Old Russian dishes for Christmas. Traditional food for Christmas

As you know, there is Catholic Christmas and Orthodox Christmas, and at the same time it is difficult to find even two Catholic or Orthodox countries that would have absolutely identical Christmas dishes and Christmas menus. The Christmas table should not only satisfy the family, but also symbolize abundance, the beginning of a new life. Traditional Christmas dishes in different countries are very diverse, in connection with the end of the fast, a variety of products are allowed. For example, from the end of November until January 7, the Orthodox Christmas fast lasts, the Christmas fast menu is a great way not only to cleanse yourself spiritually, but also bodily. Eating at Christmas excludes fatty animal food, fish can be eaten several times a week. But after Lent, the recipes for Christmas dishes are more diverse, there are meat, fish, and dairy products.

For the countries of Western Europe, from sweet dishes, Christmas baking recipes are especially characteristic. At this time, houses and bazaars are really flooded with Christmas pastries. The Christmas Bake Recipe is Christmas cookies and Christmas gingerbread. Christmas cupcake and Christmas candy recipes are also very popular. England even has a special English Christmas cake. The recipe for Christmas cookies is simple, the main thing is a beautiful design. To please loved ones and especially children, we offer you a recipe for Christmas gingerbread. You will need flour, sugar, soda, eggs, butter, cocoa, honey, spices. After mixing the ingredients and kneading the dough, it should be put in the refrigerator overnight so that it is infused and saturated with spices, in this case you will get especially fragrant Christmas gingerbread. The recipe for Christmas gingerbread will also require a certain artistic taste from you, because you will need to fashion figures of a person, animals, or some kind of geometric ones from the dough. After that, the cookies are baked in the oven and decorated with icing. The same is true for Christmas cookies. The Christmas cake recipe is very popular in England. It is cooked with dried fruits and nuts, soaked in some kind of alcohol. For the Orthodox, Christmas sweets are primarily Christmas kutia and Christmas pastries, such as Christmas cake. The recipe that creates a holiday for children is lollipops in the form of cockerels. An ideal option for Christmas baking would be Christmas tea. It is made from black tea, ginger, cinnamon and orange peel.

Also in many European countries, a mandatory Christmas dish is a Christmas goose, a Christmas duck or a Christmas turkey. The Christmas goose is prepared in Germany, Denmark, Greece, Russia. You will definitely not regret if a Christmas goose appears on your table. The Christmas goose recipe usually uses apples and prunes. Christmas turkey is a recipe that is typical for England and the USA. Meat dishes are often served with Christmas salad, the recipe of which may differ in different countries.

Merry and joyful Christmas holiday

Christmas holidays begin on January 6, when the Orthodox celebrate Christmas Eve. And the whole of January there are holidays: 7 - Orthodox Christmas, 13 - Generous Evening, 14 - New Year according to the Julian calendar, according to the old style, 18 - Epiphany Christmas Eve, and 19 celebrate Epiphany or Epiphany.

The evolution of the celebration of Christmas

Until the 4th century, Christmas was celebrated together with Epiphany and Baptism at the same time, because it was believed that Jesus Christ lived for the perfect number of years, and his conception occurred on the same day as the crucifixion. Counting 9 months from this date, we get December 25 in the old style or January 7 in the new one.

At Christmas time in Rus', children always gathered together and praised Jesus Christ from house to house, showing costumed or puppet shows describing various scenes from His life. Christmas time is also called Generous Evening. Then there was a rule: with everything that the owners had, give the guests. Therefore, on New Year's Eve, young people sang lavish songs and thus collected various gifts, dishes and offerings.

On Christmas Eve, the fun subsides, and the Day of the Epiphany or the baptism of the Savior in the Jordan, people collect water after the liturgy and the procession. Consecrated water - agiasma - does not deteriorate for a long time. It is used when someone is sick, in grief or trouble. This water helps to sanctify the dwelling. On Epiphany, believers bathe in a cruciform hole.

Christmas Baking Recipes

Kundyubki is a very tasty and satisfying pastry stuffed with mushrooms, onions and fat. They were baked in the oven, then poured with broth and put back into the oven for a short time. The simplest recipe for sweet pastries was carols, which were made from unleavened rye dough, stuffed with chopped apples, curd-sugar mixture or regular mashed potatoes.

Very taste and. She had to fool around for a long time, but she was different in that she was usually prepared a week before Christmas, and she could be stored for more than six weeks. Rugs were presented to all guests and, of course, in the first place - to children. Another recipe for sweet pastries -. The hostesses cooked, served homemade wine or beer.

At Christmas, they put different and satisfying food so that the table was rich, symbolized good luck and wealth in the coming year. As a symbol of Christmas, hay or straw should be placed under a snow-white tablecloth, which reminds that Jesus Christ was born and was placed in a manger. The central dish, which is placed in the center, is, and 12 dishes are placed around it, which remind of the faithful disciples of Christ - the apostles. The number of guests at the table must be even, but if an odd number of guests are invited, one empty additional device must be placed on the table.

The bright and joyful holiday of Christmas always pleases, because it reminds of those days when a star lit up in the sky, symbolizing the birth of a God-man who came to earth to save people. Therefore, let us praise Jesus Christ, who saved our world and gave hope for the resurrection!

The main Christian holiday of the year is Christmas. The customs of his meeting practically do not change. On this day, it is customary to set a rich table, because after fasting, you can finally taste the meat. The best dishes should be on the table. Usually it is a baked pig, jelly, pancakes, fried chicken and so on. In general, everything that could not be eaten in fasting.

On the eve of Christmas, on January 6, Christmas Eve is celebrated. There are also certain recommendations for its celebration. This is the final day of the holiday fast. Before the first star in the sky, you can’t sit down at the table. As soon as the first, long-awaited light lights up in the sky, the meal begins.

But the treats are not rich, because the post has not yet ended. The main dish of the Christmas Eve is Sochivo. This, as a rule, is a grain of bread soaked in broth, honey or water. It symbolizes life as it is. Grains germinating in water are the beginning of a new life. Young fruits, which then turn into liquid porridge - the beginning of life and death.

In addition to Sochiv, from which the name Christmas Eve came, there should be several more traditional dishes on the table. There are 12 of them in total and they symbolize the 12 Apostles. What dishes to cook on Christmas Eve? You will find out in our article. The perfect Christmas menu is also waiting for you.

First, we will look at the menu for Christmas Eve, consisting of 12 dishes.

Sochivo (kutya) from wheat with raisins and honey

As I said, sochivo is the main dish on Christmas Eve. It is served, as a rule, with an uzvar or, as it is also called, an uzvar. Simply put, it is a compote of berries or fruits.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of wheat grains;
• 100 grams of raisins;
• 50 grams of walnuts;
• 2-4 tablespoons of poppy;
• 3 tablespoons of liquid honey;

Cooking:

1. Rinse the wheat as many times as necessary to keep the water clear. After that, place it in a saucepan, fill it with water, 3 centimeters above the wheat level and send it to the stove.

2. Before boiling, foam will form, it must be removed. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium or low. Cook covered for about half an hour. It may take more or less time. The main thing is to wait for the grains to swell and the water to evaporate completely. Then, for about 1 hour, let the wheat brew under the lid out of the fire.

3. Transfer the not completely cooled porridge into a bulky dish.

4. Fill with warm knot (compote). It will need a little. A small glass is enough. It should only evenly cover the porridge. And you can also find the recipe for this drink in this article.

5. Add honey and dissolve it while stirring. If your honey is already candied, melt it in a water bath. Washed raisins, poppy seeds and chopped walnuts are also sent here.

6. Mix everything well and leave to cool completely. Soon poppy seeds and raisins will swell, absorb water and the dish will become less liquid and very tasty.

Knot of dried fruits for Christmas

Uzvar is one of the 12 traditional Christmas dishes. It is usually made from dried fruits. Bring water with fruit to a boil, no need to boil. Then insist under the lid for several hours. Some add alcohol to it, such as vodka. So the drink becomes even more "interesting". They begin to drink uzvar, as it should be, on Christmas Eve. But fasting continues on this day, so alcohol can be added only the next day.

Ingredients:

• 3 liters of water;
• 300 grams of any dried fruits or berries;
• a third of a lemon;
• a glass of granulated sugar (can be adjusted to taste).

Cooking:

1. Dried fruits for uzvar can be any. Apples, pears, apricots, raisins, prunes - in general, everything that is at hand. They need to be washed thoroughly, especially if you bought them in a store. Then pour cold water and leave for a couple of hours.

2. Bring the water to a boil, and then send dried fruits, a piece of lemon and granulated sugar there. Reduce the heat to just below medium and wait for it to boil again.

3. After that, you need to remove the pan from the heat, cover with a lid. Wrap the dish with the knot in something warm, such as a blanket or towel, and leave for 5-6 hours.

It turns out such a compote is very tasty, rich and healthy.

The vinaigrette

Vinaigrette is one of the most common fasting dishes. It is very nutritious, healthy and tasty. In addition, the green peas, which is part of it, symbolize the unity of God's race.

Ingredients:

• one medium boiled beet;
• 3-5 pickles, depending on size;
• 2-3 boiled carrots;
• 4 boiled potatoes;
• a jar of green peas;
• one medium bulb;
• vegetable oil with a smell, salt and pepper to taste.

Cooking:

1. Boiled vegetables must be completely cooled. It is better to cook them in advance, the day before preparing the salad. Send to the refrigerator overnight. This way they cut better.

2. First of all, you need to cut the beets into medium cubes. Transfer to a salad bowl and brush with vegetable oil. So, all other ingredients will retain their colors without being heavily stained from beets.

3. Finely chop the onion. Throw in green peas. Cut all other ingredients, like beets, into cubes and mix in one bowl. Salt, pepper and, if necessary, add more oil.

4. Decorate to taste, for example, with fresh herbs, and serve.

Lenten cabbage rolls

A very tasty and simple recipe for lean cabbage rolls with rice, chickpeas and vegetables. This dish on Christmas Eve was prepared by our ancestors. Its name "Colubets", from the word "dove", symbolizes freedom, love, beauty and the Holy Spirit.

Ingredients:

• 12 cabbage leaves;
• incomplete glass of rice (about 3/4 part);
• a quarter of a medium zucchini;
• half a cup of chickpeas;
• one medium bell pepper;
• dried herbs to taste.

• 1 onion;
• one carrot;
• 3 tablespoons of tomato paste;
• half a teaspoon of flour;
• salt and spices to taste;
• 2 teaspoons of granulated sugar;
• dried or fresh herbs to taste;
• one and a half glasses of water;
• a little vegetable oil.

Cooking:

1. Pour chickpeas with water and leave in this form for 3-4 hours. Better to leave it soaked overnight. Then drain the water and boil it until tender.

2. Washed rice also needs to be cooked until tender.

3. Prepare cabbage leaves. Boil water on the stove and send them there. Boil on medium heat for 5 minutes. So they will be soft and it will be easy to wrap the filling in them. Then take them out of the pot and let them cool down. Cut off thick veins from them.

4. Cut the zucchini and sweet pepper into cubes. Fry them in a small amount of vegetable oil, until blush. Mix the fried vegetables, rice and chickpeas in one bowl. Salt, season with spices and herbs.

5. Put a little filling on a cabbage leaf and wrap it in a roll, while tucking the side ends inward.

6. Grease a baking sheet with high sides with oil, put cabbage rolls on it.

7. Fry a finely chopped onion in oil. Coarsely grate the carrot and add to the onion. Fry until golden. As soon as the carrot becomes soft, add flour, mix. Then pour water, put tomato paste, granulated sugar, salt and spices to your taste. Mix everything. Simmer until thickened.

8. Pour the stuffed cabbage with the resulting sauce in a baking sheet.

9. Preheat the oven to 210 degrees. Send the cabbage rolls to the oven for 20-30 minutes, until cooked.

Fish baked with vegetables and rice in foil

Fish on Christmas Eve is one of the main dishes. You can bake it or just limit yourself to salted herring. I suggest you cook it with rice and vegetables.

Ingredients:

• one fresh fish, weighing about 2 kilograms (bream, carp or any other fish);
• half a glass of rice;
• lemon;
• a mixture of frozen vegetables - 200 grams;
• a piece of butter (about 50 grams);
• one bulb;
• vegetable oil;
• salt and pepper to taste.

Cooking:

1. Rinse the rice until the water is clear. Pour half a glass of rice with a glass of water, add salt and cook it on a low power stove until tender. Then rinse it with water in a colander and wait for the liquid to drain completely.

2. Clean the fish without cutting off the head and tail. Peel off all scales, remove entrails and gills. Rinse thoroughly inside and out. Lightly dry with paper towels and salt on all sides, including the inside. Leave for 15-20 minutes.

3. Stew frozen vegetables until cooked, with the addition of vegetable oil.

4. Peel and cut the onion into thin half-rings.

5. A couple of minutes before readiness, add rice to the vegetables and simmer them together for literally 5 minutes. Then add butter, mix and turn off the stove.

If you're fasting, don't add butter!

6. Stuff the fish with a mixture of vegetables and rice. If the filling remains a little, it's okay. It can be placed next to the fish. Secure the edges with toothpicks so the rice doesn't fall out.

7. Line a large sheet of foil on a baking sheet. Lubricate it with a little vegetable oil. In the place where the fish will lie, lay out a pillow from the onion. Put our fish on it.

8. Wrap with foil, but do not press hard. There should be some free space left for the fragrant juice to stand out.

9. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees and send the baking sheet there for about half an hour. Then take it out of the oven, cover with slices of lemon and, without covering with foil, put it back in the oven for another 10 minutes.

Baked apples with honey and cinnamon

Baked apples are a great dessert for Christmas and beyond. It is very useful, tasty and simple.

Ingredients:

• 3 medium apples;
• 3 teaspoons of honey;
• half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon;
• pine nuts, poppy seeds or something else to your taste.

Cooking:

1. Cut out a dense core with seeds from the side of the tail. They must first be washed and wiped from drops of water.

2. Cut off the skin from each apple, one strip along the top. Put one tablespoon of honey into the hole from the core.

3. The place where we peeled the peel, sprinkle with cinnamon.

4. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Send apples there for 20-25 minutes.

Lenten borscht - a simple video recipe

Borscht at Holy Evening is a sign of kindness and diligence. As a hospitable hostess prepares food from the gifts of nature and treats her guests to it, so any mortal cultivates his life, giving kindness and generosity.

Cabbage salad with corn

Cabbage is a union of simplicity and firmness. She personifies the free unity around one solid nature - the Lord God. On Holy Evening, this vegetable must be present on the table. You can cook the cabbage, stew it or just plan the salad. Cooking all 12 dishes for a holiday is not easy. Therefore, I offer you the simplest, but very tasty salad.

Ingredients:

• half a kilo of cabbage;
• a small bunch of parsley;
• salt to taste;
• 2 teaspoons of vinegar 9%;
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil;
• half a teaspoon of granulated sugar;
• a couple of pinches of black ground pepper;
• 6-7 tablespoons of canned or boiled corn.

Cooking:

1. Finely chop the cabbage. You can do this with a knife or a special vegetable cutter. Add salt and lightly knead the cabbage with your hands. It is not necessary to do this strongly, otherwise it will release a lot of juice and become soft. Then slightly squeeze it from the moisture and shift it into a deep plate.

2. Finely chop the greens and send to one bowl with cabbage.

3. In a separate bowl, mix oil, vinegar, granulated sugar and pepper. Pour cabbage with this sauce. Add corn, stir and transfer to a salad bowl.

Potato dumplings

Dumplings are a symbol of prosperity. Therefore, on Christmas night, they must be present on the table. I suggest you cook them according to this simple recipe.

Ingredients:

• 350 grams of flour;
• 150 ml of water;
• 2 medium onions;
• half a kilo of potatoes;
• salt and crushed pepper to taste;
• a little green dill;
• small carrot;
• 30 ml of olive oil;
• 40 ml vegetable oil.

Cooking:

1. Sift flour into a bowl, add salt (about half a teaspoon) and pour water. Knead a homogeneous, elastic dough.

2. The dough must be kneaded until it stops sticking to the palms. At the same time, it should be elastic and soft. Cover it with a film or put it in a bag and put it away for half an hour.

3. Peel the potatoes, boil and puree with the addition of your own broth.

4. Peel and grate onions and carrots. You can also grind them with a blender.

5. Fry the mixture of onions and carrots in olive oil, about 5 minutes.

6. In one bowl, mix mashed potatoes, fried vegetables (leave one third of the mass for serving), salt, pepper and herbs to taste.

7. Roll out the dough into a layer, cut out circles using a glass or other device. Stuff them with our stuffing and blind the edges. You can also give them a beautiful pattern.

8. Put water on the stove, salt it. After boiling, send dumplings there. When the broth boils again, cook for 5 minutes.

9. Decorate dumplings with greens, the rest of the vegetables. Can be served with sour cream.

Champignons stuffed with nuts and cheese

Mushrooms symbolize the union of the two natures of Jesus Christ - the earthly leg and the heavenly hat. Therefore, they need to be prepared on Christmas night. If you are fasting, you can simply put marinated mushrooms on the table, seasoned with unrefined oil, with onions and herbs. And you can cook them according to this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 3 large champignons;
• 50 grams of hard cheese;
• garlic - 2 cloves;
• 50 grams of walnuts;
• a bunch of dill;
• a little butter;
• salt, ground pepper, nutmeg and other spices to taste.

Cooking:

1. Cut a leg from the mushrooms, right under the hat. Do this carefully, without cutting the hat itself. Chop the legs very finely.

2. Grate the cheese. Finely chop the greens. Mix these two ingredients, salt and season with all the prepared spices to taste.

3. Fry the mushroom caps in butter, until blush, on both sides.

4. Also, in oil, fry the nuts and chopped mushroom legs, literally 5 minutes. Pour them after that into a mixture of garlic and herbs and mix thoroughly.

5. Tightly stuff the hats with the resulting filling, with a good pea.

6. Heat the oven to 200 degrees. Send a baking sheet with mushrooms there for 10 minutes.

7. Serve on a plate lined with lettuce.

Lenten pies with cabbage - video recipe

Very tasty pies, with lush dough and unusually juicy filling. It's not hard at all to prepare them. All cooking steps and secrets are described in this video.

Lean donuts

We bake delicious lean donuts with almond or soy milk. It turns out very simple, but nevertheless delicious! Try it!

Ingredients:

• 200 milliliters of warm water;
• 800 grams of flour;
• a tablespoon of sugar;
• 100 milliliters of vegetable oil;
• 100 milliliters of soy or almond milk;
• 35 grams of yeast;
• two cloves of garlic;
• herbs and spices to taste.

Cooking:

1. We make a dough. Warm water and milk a little. Dissolve the yeast, sugar and a tablespoon of flour there. Remove to a warm place, until a frothy cap appears.

2. Sift the flour into a bowl. Pour in the dough, oil, salt and mix. Knead the dough for a long time and diligently so that there are no lumps. Cover the bowl with the dough with a towel and leave warm for 2 hours. The weight will double.

3. Punch down the dough, knead well and roll into balls of the same size, about the size of a fist.

4. Heat the oven to 180 degrees and bake donuts there for 25 minutes. After baking, grate with garlic and sprinkle with finely chopped herbs.

After midnight on January 7th. meat dishes and everything that could not be eaten in fasting can already be put on the table. Usually it is baked chicken, pancakes with caviar, suckling pig, and so on. We will consider the most delicious and simple recipes for the Christmas table below.

Now you can break your fast. Christmas has come. We cook a lot and enjoy.

Juicy and tender duck baked in the oven

We bake a very juicy duck with sauerkraut. You can also use apples or rice with vegetables as a filling, according to your taste.

Ingredients:

• one gutted duck carcass - 2 kilograms;
• 4 cloves of garlic;
• about 2 incomplete teaspoons of salt;
• a teaspoon of ground paprika;
• 400 grams of sauerkraut;
• crushed pepper to taste.

Cooking:

1. Rinse the duck, dry it from drops of water and remove excess fat, including the tail. It is also better to cut off the first phalanx of the wings.

2. Pass the garlic through a press, sprinkle it with salt, paprika and pepper. You can also use poultry spices. Grind them in a mortar and rub the duck with the resulting mixture, including from the inside.

3. Put it in a suitable bowl and place it in a bag. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours, but overnight is best.

4. Stuff the bird with cabbage stuffing. Fasten the incision with toothpicks.

6. Wrap the duck in 2-3 layers of foil and place breast side up on a baking sheet. Heat the oven to 160 degrees and send the bird there for 1 hour 50 minutes.

7. Remove from the oven, cut the foil and grease the duck with the allocated juice. Increase the power to 200 degrees and place the baking sheet in the oven again for 15 minutes.

8. As soon as the crust is browned, remove the duck from the oven. Before serving, it is better for her to “rest” for 10-15 minutes.

New and interesting recipes for cooking hot dishes for the New Year and Christmas

How do you usually please your loved ones for the New Year holidays? Obviously cook a wide variety of salads and appetizers. What about hot? Really purchased manti or the usual chicken in the oven? It is clear that you want to serve something tasty and original to the table. Holidays, after all.

How to cook a stuffed goose for the New Year 2019 and Christmas

Stuffed goose is a traditional New Year's main dish in many families. In addition, it is often prepared for other holidays or just like that, for dinner. You can also cook this bird by frying or stewing it. However, it is in the baked form that the goose loses the maximum amount of fat, leaving the tasters fragrant, juicy and, at the same time, dietary meat.

Video - Turkey Christmas

Turkey is one of the main dishes of the Christmas table. For us, the truth is not quite familiar. But currently turkey is available and the cooked dish is delicious! I suggest you cook it according to this video recipe.

Main hot dishes for New Year and Christmas

The most important thing, the main course, is, of course, everyone's favorite "hot". He doesn't have an exact recipe. Everyone cooks differently. Someone bakes a duck, someone sculpts dumplings or cooks chops. Today we will look at some of the most popular and delicious options for preparing the main dish for the New Year and Christmas table.

Pork and turkey jelly

It's hard to imagine Christmas without jelly. Even our ancestors prepared it for the festive table. And we will not deviate from tradition.

Ingredients:

• one and a half kilograms of pork knuckle;
• 6 liters of pure water;
• a kilogram of turkey legs (preferably a drumstick);
• 4-5 lavrushins;
• salt to taste;
• 10 peas of allspice;
• 6 cloves of garlic.

Cooking:

1. Rinse all meat and soak in very cold water overnight. This applies to both pork and turkey.

2. Now this water needs to be drained and filled with new water. Put on the stove, on a strong fire. As soon as foam begins to form, it must be removed with a slotted spoon. After boiling, when the foam stops growing, put peppercorns, parsley and salt. Then reduce the heat to a minimum and simmer in this form for at least 6 hours.

3. Catch the meat. Strain the broth through cheesecloth folded in several layers. You can also use a sieve.

4. Separate the meat from the bones and cut into pieces. Divide into cold bowls. Add finely chopped garlic. Pour strained thick broth over these bowls.

5. Remove the future jellied meat in the refrigerator for several hours until it has completely cooled down.

Sbiten

Sbiten has been the most popular drink at Christmas since ancient times. It is prepared simply, from traditional products.

Ingredients:

• half a glass of honey;
• a teaspoon of ground ginger;
• a quarter teaspoon of cinnamon;
• a teaspoon of cloves;
• 400 grams of jam;
• a liter of red wine;
• a quarter teaspoon of ground nutmeg;
• mint to your liking.

Cooking:

1. Pour the wine into a saucepan, put on fire. As soon as it starts to boil, add honey, jam and all the prepared spices. As soon as the honey is completely dissolved, remove from heat and pour into glasses.

2. This drink is served hot. Often garnished with mint or cinnamon sticks.

Christmas is truly a great holiday. In almost every home, believers celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ according to all the rules and traditions. The celebration begins on January 6, with the appearance of the first star in the sky and until the next day. As a rule, until midnight, only lean dishes are on the table. The chiming clock at 00:00 announces the end of the fast, so you can put meat dishes on the table.

I congratulate you on the upcoming holidays! May peace and love reign in your family. See you again in the coming year!

Publications in the Traditions section

Cultural code: Christmas cuisine

B dishes according to old recipes that you can cook yourself.

You can't reach the first star

40 days before Christmas, the Advent (or Filippov) fast begins. It is quite strict, and its ending, when even the fish is not blessed, coincides in time with the celebration of the New Year. So the Orthodox are not allowed to drink wine on the night of 31 to 1. And the sixth of January is not supposed to be and there is nothing but juicy. It is believed that this dish gave its name to Christmas Eve - the last day before Christmas. It was eaten in the evening, when the first star appeared in the sky - a dish of cereals, nuts and dried fruits was supposed to give strength to endure the long Christmas service.

SOCHIVO, recipe by Maxim Syrnikov
Take a glass of wheat grains. Rinse well, put in a cast-iron pot, pour three glasses of water, salt. Close the lid and put in a preheated oven for two to three hours. At the end of cooking, the wheat should be completely boiled, the grains should become soft and even partially burst. Cool them directly in the pot, not allowing them to dry out. Sochivo should be just juicy, soft, but at the same time crumbly.
Mix grains with prepared raisins, finely chopped dried apricots, prunes, steamed and crushed poppy seeds, any nuts to taste. And then put it on a dish and pour over honey full - honey, diluted with water in a ratio of one to one and brought to a boil.

There are quite a lot of similar recipes for sochiv, perhaps the only true one does not exist. The choice of cereals, cereals and additives to them depended on the region, wealth in the family and personal preferences of the hostess. Somewhere they put kolivo on the table, somewhere - kutya, in fact, this is the same thing, only the names are different. It is important to remember that in Russian ritual cuisine, kutya can be both modest and lenten, and on Christmas Eve it is lenten that is served. The Orthodox will be able to break the fast (that is, eat non-lenten food) only the next day, at Christmas.

He does not turn his head, crunches on his teeth

On Christmas Eve, they began to prepare for the Christmas feast - according to custom, it was necessary to cook at least 12 different dishes, according to the number of holy apostles. Of course, it was difficult to maintain such a tradition - for such a rich menu, one had to have a certain income. In order to lure him just for Christmas, whole herds of goats were baked - gingerbread in the form of animals. They were both a delicacy and a talisman for the home.

On Christmas Eve in the evening, the whole family sits down at the table and sculpts cows from yeast-free dough mixed with milk. Milk, wheat flour, salt are all ingredients. Then they will be taken out into the yard in the frost all night, and on Christmas morning they will be sent to the oven. In memory of the holiday, several skillfully made figurines will be kept for the whole year.

Maxim Syrnikov

In the northern villages, roe deer were either cut out of rolled dough in a special shape (which was cherished and passed down by inheritance), or sculpted like a clay toy. They were first baked from rye flour, later from wheat flour, then burnt sugar was added to it, and in the 18th century various spices became available to northerners, and roe deer became even tastier. The dough for them was prepared much in advance, kept in the cold - it was believed that this improved its quality. Ready-made gingerbreads were covered with white sugar or pink icing, which was obtained using cranberry or lingonberry juice.

Photo: russkij-sever.livejournal.com

KOZULI, a recipe from the Arkhangelsk region
Burn 1 glass of sugar, dissolve in a glass of hot water. Add 2 more cups of sugar (until completely dissolved), 150 g of butter, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, cloves and soda, 1 egg and 2 yolks. Pour about 0.5 kg of flour, knead the dough so that it does not stick to your hands. Keep the dough in a saucepan and cellophane in a cool place for a week. Then add another 0.5 kg of granulated sugar to the dough and roll it out to a thickness of 0.5 cm. Lubricate the gingerbread cookies with a beaten egg with water in a ratio of 1: 1 and put in the oven. Bake 5 - 7 minutes. Let the finished gingerbread cookies dry, then remove them from the baking sheet and decorate with icing.

goose pig comrade

For a long time in Rus', the custom was to put hay on the table at Christmas - in memory of the manger in which the baby Jesus was born. It was placed either under the tablecloth or in the middle of the table. Meat dishes were arranged around: the more, the better, in several rows. There was pork, and mutton, and every kind of poultry; everything was suitable for a feast. But crowned the Christmas menu, of course, goose - roasted whole, overlaid with pickled apples and sauerkraut. Good goose cooks were chosen carefully, in trusted shops from familiar sellers. Often on holidays, goose sellers, taking advantage of the rush demand, went on a swindle - that is, as explained in old cookbooks, “they injected air into it through the back hole and sewed up the hole with some art and a little trickery”. Such an inflated goose was in no way suitable for the role of a signature dish, except perhaps for broth.

GESE OR DUCK, 1834 recipe
Having slaughtered and plucked a goose or a duck cleaner, pick out the stumps from them with a small knife, fall off the neck and wings, and take the ferns away, wash them cleaner and season with a hairpin, fry on a spit or in the oven, greasing more often with oil and salt; watch it doesn't burn out.

PIG, recipe 1902
Remove offal from a well-cleaned pig, boil in water, which should be slightly salted for taste; when the giblets are cooked, chop them finely with five or more, depending on the size of the piglet, hard-boiled eggs, dilute it with raw eggs and then, having stuffed the piglet, sew up the cut, coat with oil and put in the oven to fry, when it is well reddened, then pour piglet juice, which he will give from himself.

Fuck the whole head

The abundance of meat on the tables was due to the fact that by Christmas in the villages the last cattle was always slaughtered so as not to feed it all winter. Such a way of managing existed and still exists in many countries, so that a baked suckling pig or a goose under a golden crust cannot be considered a purely Russian Christmas dish. And yet, national differences still exist. They concern mainly used seasonings and side dishes. If in Greece, for example, a piglet is served with celery, and in Germany with stewed cabbage, then from time immemorial horseradish has been considered the best addition. It is absolutely universal, it was served with almost all dishes of Russian cuisine: meat, fish, cold, and hot. The burning taste was often softened with sour cream, and for many years this seasoning was much more popular than the current mayonnaise.

BREAD HRENOVINA, monastic recipe
Cut off the crust from a loaf of rye bread, crush the crumb and brown in the oven until golden brown. Peel one radish, grind in a meat grinder or in a combine. Squeeze the juice and drain, only the pulp is used. Peel the horseradish root, chop and grind in the same way. Mix all the ingredients, add vinegar and grind until the sauce becomes thick. Add honey, salt, fragrant mint or ground cloves.

Don't hit the wedge under the oatmeal pancake

The Christmas table was not complete without baking. Pies, pies, pies, kulebyaki, wickets or carols, which were presented to carolers - which was not there. Oatmeal, pancakes made from oatmeal stand apart in this row. The tradition of cooking them these days obviously goes back to pre-Christian times. The period itself from Christmas to Epiphany, Sviatki, in many places was called Avsenki or Ovsenitsy. They baked pancakes in ghee and generously experimented with various pies (fillings that are baked right in the dough). Good for oatmeal was pryazhina - from the word "spin", that is, fry on a thick layer of overheated oil. This method of culinary processing is very ancient, the researchers unearthed its roots almost in the 15th century. However, it is now virtually obsolete. But the dish remained, it is especially popular in Polish and Belarusian cuisine.

PRYAZHENINA, recipe from Belarus
300 g pork ribs, 200 g homemade sausage, 100 g bacon, 2 onions, 2 tbsp. tablespoons of flour, bay leaf, 1-2 cloves of garlic, salt.
Finely chop the bacon, melt the fat, remove the greaves. Fry pork ribs and sliced ​​sausage in fat. Place everything in a clay pot and pour over the flour sauce. Darken the pot in the oven for about an hour. Before serving, grate the garlic into it.
For flour sauce in melted lard, fry the onion and gradually add 2 tbsp. tablespoons of flour, pour hot water in a thin stream and bring to the consistency of sour cream.

Drink, but understand the matter

What did they drink at Christmas? If on Christmas Eve the menu was strictly regulated by the church rite, then after that everyone celebrated in accordance with their own taste and budget. This also applied to drinks - and liquors, and tinctures, and homemade wines and other intoxicating drinks, which in our time seem quite exotic. Pour 8 bottles of alcohol into a large bottle and add cinnamon 12 spools, cardamom 5 spools, cloves 4 spools, star anise 5 spools, nutmeg color 1 spool and 2 finely crushed nutmegs. Wrap the bottle with washcloths and smear around with dough, three fingers thick. Put the bottle in a row for four nights in the free spirit of the stove, and take it out and shake it in the morning. After 4 days, drain and sweeten with syrup, assuming 1 1/2 pounds of sugar for every 2 bottles of casserole. The longer the casserole is stored, the better it gets. But when you need to treat a friend or a guest who has come from afar with it, feed him in advance as satisfyingly as possible and the fattest dishes, and at the end of the dinner offer him a glass of casserole: it will seem like nectar to him.

PEAR COMPOTE 18+, recipe 1809
After peeling the pears and boiling them in water, put them on a sieve, and put the skin in the same water, boil; strain through a napkin, put sugar, cinnamon, cloves and white wine there in proportion, boil the syrup and put the pears in it, let it stand until it cools, then put the pears on a dish, and, having precipitated the syrup, pour it over them.

It happened that the set table from Christmas was not cleaned until the very Epiphany - they were waiting for guests, then carolers, and at home such a regime of endless food suited them. This tradition is quite consistent with the modern scenario of the New Year holidays. The main thing is to remember: after all, Christmas is a church holiday, and on such days spiritual food is preferable for a believer.

If you carefully study the history of the holiday from the point of view of cooking, it turns out that the hostesses prepared two tables: lenten for Christmas Eve and plentifully fast for Christmas morning.

On Christmas night from January 6 to 7, a festive Divine Liturgy is celebrated. On the very day of the Christmas holiday, believers break their fast (they do not eat lean, but fast food). The twelve following days after Christmas are called holy days, or Christmas time. This is probably why, according to legend, there should be 12 dishes on the Christmas table. Some of them passed to the morning of January 7 from Christmas Eve - these are kutya and zvar. The rest, modest, dishes were waiting in the wings.

Christmas Eve: First Star

The holiday begins on the evening of January 6 - Christmas Eve comes. According to church rules and folk tradition, on this day they do not eat until the first star appears in the sky - in remembrance of the Bethlehem star, which showed the Magi the way to the place of the Nativity of Christ.

They also say that Christmas is not celebrated alone - it is a family holiday. It was customary to gather either with parents, or with the whole large family at the eldest in the family. Before the first star, the hostess had to prepare several lenten obligatory Christmas dishes. The main items in this menu were kutya, or sochivo, and vzvar (uzvar).

Sochivo, or Kutya

An indispensable dish, without which neither Christmas nor Easter was celebrated in pre-revolutionary Russia. Christmas Eve - from Sochiva, or Kuteinik - from Kutia, as they called the day before Christmas. And all of it passed in anticipation of the miracle of birth. It was believed that the richer and tastier the sochivo, the more fruitful the next year would be.

The products from which kutya was prepared were endowed with special significance: grain was considered a symbol of resurrection to life, honey was a symbol of health and a prosperous (sweet) life, and poppy promised prosperity in the family.

Pre-revolutionary writer A.A. Korinfsky wrote: “In the evening, on the eve of the Nativity of Christ, Russian people who invariably adhere to the old pious customs do not break the fast: according to the Church Charter, only sochivo is allowed to eat at this time. coming from November 15 (28) until the cheerful joyful Christmas time.

However, wheat was not always the basis of kutya. In the southern regions of Russia, rice was more often cooked. However, nuts, honey and dried fruits remained an unchanged part of the recipe.

Traditional Sochi Recipe
wheat grains - one glass,
poppy - 100 g,
peeled walnuts, hazelnuts, cashews - 100 g,
honey - 3 tablespoons,
dried fruits.

Grind the grains in a wooden mortar, adding a little warm water so that the wheat shell comes off. Then the kernel must be separated from the husk, sifted and washed. Boil loose lean porridge in water, adding 2-3 cups of water to the cereal.

Grind poppy seeds until poppy milk is obtained, add honey to it, mix and put in wheat porridge. At the very end, add crushed nuts and dried fruits steamed with boiling water.

Rice juice

rice - 1 cup,
raisins - 50 g,
prunes - 50 g,
dried apricots - 50 g,
almonds or walnuts - 50 g,
honey - three tablespoons

Rinse rice, cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Drain in a colander and rinse again with cold water. Then pour 1.5 cups of cold water and cook until tender, without removing the lid. Steam dried fruits in hot water (15-20 minutes).

Cut prunes and dried apricots. Crush the almonds. If all the water has not boiled away, it should be drained, the rice should be cooled. Add dried fruits, honey and nuts to the rice.

blast

The second obligatory dish of the Christmas table. A broth was prepared from dried fruits, but honey was added instead of sugar. The most popular was apple broth with the addition of dried or soaked cranberries, lingonberries or raspberries.

In the south of Russia, smoked pear was always added to the drink. Mint, oregano, currant leaf, thyme and other fragrant herbs are often added. It is not necessary to boil the broth: it is enough to pour fruit with boiling water and leave to infuse. A thermos is perfect for this purpose. Often juicy is diluted with a boil and eaten in the form of liquid sweet porridge.

Lean pancakes

Christmas Eve was not complete without Lenten dishes. But if kutya and vzvar were obligatory, then pancakes, vinaigrette, cabbage rolls, fish pies, vegetable stews or porridges remained welcome guests on the last day of fasting. Among this menu, pancakes were common. They wonderfully complemented boiled fish or caviar, jam or honey. Only they were made without milk and butter. For example, on potato broth or mineral water.

The vinaigrette

Lenten vinaigrette or with herring was served very often on Christmas Eve. The recipe is simple, but the dish turns out tasty and inexpensive, which made it possible to cook it in poor families. And in the houses of the wealthy, sturgeon or white fish could be added to the Christmas vinaigrette.

Christmas goose with sauerkraut

Christmas: a plentiful break

When the night passes and after the service the family returns to the house, the long-awaited Christmas holiday comes. Lent is over, and meat dishes, milk and butter pies, oily fish and sumptuous desserts appear on the table.

It was believed that a baked goose (or other bird) and pork dishes should be an indispensable attribute of the Christmas meal. Of course, on the eve of Christmas, millions of geese, ducks, turkeys and chickens were brought to the country's bazaars.

"Christmas in Moscow was felt for a long time - a cheerful, business hustle. They just started talking in Filippovka, on November 14, for the Christmas post, and at the freight stations, especially in Rogozhskaya, geese cackle day and night - "goose trains", to Germany: before it was, to the glaciers-wagons, a live load. Do not believe it - hundreds of trains! A goose went through Moscow - from Kozlov, Tambov, Kursk, Saratov, Samara ... I don’t remember Poltava, Poland, Lithuania, Volyn: the paths from there are different. And the duck , and a chicken, and a turkey, and a black grouse ... capercaillie and hazel grouse, bacon-brisket, and ... - what the soul only requires for Christmas, "wrote Ivan Shmelev.

little goose,
cabbage - 800 g,
bulbs - 4 pcs.,
cumin - 0.5 tbsp.,
salt,
oil.

If the carcass is frozen, let the goose lie down in the refrigerator for a day. Then wash the goose, rub it inside and out with salt and cumin. If possible, you can boil the goose in red wine - whole, about 40 minutes. Wine will give the bird softness.

Stew sauerkraut with oil and onions in a saucepan, covered. Stuff the goose with this cabbage and fry on a baking sheet, pouring a little broth on it and pouring it over the goose. Then goose fat will be melted - you will water it.

Cold pig with horseradish

Pig on the table

No less traditional product on the Christmas table was pork. According to legend, when Jesus was born, in the manger all the animals joyfully met the divine baby - except for the pig. She grunted annoyingly and prevented the baby from sleeping. That is why, as a punishment, the pig became an indispensable dish of the Christmas table.

Even during Lent, they began to bring to the capitals, to central fairs, whole carts with pork - there were huge carcasses, and barrels of corned beef, and suckling pigs. “Bad, bad, but two or three carcasses of pork are necessary, and black pigs, fry with porridge, three dozen, and white pigs, for aspic, moloshnichki, two dozen, so that there is enough for plots,” wrote Ivan Shmelev in “The Summer of the Lord”.

Many dishes were prepared from pork, but in every wealthy house the table was decorated with a suckling pig with porridge or cold with horseradish.

The recipe from Ekaterina Avdeeva's book "The Manual Book of a Russian Experienced Housewife" is simple: boil a piglet entirely in salt water with fragrant herbs - thyme, dill - and onions. Then cut into pieces and pour horseradish with sour cream. Serve cold.

Pork belly stuffed with cabbage and apples

In the old days, porridge was served with pork legs, but you can make pork belly with cabbage and apples for buckwheat porridge. It will turn out very juicy.

Pork belly - 800 g,
cabbage - 400 g,
apples - 5 pcs.,
butter - 1 tbsp,
bulb - 1 pc.,
salt and pepper.

Chop fresh cabbage, salt, squeeze. Add finely chopped sour apples, oil to the cabbage, mix. Wash the pork belly, chop the bones in several places, cut a large hole between the bones and meat with a knife.

Put the prepared minced meat there, sew it up, place it on a frying pan or baking sheet, sprinkle with finely chopped onions, add 3 tablespoons of water and fry in an oven heated to 200 ° C until cooked. Serve with crumbly buckwheat porridge.

Jellied pig and rooster

Rinse the knuckle and legs of the piglet well and cut into pieces. Put in a saucepan, pour cold water so that it covers the meat by a few centimeters, boil and remove the foam. After an hour, add the carcass of the rooster.

Boil aspic over very low heat for 6-8 hours, so that the water boils away to half the volume. 20 minutes before the end of cooking, add bay leaf, peppercorns and salt to taste to the broth. Remove the meat from the broth, separate from the bones and cut into pieces. Strain the broth. Pour chopped garlic on the bottom of the dish, put the meat, pour the broth, mix gently with a spoon and refrigerate until it hardens.

Rye pie with fish

For test:
rye flour - 1 cup,
wheat flour - 1 cup,
milk - 1 glass,
dry yeast - 1 tsp,
sugar - 2 tsp,
salt - 1 tsp,
vegetable oil - 1 tbsp. l.

For filling:
pikeperch fillet - 500 g,
mussels, peeled - 200 g,
onion - 1 pc.,
carrots - 1 pc.,
pickled cucumber brine - 500 ml,
vegetable oil - 2 tablespoons,
dill - 1 bunch,
salt and white pepper to taste.

We knead the dough, for which 1 tsp. dry yeast pour 5 tsp. warm water, let stand for swelling for 10-15 minutes. Sift wheat and rye flour, pour in vegetable oil, milk at room temperature, add sugar and salt, add yeast, knead.

Let the dough rise in a warm place. The dough should rise twice and be folded twice. We divide it into 2 parts.

For the filling in cucumber brine, boil the mussels and fish, put them in a colander. Peel and finely chop the onion and carrot. In a frying pan, fry vegetables with fish and mussels. Let's salt and pepper. Turn off, add chopped dill. Form a cake in a baking sheet, brush the top with egg yolk and bake for 50 minutes at 170°C.

ginger pie

butter - 100 g + another piece for lubrication,
dark unrefined cane sugar - 100 g,
flour with baking powder - 175 g,
ground ginger - 4 tsp,
light molasses - 175 g,
ginger wine - 3 tablespoons,
eggs of any size, can be beaten - 2 pcs.,
finely grated fresh ginger the size of a hazelnut
finely chopped canned ginger - 150 g,
powdered sugar - 75 g,
ginger root for decoration - 1 pc.

Preheat oven to 160°C, grease a 23 cm baking dish. Beat butter and sugar with a pinch of salt until the mixture is fluffy. Sift flour and ground ginger together.

Pour in light molasses (for convenience, use a spoon pre-lubricated with oil and a silicone kitchen spatula), 1 tbsp. wine and mix everything together. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then gradually add the flour.

Mix everything with fresh and canned ginger. Spoon the resulting mixture into a baking dish. Level the surface and bake for about 50-60 minutes, until the dough sticks to the surface of a wooden skewer placed in the middle of the pie. Leave the cake to cool in the mold. After the cake has completely cooled, make the frosting by mixing the powdered sugar and the remaining ginger wine and drizzle over the top of the cake. Cut the ginger root into thin pieces and decorate the cake.

Russian custard soufflé

any berries - 500 g,
water - ½ cup,
sugar - 2 cups,
egg whites - 5 pcs.

Make a puree from the berries, add water and boil. Add sugar (about the same amount as the puree). Beat egg whites into stiff foam. Add to puree. Put the puree in baking dishes, put for 30 minutes in an oven heated to 170 degrees.

Bon appetit!