Englishman Reacts to... What Are 12 Polish Christmas Dishes?

The feast takes place on wigilia (Christmas eve). But what dishes do Poles eat?
Original: • What Are 12 Polish Chr...
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#poland #christmas #christmastraditions #wigilia

[@RobReacts1]

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[@Kschychooo]

For fish it's Catholic rules and regulations that fish isn't technically classified as meat so it could be eaten during lent of fast periods (joke also is if Alligator is a fish, google it ;) ) For the carp it was getting things as fresh as possible. Also carps are "bottom feeders" or more clearly they feed off of the bottom of the lake or pond and gets a lot of mud through it. And as my dad explained it to me having the carp in the bathtub for a day or two cleans it up from all the mud and the aftertaste it leaves in the fish.

[@MrMalu01]

Snails are fish. “Snails are mollusks unless they are marine snails and then they are considered to be fish”

[@MikrySoft]

Karp in a bathtub had multiple reasons behind it: 1. You bought it when you could get it, not when it was convenient. Supply, as with most everything, was limited and sparse, so if you got info that some store got a delivery, you queued up even if Christmas was still a week away 2. Fridges were available, but they were fairly small and usually already filled to the brim with other foods prepared in advance. 3. Alive fish is a fresh fish. It might not be happy about it, but carp can survive a bathtub for quite a while, especially if you run shower from time to time to dissolve some fresh oxygen in the water. Carp is also fairly tolerant of low oxygen environments - I'm not saying it's happy being suffocated, but it can survive a trip from the store in a plastic bag. There were some (now disputed) claims that carp can grab at least some of the required oxygen directly from air through skin. They can also directly gulp air from the water surface. 4. Carp lives in still water, mostly in the sediment near the bottom. That can cause it to have a muddy taste, so having the fish swim for a couple of days in clean water can reduce it. More modern fish farming methods avoid this problem, due to better feed and growing conditions, so paradoxically now it's the live carp has more chance of tasting like mud, since good growers won't sell their fish in that fairly cruel way. 6:27: That barszcz doesn't actually look that good. It's fairly clear, you can see through it a fair distance down, so it seems to be watered down. I don't think you would see that completely submerged uszko on the left through my moms barszcz. Be careful with any of the poppy-based desserts. Mythbusters tested that opiate tests are so absurdly sensitive, that even eating some bagels with poppy seeds on top are enough to set them off for a couple of hours or a day, so imagine what happens if you eat cake that is 90% poppy. There is also a regional variant of the kompot z suszu - in some regions, prunes added are fairly heavily smoked. I remember looking for a fire in a supermarket before I noticed I was standing next to dried fruit sets for kompot.

[@blueeagle762]

9:16. Chyba mylisz marynatę z kiszeniem. To dwa różne sposoby konserwacji produktów. Pozdrawiam.

[@mirosawagotto9480]

Ugościlam swego czasu znajomych z Włoch.Zajadali się bigosem/dodaję też suszone śliwki/, pierogi drożdżowe z kapustą i grzybami smażone/pycha/barszcz czerwony z uszkami, karp w galarecie. Ciasta:makowiec, keks, sernik pieczony, sernik borówkowy na zimno/z polskimi borówkami/i wiele innych. Zajadali się aż "uszy się trzęsły". Zachwyceni naszymi tradycjami-dzielenie się opłatkiem, pasterką w kościele, dodatkowe miejsce i talerz dla przypadkowej osoby, zero alkoholu/w święta w rozsądnych dawkach źubrówka/. Uwielbiam też ich kuchnię.Jak wracam z Włoch to robię ich pyszne dania.Z ciast robię tylkoTiramisu, typowo włoskie bo polskie ciasta najlepsze.Na sylwestrowe przyjęcie zajadają się gołąbkami, tatarem, klopsem z jajkami, kotletami schabowymi, schabem gotowanym na kanapki, surówką z buraków.Zawsze kupują dużo naszych cukierków, między innymi:krówki, śliwki w czekoladzie, jak wracają. Rób, życzę Ci radosnych Świąt i Szczęścia w Nowym Roku

[@niktniewiem4785]

You have to remember trafitional Polish dishes are very very regional, so most of what this girl says can bebinvalid in another part of poland. Especially pickled stuff are not eaten everywhere. For example my family always serves herring in oil with onion instead of pickled ones. One of the best things ever, seriously. And surprise surprise, we never have pierogi for christmas.

[@haniam8350]

Na Kaszubach nigdy nie jadano karpia. Tam były do wyboru inne świeże ryby (śledzie, dorsze, łososie etc.) - teraz z powodu ludności napływowej z innych regionów Polski karp stał się bardziej popularny nawet na Kaszubach.

[@Jaworr96]

@@haniam8350 Przede wszystkim to nigdy nie zrozumiem świątecznego szału na tę rybę, bo sam karp nie jest żadnym wybitnym w smaku.

[@Rubeus1000]

@@Jaworr96 Zaszłości z PRL. Karp jest rybą tanią i łatwą w hodowli, stawy rybne łatwo założyć - więc była dostępna w okresie gdy innych ryb brakowało.

[@kopernik_elfka]

@@Rubeus1000 to nie jest tak, że nagle PRL i karp zaczął być jadany w Polsce. Wcześniej, zwłaszcza między XIII a XVI wiekiem był popularną rybą na stołach wielmożów. Tylko jakoś później to siadło. Można więc powiedzieć, że jego historia i tradycja sięga głębiej niż drugiej połowy XX wieku. Tylko kiedyś był jedną z ryb, a teraz jest chyba jedną z bardziej popularnych (chyba najpopularniejsza obok łososia ogólnie).

[@robertkowalski7932]

In the past, carp were bred by monks in monastery ponds, and probably due to their "lobbying" they were eaten on Christmas tables.

[@Renekgk]

W Wielkiej Brytanii i na świecie mają swoje tradycje, my mamy swoje, w zależności od regionu różne potrawy. Należy to szanować i nie krytykować, a jesteśmy bogatsi o wiedzę. Każdy tez preferuje swoje smaki. jeden lubi bardziej słodkie inny bardziej kwaśnie, ostre itd. U mojej babci były ryby pod różnymi postaciami jak w galarecie, smażona czy śledzik w oleju, śmietanie z sosem piernikowym, naprawdę dużo tego . Barszcz czerwony, ukiszony w domu, z uszkami z grzybami leśnymi. my preferujemy kwaśny barszcz. Żur też ukiszony w domu z wywarem z grzybów lesnych z ziemniaczkami. Oczywiście kompot z suszonych owoców, który dawno temu był podawany z fasolą jasiem, teraz już sam kompot. Doszły za to kluski z makiem bo oczywiście przez związki małżeńskie czasem trzeba się podzielić innymi potrawami. Pierogi z kapustką z grzybami też zawsze były. Pamiętam jak babcia i moja mamusia robiły to dzień przed i w dniu wigilii, wszystko było na tip top przygotowane. Oczywiście postne. Dopiero na drugi dzień mięsne. Teraz my robimy wcześniej, zamrażamy i naprawdę nie jest to wielki problem. Życzę wszystkim miłych i spokojnych świąt

[@mpingo91]

4:17 Yes, people had refrigerators, but as with any other equipment: the purchase was a whole epic. Generally, people had money, but you could hardly buy anything, because there was a permanent shortage. So you had a refrigerator, but only after you waited six months or a year for a buying opportunity, or you gave a bribe to the seller. These refrigerators were empty rather than full. Apart from the fact that the assortment was small (only two kinds of milk, two kinds of coffee...), there was also a shortage when it came to food. Christmas is approaching, so one memory: you could buy oranges practically only once a year. The authorities recognized such a need that a citizen should eat an orange and ordered a small amount from some southern communist country. On TV it was announced that a ship with oranges (one!) was already sailing to our port. This is what communism looks like in practice and will always look like. Let no young communists in the West delude themselves that it will be different. After the stage of seduction will come the stage of honesty.

[@DremoraKynmarcher]

I remember two ships with oranges. And daily reports on the TV news about where these ships were that day. It seems comical now, but at the time it was a real worry whether they would make it in time for Christmas or not. Well, when oranges arrived in stores, you had to wait in line for quite a few hours and you could buy only a specified quantity.

[@mpingo91]

@@DremoraKynmarcher _"it was a real worry whether they would make it in time for Christmas or not."_ They offered the tormented people bread and circuses at once.

[@The0Stroy]

Cuba. It was Cuba.

[@mpingo91]

@@The0Stroy Right. The crux of the statement, however, is the unbelievable absurdity.

[@robertkowalski7932]

Yes, I agree - communism is a system of eternal scarcity and this is the direction the EU is heading, terrorized by left-wing chauvinists, greenists and pseudo-ecologists often controlled from Moscow. And all this will be "tapped" by the corrupt European Parliament and the European Commission. But the milk was always fresh (unpasteurized) in a returnable glass container ,In cities, delivered to your door. Full recycling, something that is currently impossible to achieve in any EU country. ​

[@CorleoneDiscoStar]

Rob, polish Christmas pierogi are not as sour as the bigos you have eaten. Sauerkraut needs to be washed with water quite well, so they are not too sour. In my family, after cooking them in boiling water, they are fried in a frying pan, so they are nice and crispy on the outside. Delicious. BARSZCZ Z USZKAMI is a must. When done right it has the sweetness of beetroots, and a little pepery spiciness... And USZKA should be melting in your mouth :) They are supposed to be filled with wild mushrooms, not champignons. Remember that. All your family will be delighted, when you try it in a good version. But remember very important thing!!! Christmas markets are the worst, and most expensive places to try polish food. Try it at a good restaurant, or even better: AT SOMEONE'S BABCIA'S HOUSE 👍 P.S. Have you ever tried herrings in sour cream with apples and onions? My Mum does them best... :) They completely lose their smell due to sour cream, and you might change your views on herrings :)

[@user-wy3ut8en9y]

On Christmas Eve, the host gave wafers to farm and domestic animals. The wafer was supposed to protect them against plague and diseases. By serving food with pieces of the wafer, for example, horses were thanked for their hard work, cows were asked for milk, and hens were given peas with the wafer so that they could lay well. Thanks to it, they were also supposed to speak with a human voice. Wafers for farm animals had characteristic colors: e.g. yellow is intended for cows

[@rikak5703]

Rzeczywiście, były w żółtym kolorze.

[@monikabrzozowska4863]

I am Polish and I've never heard about a coin hidden inside of one dumpling.

[@mr_hardy5329]

Bo to jakaś regionalna tradycja.

[@ewelinaszymanska7614]

Moja mama zawsze wkładała monetę do pierogów 😊

[@gabrielapat2671]

In my family we have this tradition. It's cool when there were many of us.

[@dominikakrawczyk1560]

U nas szuka się w pierogach migdała. Kto znajdzie ma szczęście na cały rok.

[@czerwonybizon9352]

As do I. Maybe it's regional. I live in central Poland (south western Mazowsze) and there are always somthoning dofferennt when I speak with friends from Małopolska, Śląsk or Wielkopolska. For example (according to people that i know) here most common Christmas soup is barszcz z uszkami, while south have mushroom soup and north have fish soup. I've never eat kutia.

[@bartoszjasinski]

About Bigos... there is a joke (mostly 'dad' joke) about it: "Wiesz jak się robi bigos na winie? - Co się nawinie to do bigosu." - Do you know how to make Bigos on wine? - What you can get you put into the bigos. It's hard to translate properly but I think that's why every family make bigos different :D

[@swider80tv]

Red Barszcz ... one of the best cures for hangover (hot of course) 😂

[@motorlife7037]

and the ogórki juice, the best, cold of course

[@majorsurykatka]

In western Poland we have makiełki instead of kutia. Dryed buns, milk, honey, poppy and raisins

[@czarekp3552]

reason why bigos tastes different wherever you go in Poland, is that bigos is made 'on the wine' (na winie, nawinie), it's a homonym, cause in this particular example, it means whatever you find in your fridge, or pantry goes into bigos

[@wiolomatic]

Rob, not all Bigos is made with only sauerkraut. My mom did it half and half with fresh cabbage - it is more sweet but it can get bad pretty quick compared to full sauerkraut bigos.

[@user-wy3ut8en9y]

The tradition of sharing the wafer with farm and forest animals dates back to the 16th century. In various regions of Poland you can still find various varieties and symbolism of this unique custom.

[@Bartek20]

As you said in last video 12 dishes is very much so some families (including mine) are "cheating system" by counting diffrent types of dumplings as multiple dishes, some even count Barszcz z uszkami as 2 dishes (barszcz as 1 and uszka as 2).

[@haniam8350]

Robimy tak samo 😁 - na przykład ziemniaki liczymy jako jedno danie :)

[@paulinawisniewska4961]

Pieczywo też 😅

[@SzajKornik]

12 puszek sardynek z roznymi przyprawami

[@kopernik_elfka]

once, during a student Christmas party, we counted a rack of napkins as a dish xD.🤣

[@ireneuszkurek635]

You are completely wrong about the carp in the bathtub, it was not about poverty or the lack of a freezer, they were common in the Polish People's Republic, but about freshness and not freezing the food. That's why carp was bought alive.

[@wilku1019]

Ludzie nie odróżniają grochu od fasoli 😅

[@dr.detektor6068]

Dokladnie o tym pomyslalem 😂

[@januszlepionko]

I od bobu.

[@Zarxiel]

We never ate carp, we live by the sea, it was cod for christmas eve as far as I can remember and before my time as well. Other dishes yeah, pierogi, mushroom soup, fried cod and trout, pickled herring, recently moved towards eating bigos not just cabbage, pasta with poppy seeds 'makiełki' instead kutia, we always had a loaf of bread on the table as well, kompot made from dried fruit is a must have and of course cakes: makowiec - poppy seed cake, walnut cake and for a few years now panettone

[@user-wy3ut8en9y]

The most important moment of the Christmas Eve supper is the breaking of the wafer. The wafers are made of unleavened dough, which in the Bible means reconciliation and freedom from leaven, which symbolizes hatred.

[@agnieszkanecel6544]

In my home there is always: 1. barszcz (beetrot soup) 2. z uszkami (with small dumplings), 3. karp (carp fish), 4. Śledz (Heering) 5. salatka jarzynowa (salad made out of cooked vegies and mayonaise) , 6. sernik (chesecake), 7. makowiec (poppy seed cake), 8. kompot z suszu (compote of dried fruits), 9. pierogi z suszonymi sliwkami (dumplings witch dried plumps) lub ruskie, 10. Pierniki (gingerbread) 11. Krokiety z kapustą i grzybami (croquettes with cabbage and mushrooms) 12. Chleb z masłem (bread with butter) We count everything because it is not easy to prepare 12 dishes at one meal 😂

[@The0Stroy]

About the Carp in the bathtub - it was done to wash out the smell of mud, that Carps taken from ponds often had. A few days in fresh water made them taste better.

[@user-mg6on2hk4w]

Czy ktoś napisał o kluskach z makiem....super danie ....mnostwo bakali ,miód, orzechy, skórka pomaranczowa❤❤❤

[@user-wy3ut8en9y]

Kluski są super. Dobry jest też makaron. A skończyliśmy u nas w rodzinie na batonie poznańskim, czyli takim małym bułko-chlebku, który moczymy w gorącej śmietanie kremowej z dobrze zmielonym makiem oraz z dodatkiem orzechów, kandyzowanych skórek pomarańczowych, miodu, rodzynek i pokrojonych bananów, a następnie układamy plastry tego namoczonego chlebka, przekładanego tą pyszną masą i na koniec otaczamy go z zewnątrz tak zrobioną masą.

[@movemelody1]

​@@user-wy3ut8en9y U nas w lubelskim też kluski z makiem, moje ulubione danie. Makaron to bluźnierstwo, kluski muszą być zrobione w domu. Kiedyś będąc u Niemców na Wigilii zrobiłam kluski z makiem, co prawda mak był z puszki ale i tak im bardzo smakowały. )

[@DremoraKynmarcher]

Ale to muszą być łazanki, kwadratowe kluski z makiem. inny kształt to zdrada tradycji 😛

[@bonbonpony]

Rob, you should react to Polish Christmas carols & songs. I highly recommend one in particular: made by Studio Accantus, who made a nice instrumental and vocal adaptations. They have two CDs on their KZbin channel and their website, they offer it for free. There's a red one ("Kolędy polskie - Studio Accantus"), and a blue one "Kolędy polskie (płyta niebieska) - Studio Accantus". I'm curious what would be your opinion on them ;)

[@maciekszymanski8340]

As I wrote under the previous video, Christmas Eve traditions vary significantly depending on the region and family. In my house it was absolutely unacceptable to eat eggs and dairy products that day. Also there was no cabbage with peas (strange combination) , but with mushrooms. Although we don't eat meat on Christmas Eve, fish was allowed. That's why in ancient Poland they ate... beavers, which were considered fish. Weird, isn't it?

[@dr.detektor6068]

Beavers ? 😂 serio? O kurka

[@Rubeus1000]

@@dr.detektor6068 tak. Ze względu na to, że ogon bobra przypomina skórę ryby, wymyślono, że nie łamie się postu, spożywając go. Podobnie niektóre gatunki ryb, ze względu na brak widocznych łusek, nie są 'koszerne' według niektórych żydów.

[@movemelody1]

W Lublinie i okolicy zawsze jadło się kluski z makiem, rodzynkami, migdałami i orzechami (oczywiście zrobione samemu). U nas jada się poza tym barszcz z uszkami, karpia, śledzie w oleju (nie żadne marynowane), rybę w galarecie, rybę po grecku, kapustę z grochem, fasolę, marynowane grzyby, babcia piekła jeszcze placek drożdżowy z kapustą i grzybami i placek z kaszą i serem, no i kompot z suszonych owoców.

[@maciejhelbig365]

a na Górnym Śląsku makówki, ale zaraz za Brynicą w Sosnowcu już kluski z makiem :P

[@dariuszp.3240]

Rybę jemy na wigilię - bo jest jednym z symboli chrześcijaństwa! Problem żywego Karpia jest złożony. To akurat nie była kwestia biedy w komunizmie. Mieliśmy lodówki z zamrażalnikiem oczywiście, ale w tym wszystkim ważniejsza była tradycja jeszcze z czasów kiedy lodówek nie było, czyli dziadków moich rodziców. W około świąt jest w Polsce mnóstwo rytuałów w tym specjalne potrawy i sposób ich przygotowania. (Dziś już nie wszystkie są przestrzegane. Niektóre potrawy przygotowywano nawet miesiąc wcześniej. Np. u mnie w domu na posiłek po świętach był bażant. Kupiony od myśliwego, wisiał na mrozie za oknem cały grudzień!) Dlatego ryba musiała być świeża! A żeby była świeża, musiała być zabita na krótko przed smażeniem czy też pieczeniem. A że tak robili to dziadkowie, więc to tradycja, bardziej zaważyła na tym, że w tamtych latach w bardzo wielu domach, przez dwa trzy dni taka ryba, pływała w wannie.

[@dariuszp.3240]

A jeszcze muszę dodać. Tradycja jako wymóg świeżej ryby był związany z życiem na wsi. Na wsi taką rybę odławiano w dzień wigilii, więc trafiała do kuchni świeżutka. Jak ludzie ze wsi, przenieśli się do miasta, to mimo wszystko trzymali się tej tradycji. Ale w mieście trudno o świeżą rybę dla tysięcy osób, w jednym momencie. Dlatego najlepiej było ją kupić, dzień lub dwa wcześniej. W brew pozorom, nie wiele jest zachowań związanych z biedą z tamtych czasów. Polacy są dość konserwatywni nie lubią zmian. Zmiany zachodzą bardzo wolno. Jest jedna zupa, która jest zupą ludzi biednych, ale dotyczy to biedy dawnych czasów, jest to zupa szczawiowa - pyszna, mocno kwaśna z jajkiem. koniecznie spróbuj jak będziesz w Polsce

[@stanislawkowal4657]

Hi Rob, I remember the 12 dishes but rather than eating carp (yuk) we replaced it with salmon. One of my eldests brother and wife still practice the tradition but to much for me. I stick to a couple or so of dishes and thast enough . Thank you again for all your 2023 vids.

[@snookerka11]

Ryby tak, mięso nie - to wynika z dawnych tradycji religijnych. Mięso dawniej było daniem odświętnym, spożywanym przy specjalnych okazjach, w dodatku było drogie. Prości ludzie jadali mięso bardzo rzadko. Dlatego w kościele podczas dni postu nie jada się mięsa. Natomiast ryby były dawnej tańsze, łatwiej dostępne dla biednych ludzi. W Polsce w Wigilię praktykuje się tradycyjny post od pokarmów mięsnych, dlatego na stole znajdziemy ryby.

[@MadeOfHate18]

No, The reason is different. Learn about it. It was taught in school at history class.

[@jarohullowicki7418]

Carp on Christmas is for Poles like English breakfast daily basis for Brits 😂😂😂😂 so this is a reason why you can't understand us😂😂😂

[@juliastrzyga2274]

Hahahaha your face when seeing a poppy seeds cake was just pure joy :D :D Wish you a great holidays, Rob!

[@s8nity713]

I remember the trauma as a kid when i discovered that our pet fish from the bathtub which i kept play with, is the one on my plate. My father refused to say what happened to the carp when i asked him. The realisation hit me hard that day. 🫣 I cried. RIP my carp frien 🫡🐟🪽

[@s8nity713]

And please don't judge pickled herring. Try some in the next video. I recommend herring in cream, and to make a full meal, eat them with whole boiled potatoes with butter on top. Merry christmas 😁

[@danielnagag4572]

Dear Mr. Rob. Your reactions to the cabbage and peas (the photo in the video just happened to be cabbage and beans) and the pickled herring make my heart grow! For if you do not like them, there will be more for us! ;)

[@karolinahanzel8949]

It may be interesting to you. South part of Poland (Silesia) has different traditions. We do not have 12 dishes and we don't eat pierogi. What is more in my house we eat fish soup made from carps' heads. I know it sounds weird and disgusting but it tastes like broth with a little fishy touch ;) The main dish is fried carp with potatoes, sourkraut with mushrooms and sourkraut with peas. Greetings ;)

[@Ake107]

I must agree! Carp soup boiled on fish heads is must in Poznań too!

[@user-wy3ut8en9y]

In our family, we make makiełki on Poznań bread, i.e. a small roll-bread that we soak in hot cream with well-ground poppy seeds and the addition of nuts, candied orange peels, honey, raisins and sliced ​​bananas, and then arrange slices of this soaked bread, layered with this delicious mass and finally we surround it from the outside with the mass made in this way.

[@martingorbush2944]

14:50 As you mention it isn't uncommon to have many cooks preparing different dishes for a "Wigilia".

[@arris9447]

Yup, also remember carp being handled that way in my childhood with my father going out to the garage, day before Christmas Eve to "do the deed"

[@KARMAZYNA]

Christmas dinner in our family always includes mushroom soup, baked fish and pickled herring (I never eat it), and cherry kissel for dessert. But the thing that has been our family tradition for generations are pirozhki made of sweet yeast dough and full of savoury mushroom and vegetables stuffing.

[@RobReacts1]

Well the dessert sounds lovely haha!

[@Funekk]

Hi Rob, the division of Poland is not so simple, because remember that millions of people were deported after the Second World War from the former Polish lands, which were even further east than they are now. Some traditions are still here (in the west), but the society here was very different, so many of them have been lost / changed but some are still cultivated today. Greetings!

[@Magnic_]

We never had pickled herrings in my family. Only salted ones, and only after leaving them in a water bath(at least twice, maybe more times), so it's not so extremely salty. Of course, with onions and "drowned" in oil (so it won't spoil so fast), or with pan-cooked onion(in generous amount of oil) mixed with tomato concentrate/paste, then mixed with herring (cut into small-finger-size stripes) after cooling down. Around 4 types of herring. We have barszcz, clean with nothing in it, but with either pasztecik (crumbly elongated pastry with meat or mushroom filing) or my family special recipe pierogi (not boiled, different dough, just fried in oil, crispy on the outside and delicious mushroom with onion filing) on the side. Creamy mushroom soup like in the video. Vegetable salad made of peas, boiled potatoes, boiled carrots, boiled eggs, pickled cucumber (no, not pickles. Pickles are made with vinegar, pickled cucumber is made with salt), and a little mayonnaise to make it all stick together (like 1 to 2 tablespoons) all diced to the size of the peas. Christmas Eve salad. Made of pickled cabbage (also the one made with salt, no vinegar), salted herring, boiled eggs, raw onion and drizzled with oil to keep it together. Fried mushrooms. "Rehydrated"(aka, left in water for a few hours/overnight) dried mushrooms coated in flour and fried on a pan. Fried carp and carp in a jelly (made of boiling carp bones and head to get the gelatin). Fried Pampuchy (you can amazingly find it under the same name in English google) as bread substitute. 2 types of bigos: -Wigilijny: No meat, only pickled cabbage and mushrooms. Sour. (you had this type, but with meat) -Rest of the Christmas: A lot of scraps of meat, mixed with normal cabbage 2:1, mushrooms, and smoked plums. (aka, Normal one) + homemade meats like meatloaf, pork loin, pate (for lack of a better word). But absolutely every family has a different spin on the Christmas special menu, with each region having different dishes they eat or not even include.

[@kingaolimpiazawadzka4617]

The dishes eaten during Polish Christmas Eve depend on the region of the country and the origin of our ancestors who brought various culinary traditions to the family. I am from western Poland and I also prepare Kutia (poppy seeds, wheat, dried fruits and honey) and Grzybowiki (dumplings with mushrooms - a tradition from Vilnius, currently the capital of Lithuania). We have a custom of leaving an empty table setting for an unexpected guest and putting under each plate: a 1 grosz coin, a carp scale, a leaf of mistletoe and a grain of wheat (for material success, health, happiness in love and prosperity). Now the most popular Christmas Eve soups are red borscht with dumplings and mushroom soup (may be with pasta or dumplings). Other regionally popular soups include fish soup (where fishermen live), Kwaśnica made of sauerkraut and fish (Tatra Mountains), Moczka soup made of gingerbread and dried fruit or Siemieniotka = Konopianka soup made of hemp seeds (Silesia), Kyselica soup made of fermented oats with potatoes and onions (Lemkos), almond soup, fruit soup and various varieties. Today, in addition to carp and herring, other fish are also eaten, e.g. salmon, pollock, hake, cod. Why are sauerkraut, sour cucumbers and pickled vegetables, fish and meat or dried herbs and fruits popular in Poland? In Poland we have 4 seasons - Christmas falls in winter, 100 or 300 years ago there was no widespread access to refrigerators and fresh vegetables imported from other parts of the world, so pickling and drying was a process that allowed us to preserve food suitable for eating in winter and in the spring, before there are fresh crops in summer and autumn. Our stomachs are accustomed to these flavors😋. Why do we fast on Christmas Eve, we don't eat meat, only fish? Tradition. On the first and second day of Christmas we eat various meats - baked, fried, marinated. Best Christmas Greetings🎄🎁

[@MasterZeus94]

The divide and differences between Eastern and Western Poland (conquered and influenced for over 100 years by Russia and Germany respectively) is called "Widać zabory" - "You can see the partition"

[@leszekstefaniak6377]

za dwa dni Wigilia wiec pozwól że juz teraz złożę Ci życzenia wszystkiego najlepszego, dużo zdrówka i radości, niech wszystko o czym zamarzysz spełni sie w Nowym Roku. Twój polski jest coraz lepszy Rob!!!

[@jjaybee5484]

Rob, forget about kutia. It’s not served nowadays and when it was served, it was served only in small parts of Poland (eastern parts). The item to forget, I wonder why she mentions that thing of the past.

[@szariq7338]

Some dishes are countrywide, while others are restricted to certain regions and some even to single families. On example 5 years ago I found a Russian recipe for herring under fur coat (a kind of layered salad) and since then it has become a staple on my family's table.

[@franciszekkapuscinski]

"I can't do the fish, I can't do the fish!"😂😂 I myself despised pickled fish as a child and was always given weird look. To this day I don't eat it. I started making salmon myself to have excuse to not eat it.😂

[@Kiwi-vy7jv]

greetings from Germany haha in our family we do bigos without whine and sasuage or any kind of plum , and when served we put a little mayo in it and mix it up and we can eat with with mushed potatoes also . on christmas eve we eat barszcz with pierogi we make it a little bit spicy and we do not eat karb just regular fish that everyone likes and enjoys and we fry it on a pan. for drinks we have some coke or fanta or maybe also tee to warm up ,and we do not make the poppy seed cake cause nobody will eat it so we do gingerbread cake and have some delicious homemade biscuits or chrusty. our family mixes some other spicys also to it cause we grew up with many different traditions ,we do green salad and spicy chily salad-its very refreshing cause the food tend to be very heavy ,and the chritmas day we eat beef very good cooked in the oven with garlik salt and other spicys,we eat sausages.. and this chrstmas on the 25 we re planing to do a grill.every family has its own tradition and preference so its very open as of now and to the fish part and bath my mom when she was little they had it also there and my uncle he fed the fish i think they did it so the fish stays fresh until christmas couse you couldnt buy it whenever you wanted to ,so for the fisch to be fresh it lived in the bethtub,but i dont know anyone who does it ,its i think barberic to do this in this time and age,and i read somhere that its illegal to do this now....fiuuuu hahhahahah Merry Christmas everyone and a Happy New Year to you all may happines joy love and the warmth of the holiday be with you and youre familys and friends enjoy the holidaysho ho ho Merry Chrisler

[@sebastian-ic1mz]

"Kutia" is popular in the east of Poland, not in whole Poland.We can find it in other parts of Poland, because people imigrate from east to west

[@kamilagorlikowska]

Oh sweet pierogi with blueberries served with Sauer cream and sugar ( brown sugar taste genius with it)

[@Rene_Moor3095]

Carp is slowly ceasing to be the main fish on the Polish Christmas Eve table. My family prefers other fish and we haven't eaten carp for many years. Carp appeared in our kitchen after 2WW during the communist era. Carp are very easy to raise, and the cost of maintaining carp breeding ponds used to be so low that these fish for Christmas Eve and holidays simply paid off for both breeders and consumers then.

[@mr_hardy5329]

Herring is my favourite fish.

[@maciejderose]

It's pretty easy. According to the conventional definition, meat is any flesh of a warm-blooded animal, such as beef, pork, lamb, and veal. Under this definition, fish is not considered meat because it is cold-blooded :)

[@Esterhazy1973]

Carp meat bought from a cheap supermarket actually has nasty muddy aftertaste. Buy your fish alive and keep it in clean water for a couple of days and it will make a world of difference. Happy Christmas Rob.

[@maciejhelbig365]

The reason why the carp was kept in the bathtub was also to allow the fish to clean itself. One needs to take into consideration that the fish has a muddy aftertaste; to reduce this, one needs to keep the fish for a few days in fresh water. Still, I remember "pricing" the lives of the carps swimming in the tub (the price would go around millions of PLN that my dad would have to pay :P ), naming the fish etc. Once, I refused to eat my favourite carp, but I was convinced that I had to, because he would be very sad (as if the fish were not sad when my dad smashed its head with the hammer :P). All in all, the condition of the ponds where carps are kept is far much better now, so there is no need to keep the living fish in the tub :D

[@somsiadtomasz]

With 12 dishes the fridge haven't got too much free space XD so the bath was like space saver xd

[@user-wy3ut8en9y]

Fish were kept, for example, in bathtubs or bowls, not because of lack of refrigerators or poverty, but because the longer the fish lives, the better the taste of the meat. This works because frozen meat is not that good anymore. Additionally, the fish got rid of slime and cleaned itself by soaking in clean water.

[@czerwonybizon9352]

1. Bigos and saałatka jarzynowa. Yeap. Bigos and sałatka jarzynowa taste absolutly dofferennt in every home. For example my sister used to add honey, while my father don't do that, but he use more mushrooms. For sałatka jarzynowa i use patotes, carrots, parsley (root, not leaves), celery, eggs, apples, pickled cucumbers, leek, mayo, mustard, salt and pepper. In every home proportions are dofferennt and also people chamge some ingrindiens for example many people don't use mustard or add corn. I love herrings and they can be served in many forms, but the most important thing for me - they can't be to salt and i love them sour. 2. Carp During PRL (communism in Poland) there was a lack of many things. Goovermant was trying to provide carp becouse it was cheep and easy to breeding. Ofcourse there where fidges, but we cook a lot for crismas. In old fridges feezers were small. It was hard to buy beeter fridge or second one becouse of money, space at home, availability (than shops often where empty) and during some time to buy some thigs people have to use kartki (documents that goovermant allow you to buy something like fridges or for example other kinds of fishes). Also having a living fish is the only way how you can be 100% sure that it is fresh. This is way carp become a tradiation and why it was at bath. However in opninion having a living carp is somethong uncommon. Also carp itself is a dying tradition. Some fimilies have it on christmas, some not. I heve it once in few yeara. This fish is not very tasty, so more often you can find cod or perch onz christmas table.

[@frofrofrofro900]

In Cracow we never had pierogi on Christmas

[@rikak5703]

Zgadza się.

[@krzpob]

Karp był kupowany świeży, bo z lodówkami było słabo, sklepy nie musiały mieć. Karpia kupowało się w grudniu jak akurat pojawił się w sklepie, raz 2 dni przed wigilią innym razem tydzień przed i by był do jedzenia w wigilię, to albo się go robiło w mocnej zalewie octowej by przetrwał "świeży" te 2-3 tygodnie, albo trzeba trzymać w wannie, jak ma być pieczony. I był w zasadzie jedyną rybą szeroko dostępną.

[@magorzatacharczynska5656]

At my house, we put a peanut in our ear instead of a coin. And when someone comes, they will be lucky all year round. 😂❤😂

[@szogunet]

Bigos in the 17th and 18th centuries was eaten with chopped meat, crayfish made from characteristic lemons or limes and wine vinegar. During the Polish occupation, meat was replaced with cabbage. when the oldest recipes for bigos include 95% of meat from several species. the recipe has changed over the years and contains 5-10% pork and beef. In my house, bigos is: crayfish, pig, wild boar, roe deer, cow, duck, goose, sheep - 40%. Mushrooms - 10%. sauerkraut - 15% regular cabbage -30% home-made wine, spices and a soft piece of juicy birch located just under the bark to convey the taste. this is a recipe for bigos from the end of the 18th century. which my family liked and we can afford such a sophisticated dish once a year.

[@malkontentniepoprawny6885]

My grandmother loved carp in jelly, except for her, only cats ate it.

[@karolinalatko1802]

For me Wigilia could consist of only 3 dishes: barszcz, pierogi and fasola (beans). I love them and I don't need anything else to be happy 🤤

[@ireneuszkurek635]

Beaver tail is not classified as meat and was eaten by monks on Friday.

[@monikaoliwia3899]

A gdzie sernik??? A gdzie piernik??? Pierniczki? Jablecznik??? Golabki wigilijne😢kapusta z grzybami ❤

[@dr.detektor6068]

Paszteciki

[@LongandWeirdName]

Z całej twojej listy, u nas się je wyłącznie kapustę z grzybami.

[@monikaoliwia3899]

Ooo o pasztecikach zapomnialam, krokiety i ryba z warzywami czyli "po grecku" obosiazkowa

[@movemelody1]

🌞🎄☃️Wesołych Świąt Bożego Narodzenia i Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku, Rob, dla Ciebie i Twoich bliskich.☃️🎄🌞

[@wojtekwosztyl615]

Wesołych Świąt Rob! BTW, I've never seen pierogi on my Wigilia table. I live in central Poland. But Kutia... Love it

[@Diveyl]

For Polish people when they say mięso they mean red meat, from animals like cow, sheep, goat or pig. There is also white meat from birds, and fish are regarded as another category, separate from white and red meat.

[@andrzejbo1]

There are supposed to be 12 dishes, but there are no strict requirements as to what they should be. I like sweets and three dishes are cakes. Poppy seed cake, cheesecake and apple pie. I don't like carp, so I eat cod in onions and tomatoes, herring marinated in oil, mushroom sauce and cabbage with mushrooms. It is sour, so it is an addition as a salad. It's different in every home. I also often eat bigos with potatoes and a portion of meat. Bigos is available as an addition. Of course, you can also make sweet bigos, but it is rather sour.

[@wuuemm]

According to the Catholic doctrine fish is not meat and is allowed on fasting days (which the Christmas Eve actually is)

[@RobReacts1]

yea very weird

[@kenkeneth4964]

I’m from north west of Poland and kutia was on the table every Christmas.

[@movemelody1]

Bo tam przesiedlono ludzi z Kresów powojnie.

[@kenkeneth4964]

@@movemelody1 Moja mama była z Krosna nad Odrą ,a tato z Piotrkowa Trybunalskiego, Kresy to raczej nie są.

[@bartoszjasinski]

"Barszcz z uszkami" - omg I can eat that soup every day

[@sebastianlaskowski3451]

Smacznego

[@aneluakosa2910]

Każdy robi to co lubi ,ja nie lubie pierogów czy kapusty z grzybami, moje dzieci nie lubią jeść karpia, barszcz jest w porzadku ,zamiast uszek robimy tez naleśniki z grzybami. Nalesnik zwijamy i ktoimy na slimaczki i ukladamy w ksztalcie kwiata. Śledzie i krokiety są ok. Dania robimy pod dzieci. Wolą zjesc ziemiaka, paluszki rybne ,racuchy z jabłkiem , sałatkę jarzynową, ciasto. Po co mam cos robic, skoro potem ma się zmarnować. Na święta robimy obiad i tez oczywiście ziemiaki salatka czy surówka ,pieczarki jako dodatek do mięsa, podsmażane na tłuszczyku..Kutii u nas sie nie robiło. Wolimy jeść tez różnego rodzaju orzechy czy mandarynki i oczywiscie pierniki. Czyli jedzenie bardzo manilistyczne tyle ile potrzeba na trzy dni świąt. Dla mnie jest głupotą tak jak kiedys, z resztą wielu jeszcze tak robi ,gotowac dużo jakby miał się świat kończyć. Po 30 gołąbków, caly gar bigosu,itd. jak na wesele dla 160 osób. Serio śmiać mi się chce widząc ludzi w sklepach kupujacych tony jedzenia. W nowy rok tobimy na świeżo normalny obiad pieczemy faworki kupujemy przekaski robimy popcorn. Ciasto też świeże. Nie lubię jeść dań zostawionych z tygodnia szykowanych na wigilię. Odgrzewane nie....nie ma gdzie tego trzymać. Lepiej zrobic mało i na nowy rok świeże. I przy tym jeszcze sie zaoszczedza czas i pieniadze.

[@theRAV4000]

yeah we pretty much always have all of these although we never buy living carp and herrings are not pickled. Also we have more variety of fish, we always also have salmon and some other one. I always hated the "kompot z suszu" drink, it's just so awful to me. Last year actually my mom wanted to do something extravagant and get some sushi for Wigilia but we were like nope lol.

[@czarekp3552]

have you tried fruit dumplings? with cream.... to die for

[@RobReacts1]

I havnt got round to it. I can get some in the Polish shop but will wait for when I am back in Wrocław

[@motorlife7037]

yes, with good kompocik

[@czarekp3552]

@@RobReacts1 you can buy them in any Polish shop in the UK... trust me, cause i do, plus 18% śmietana/cream.... it's gonna make you so fa.... happy, you'll be rolling to places, instead of walking

[@czarekp3552]

@@motorlife7037 yep

[@RobReacts1]

haha I thought I would do proper polish first then the frozen stuff@@czarekp3552

[@bogna8877]

We had fridges but much smaller than today, and fish is not a the type of dish you can prepare ahead.

[@CMDRSloma]

I don't like carp, too much hassle while eating it, I simply prefer cod. I remember carp in a bath tub, but I was never traumatized, I've seen pigs and chickens being killed, but that's because I spent a lot of time on my aunts farm. Nothing unusual. Anyway, my favourite is red 'barszcz z uszkami', very tasty. The other favourite is 'ryba po grecku'.

[@Blue528.]

Depending on which part of Poland you live in, these 12 dishes are slightly different, and herring can be served in 10 different ways. Everything is very tasty because it is only cooked for Christmas Eve.

[@m0riss]

One of the reasons fish is "not meat" is that in the medieval+ era the Church was one of the major fish producers ... they also institute meatless Fridays... connect the dots :)

[@charko4191]

Somoene already answered but Imma do it anyway. Fish is a symbol of Christianity and was a common cheap food in that part of the world and at the time of Jesus's life Chicken and other meat was rare and expensive luxury . Since you are not yet celebrating Jesus being born on Chrismas Eve you are going trough a last day of the time of awaiting so you don't eat luxiorious stuff like someone said you focus on preparing spiritually to celebrate and that is where your mind should be. That is how that tradition came to be but I guess it varies depending on which part of the world you live in.

[@monikaspurtacz505]

You eat a bit of everything, you dont have to overeat

[@jerzy7118]

These dishes are modified in every house and depending on the region. But in every home there is mushroom soup or red borscht with dumplings, dumplings with cabbage and mushrooms, Karp. Now it is forbidden to sell live Carp in Poland. This lady is wrong when she thinks that Kutia is popular in eastern Poland, she forgot that in Lower Silesia there are people resettled from present-day Ukraine when these areas were Polish. So Kutia is the taste of my childhood, I think you would like it. The ingredients are pearl barley, poppy seeds, honey, nuts, figs, raisins and it is eaten chilled - delicious and of course sweet.

[@kayakastek76]

If I'm not mistaken, fish aren't considered meat by catholic church since middle ages. It might be because the monks were forbidden to eat meat for months or even years to purify themselves, but it was very bad for their bodies and even suffered starvation. So the church made some regulations that certain animals wouldn't be considered meat(even some birds, like ducks or owls). Fish is also one of the christian symbols, like bread or wine. I don't know why people prefer to buy a living karp. Maybe it is about the meat being fresh. PRL time was pretty tough, so it might be that not everyone could afford working freezers(on the countryside especially). Killing it yourself would guarantee that meat wouldn't expire too soon and this tradition was kept for longer. Some people would buy it living, just to release it, but it's not good for our rivers, because this fish has not originated from Poland. It causes damage to our ecosystem and can't even reproduce without human's help.

[@kayakastek76]

Ok, I asked my mom about buying a living karp. It was usually because it was hard to buy it just before Christmas and if you buy it too soon, it'll expire. Another reason was that children could see a living fish in the bathroom, like you show them animals in zoo. It was kinda like an attraction for the younger kids, but times have changed and a child would be more thrilled by a smartfon than a living karp. I remember how me and my brother used o peek into the bathroom every 10 minutes or so... Good for fish, I guess. They can't entertain the kids anymore so they won't suffer in the bathtub

[@grzegorzszczesny2336]

Selling fresh carp should be forbidden in Poland. Two days ago, I saw half alive fish gasping for air. It's animal cruelty.

[@haniam8350]

Coraz popularniejsze jest kupowanie filetów karpia. Ja tak robię.

[@passengersslime1752]

Carp the nightmare of my childhood 😅I literally feared Christmas Eve dinner Never seen in a bath though thank God

[@gambitkrola5228]

Wesołych świąt!

[@annassims952]

we in our family often have two different cakes chees cake and peanuts cake

[@RobReacts1]

I bloody love a cheesecake!

[@claudiaclaudia2922]

In the Catholic tradition, Christmas Eve is always without meat, only fish. This is also the case in Italy. But on Christmas you can already eat meat.

[@dariuszgurdaa8277]

Wesołych Świąt!

[@user-wy3ut8en9y]

Everyone sits down to the Christmas Eve supper dressed in their best clothes. We break the wafer and say our best wishes, but first there is a prayer. And before the prayer, a selected person will have the honor of reading aloud part of the Bible about the entire event. How Mary and Joseph were forced to travel and what happened around the birth of Jesus.

[@Krokmaniak]

2:20 For some time Beaver was clasified as fish by church so it can be eaten on lent. What isn't that stupid as from taxonomy(science of cathaloging living organisms) point of view there is no such thing as fish, so anything can be classified as such.

[@marekjureczko9551]

In the Polish tradition, fish is to be prepared fresh for Christmas Eve, which is why it is kept in a bathtub and gutted before the ceremony. carp was not chosen before, only communism, due to supply shortages, made carp popular. In the Christian tradition, fish is not meat also all seafood can be eaten. Surprisingly, the ban, does not apply to dairy products, eggs and even animal fat. In general, if it doesn't bleed red, you can eat it. You guessed it, good traditional borscht is a bit sweet most of what the lady in the video describes relates mainly to eastern Poland, I live in Silesia, I have never heard of anyone serving herring, but often on the following days of Chrismas there is goose, duck, sometimes even pig. No one in my region serves sweet pasta with poppy seeds, here we serve poppy seeds cold cake (poppy seeds, milk, bread roll, nuts, raisins) Dried compote must have dried plums, dates, cinamon, otherwise my grandmother would curse me from beyond the grave, apples, pears and peaches are also popular.

[@nastarkill]

In the past Karp had to be in the bath to sit in the clean wather for several days to loose mud taste. Now they are doing it before selling them, There is no need to buy it live.

[@sebastian-ic1mz]

Tbh about carp,lots of poles don't know how carp became that famous meal during the Christmas. When Poland was an unofficial part of soviet union, even if Poland was producing a lot of things, everything went to Soviet. Soviets couldn't left their smaller brothers,so they sent to us the cheapest sh.t which was a carp , they found it in Kazakhstan or on other their republic 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@monikaoliwia3899]

A u mnie w Wielkopolsce leci cale ciacho czym chata bogata :))

[@TheFifthHorseman_]

2:44: It's a general thing in Christianity, you're not supposed to eat the meat of land-borne animals when fasting. This is an artifact of way back to when the religion first formed, when red meat and poultry were expensive and generally a rarity for the common folk while fish were not. Making 24th a fasting day was something introduced by Polish clergy in 1966

[@kacperkusinski5297]

"In Poland, there are so many traditions because we were attacked, and we welcomed others on Christmas Eve; not everyone eats meat. Poland is a mix."

[@AngelikaCiurej]

Nie prawda. Nie jedzenie mięsa w wigilię czyli post wynika z wiary katolickiej w której jesteśmy od ponad tysiąca lat, a nie dlatego, że nas ktoś napadł.