.
Traditional Polish Christmas Eve food
The food prepared on Christmas Eve consists of meatless recipes. The tradition was adopted from the Roman Catholics. They used to fast for the four weeks leading up to Christmas Eve called Advent and break the fast with meatless meals. They created 13 plates that represented the apostles of Christ and each plate represented foods from the four corners of the earth.
- forest mushrooms
- orchard fruit
- Lake or sea fish
- grains of the field
The Poles created recipes that incorporated these four elements, such as barszcz wilgilijny z uszkami (Christmas Eve borscht with uszka dumplings), herring, breaded whitefish, cabbage rolls, gingerbread cookies, honey and spice cake, and jellied carp.
Carrying on the Tradition
We understand how important it is to keep up the tradition, and some of these foods can be hard to find in the US. To continue the tradition, you can order these foods at www.polana.com. Polana sells classic Polish gourmet recipes like mushroom and barley soup, honey and spice cake, dumplings and much more.