Dishes for the Polish Christmas Eve table: beet soup, pierogi, fish and cakes.
Honey gingerbread cookies made with sour cream, cut out with cookie cutters and decorated with royal icing, soft right after cooling. Includes tips on how to chill and roll the dough, what to do if the cookies harden, and how to substitute gingerbread spice abroad.
Christmas Eve homemade dumplings mixed with a filling of poppy seeds, honey, raisins, walnuts, and candied orange peel, served warm or cold. Learn how to make soft dumplings and moist poppy seed filling, and what to buy abroad instead of łazanki and Polish poppy seeds.
Soaked herring fillets mixed with thick sour cream, tart apple, blanched onion, dill, and chives, served on Christmas Eve, during Lent, and daily with boiled potatoes. Includes tips on soaking herring, when to salt, whether to grate or chop the apple, and what types of herring and cream to look for abroad.
Christmas pierogi with sauerkraut and dried mushrooms, on a soft dough made with hot water, topped with sautéed onions. Learn how to make a dry filling that won't burst the pierogi, what to substitute for Polish cabbage and mushrooms abroad, and how to freeze them.
Fried pieces of white fish coated in flour, topped with a thick layer of stewed carrots, parsley root, celery, and onion with tomato paste, served cold or warm. Learn how to fry the fish so it doesn't fall apart or dry out, how to stew the vegetables, how many days the dish lasts in the fridge, and what type of fish, parsley, and tomato paste to look for abroad.
Thin pancakes rolled with a filling of sauerkraut and dried mushrooms, coated in egg and breadcrumbs, and fried until golden, most often served with clear red borscht. This includes how to make a dry filling that won't soak the pancake, how to spread the work over several days, and what to substitute for cabbage and mushrooms abroad.
Thick, sour fermented cabbage with peas, millet, onions sautéed in butter, and sour cream, a Christmas dish from the Pysznica community near Stalowa Wola. This recipe explains how to reduce the sourness of the cabbage using an old method, the order of combining ingredients, and what to substitute abroad.
Moczka is a Silesian Christmas dessert: a thick, sweet mixture of gingerbread, almonds, nuts, and dried fruits cooked in compote.
A Christmas Eve drink made from dried plums, apples, and pears, with some smoked fruits, cooked with cloves and cinnamon, usually without sugar. It’s important to balance the proportions of smoked fruits to avoid bitterness and to know what to buy abroad instead of Polish dried fruits.
A quick gingerbread made in a 20×30 cm pan with honey, cocoa, and gingerbread spice, layered with plum jam and covered in chocolate. Learn how to avoid drying out the cake, what to substitute for gingerbread spice abroad, and how to bake traditional aging gingerbread.
Christmas kutia made from wheat, poppy seeds, and honey with nuts, almonds, and dried fruits, served cold. Includes tips on how to cook wheat bought abroad and how to avoid bitter or watery kutia.
Small Christmas Eve uszka (dumplings) made from thin dough filled with dried porcini mushrooms and onion, served with clear red borscht. Here’s how to prevent them from opening, what to substitute for Polish mushrooms abroad, and how to freeze them.
Makowiec zawijany is a yeast dough roll filled with a thick layer of homemade poppy seed filling with dried fruits and honey, baked in paper and drizzled with icing. It includes tips on preventing the roll from cracking and what ready-made poppy seed filling to buy in the USA and Germany.
Square pasta mixed with sautéed sauerkraut, bacon, sausage, and mushrooms, a one-pot meal from a Polish home. Here’s how to make łazanki yourself, how to master the sourness of the cabbage, and what to substitute for łazanki abroad.
A classic salad made from boiled root vegetables, potatoes, eggs, pickled cucumbers, and peas with mayonnaise, a staple on the Easter and Christmas table. Tips on how to avoid a watery salad and what mayonnaise and vegetables to buy abroad.
Salted herring fillets soaked in water and milk, layered in a jar with onions, bay leaves, and allspice, and covered with rapeseed oil with a touch of flaxseed oil. This recipe explains how to soak herring so it doesn't turn out too salty, how to soften the onions, and what types of herring to look for abroad.
Christmas carp in rings or fillets, coated in flour, egg, and breadcrumbs, and fried to a golden brown. Includes tips on when to salt it, how to deal with bones and muddy taste, and what to substitute for carp abroad.
A clear soup made from dried porcini mushrooms in a vegetable broth, served with separately cooked łazanki (a type of pasta): pure on Christmas Eve, enriched with cream on regular days. This recipe explains how to remove sand from mushrooms, why the pasta is cooked separately, and which mushrooms to buy abroad.
Cheesecake on a crumbly base with a filling made of ground twaróg cheese, raisins, and whipped egg whites, topped with a lattice of dough and lemon icing, baked in a rectangular pan. Includes tips on how to prepare twaróg so that the filling is not wet or lumpy, and what to substitute abroad.
A clear, ruby-red borscht made from a broth of vegetables and dried mushrooms, soured with beetroot sourdough, served on Christmas Eve in cups or with uszka (small dumplings). This includes how to prepare the sourdough yourself, how to maintain the color, and what to use to sour the borscht abroad.