Transcript Christmas Eve (Kūčios) Dinner in Lithuania

Christmas Eve
Dinner in
Lithuania
• The traditional Lithuanian Christmas Eve dinner
is called “Kūčios” (Koo-chos) and it’s one of the
most important holidays of the year.
• The name Kūčios comes from the main dish of
this celebration, which is intended for all family
members and the souls of relatives. During the
ritual evening dinner the first mouthful was
dedicated to the souls and harvest gods. The
kūčia dish was passed around
the table and everybody had
to taste it.
• Kūčios dinner has to consist of 12 different
dishes. They symbolise the 12 months of the
year, and according to
the Christian traditions
the 12 Apostles of Jesus.
• Dinner starts when the first star appears in the
sky. The star leads the member of the family to
the table for dinner. If it is a cloudy night, the
evening meal begins when the head of the house
announces it is time to eat. The meal usually
begins between six and seven o’clock.
• Before the meal starts, the family
shares kalėdaitis. A plate with as many wafers as
there are persons participating in the meal is
placed in the center of the table.
• The evening meal consists of very specific
dishes. There can be no meat, dairy, or hot food.
Typical dishes include fish, vegetables, and
bread.
• Silkė is a name for herring, a type of fish. The
dish is served with different sauces. The sauces
can be tomato, mushroom or onion based.
• Other common dishes include boiled or
baked potatoes, cranberry kissel,
mushrooms, kūčiukai (bite-sized hard biscuits)
with aguonpienis (a poppy seed “milk”), cranberry
pudding, and multigrain breads
with honey and margarine
because butter is not allowed
being a dairy product.
• According to ethnologists, Kūčiukai is the
archaic form of ritual bread, that is meant for
the souls. They are so tiny because souls have no
material bodies.
• Leaving the table before everyone has finished
eating is considered unlucky; the first to rise
while another is still eating will be the first to
die. The meal is eaten solemnly, there is little
conversation or joking.
• After the meal, everyone leaves the table to go
to sleep or to the midnight mass, known as
the Shepherds’ Mass. The food is left to stand
overnight. It is believed that the spirits of
deceased relatives or loved ones will visit the
home during the night and the table set with
food would make them feel welcome. It was
believed that the baby Jesus allows the souls of
all the departed to return to earth to visit their
families.