Christmas is one of the brightest and warmest holidays of the year. The day before the holiday is called Christmas Eve or Holy Evening.

According to long-standing traditions, believers do not eat until the first star appears in the sky, which symbolizes the star of Bethlehem. She once announced to the magi about the birth of the Son of God.

When a star lights up in the festive night sky, then a traditional dish is served on the table - sochivo. Sochivo is a lean dish made from rice or wheat with the addition of honey, candied fruits, raisins and candied fruits. Therefore, the name of this day is - Christmas Eve.

In Krivoy Rog, the dish is called kutya.

According to tradition, there should be 12 dishes on the table, according to the number of God's Apostles.

What dishes are traditionally served on the Christmas table?

Among the 12 dishes, there are ultimatum obligatory and there are those that allow for variations. But all have great symbolic significance.

Kutya- the main dish with which the Christmas meal begins. It symbolizes prosperity and well-being in the house and is always made sweet - with honey, poppy seeds, dried fruits, candied fruits, sugar, so that the whole family can live sweetly the next day. Kutia is a grain, which means it is a symbol of eternal rebirth and faith in Christ.

Pies and pies must necessarily stand on the Christmas table near the owner of the house. Pastries and dough dishes symbolize solar male energy.

A fish is the personification of female energy, water. It is customary to serve fish in several forms - fried, stewed, salted - especially if a woman dreams of a son or daughter. Fish is an ancient symbol of Christ, and therefore fish dishes on the table on January 6 must be mandatory.

Vareniki- a symbol of prosperity and paradise life. After all, the righteous are destined to go to heaven, where they will be like dumplings in butter. Dumplings can be with a variety of fillings: potatoes, mushrooms, cabbage, poppy seeds, prunes, dried fruits.

Dishes from peas and beans also very important on the table in the Holy Evening. It is believed that legumes will bring prosperity to the house. They symbolize God's eternal spring - rebirth after a decline.

cabbage rolls cooked with different fillings: rice, mushrooms, fresh cabbage, corn grits.

The first dishes are also put on the table on the Holy Evening - borscht on beetroot kvass or cabbage soup. Both are made from simple herbal ingredients, and this simplicity gives birth to harmony and hearty food. So a person, working on himself daily, becomes cleaner and wiser.

Uzvar- a decoction of dried fruits - symbolizes living water that purifies the soul and body. Made from home drying and fruits (rose hips, chokeberry), it gives a really powerful charge Have a good mood and strengthens the immune system.

The housewives also prepare dishes with mushrooms and cabbage. Potato dishes are welcome - for example, potato pancakes. Round, golden, they symbolized the sun.

What should be on festive table?

On Christmas Eve, our ancestors always put a bundle of fresh hay on the table, which resembles the manger in which Jesus was born. The table was covered with a snow-white tablecloth and Lenten dishes were arranged.

Now a candle is placed in the center of the table, which symbolizes faith, and its fire is a person's belonging to the Divine light. A candle accompanies a believer from Baptism to death.

There should also be salt on the Christmas table, without which it is impossible to feel the fullness of the taste of the dish. Similarly, a person cannot do real good without being in harmony with God. Salt points to the inner essence of a person.

Garlic is considered an obligatory attribute of the festive table. It is placed on the four corners of the table under the tablecloth to ward off evil spirits from the family and home. It is a symbol of cleansing from sin, a symbol of fertility and health.

When someone from the family is not at home, they put a bowl for him and put a spoon.

If at this time a stranger came, he was also invited to the table. The guest of the Holy Supper, according to the beliefs of our ancestors, brought happiness to the house.

Christmas for many centuries has been one of the most important and revered religious holidays in Russia. According to a long tradition, it was celebrated in a close family circle. There is a certain order according to which it is supposed to cover and serve the Christmas table.

Cover the table with a white starched tablecloth. It is supposed to put a little straw under it - this is a symbol of the manger in which Jesus Christ was after his birth. Napkins on this holiday should also be white, better - fabric. From the four corners of the table, put garlic under the tablecloth - it is believed that it drives away evil spirits from your home and your family. You can pour a little grain under it - this rite promises abundance.

At Christmas, 12 dishes must be present on the table, in memory of the twelve apostles - the disciples of the Savior. The traditional holiday menu includes, for example, kutya (sochivo), pancakes, jelly, aspic, honey gingerbread. To make the task easier, cook at least a few of them, and add up to the required number, for example, with salads or pickles. Roast must also be present on the table, most often it is a whole baked bird. As a side dish for this dish, take potatoes fried in circles, cabbage or stewed apples (the last two options can also be used as minced meat). Goose can also be stuffed with orange slices. One of the options for the main Christmas dish is whole fish (perch, catfish, sturgeon). It can be baked in the oven under mushrooms and onions, pouring sour cream sauce.

Put a kutya in the center of the table - it is with her that the conversation traditionally begins after a strict Christmas fast. To cook this dish, take a glass of wheat, nuts, raisins, poppy seeds and honey (to taste). Boil the grains, steam the poppy and grind it or pass it through a meat grinder. Mix all ingredients together. Serve cold.

An indispensable attribute of the Christmas table is a large number of various pastries. Try baking traditional "carols", it's not difficult at all. For “carols”, knead the dough from flour and water (milk) in a ratio of 2: 1, slightly salting it. Divide the dough into balls, leave for 20 minutes. After that, roll out the cakes, put the filling inside, pinch the edges so that you get small open cheesecakes or baskets. For the filling, you can take berries, cottage cheese, potatoes, mushrooms. Bake "carols" at a temperature of 200 degrees.

Boil uzvar - a traditional Christmas drink, a decoction of dried fruits. You can also prepare sbiten - a hot drink made from water, spices (ginger, cinnamon, cloves) and honey. All ingredients are boiled for half an hour, then you can add a little cognac to the hot sbiten.

Decorate the table with tall candles in glass candlesticks or compositions of coniferous twigs, you can add clusters of viburnum and spikelets to them.

A bit of history:

The Nativity of Christ symbolizes the possibility of salvation that opens up for people with the coming (birth) into the world of Jesus Christ, and is one of big holidays Christianity. The word "Christmas" comes from the Old English "Cristes maesse" (eng. Mass of Christ - the Mass of Christ). Catholics celebrate the holiday on December 25, and Orthodox on January 7, according to a new style.

For the Christmas holiday, believers prepare themselves with a forty-day fast, which is called Christmas. The eve of the holiday, which is called Christmas Eve, is celebrated with a particularly strict fast. On this day, according to the church charter, after the appearance of the first evening star (the personification of the appearance of the Star of Bethlehem), they eat sochivo - wheat grains, previously soaked in water.

Both in Catholicism and in Orthodoxy, during the Christmas sermon, the idea is especially emphasized that with the birth of Jesus Christ, the opportunity opens up for every believer to achieve the salvation of the soul and, through the fulfillment of the teachings of Christ, receive eternal life and heavenly bliss. The beautiful and solemn feast of the Nativity of Christ is celebrated in different countries not the same, but bears the imprint of the customs and traditions of a certain people. So, for example, in Catholicism, the Nativity of Christ is celebrated magnificently and solemnly with three services: at midnight, at dawn and in the afternoon. In Catholic churches, a manger with a figurine of the Infant Christ is installed so that believers can worship the image of the newborn Jesus Christ. A nativity scene (that is, a cave where Jesus Christ was born) with figures of the Holy Family is also being built in Orthodox churches.

Christmas in Russia

began to be celebrated in the 10th century. It has long been a quiet and peaceful holiday. Christmas Eve - Christmas Eve - was celebrated modestly both in the palaces of Russian emperors and in the huts of peasants. But the next day, fun and revelry began - Christmas time. They went from house to house with songs, arranged round dances and dances, dressed up as bears, pigs and various evil spirits, frightened children and girls and guessed. And, of course, they paid tribute to the "green serpent". For greater persuasiveness, scary masks were made from various materials. In the villages, Christmas time was celebrated all together, moving from hut to hut. Peter 1 used to make fun of Christmas games. In the royal chambers, everyone dressed up, sang songs, guessed. The sovereign himself with a large retinue traveled around the houses of noble nobles and boyars. At the same time, everyone had to zealously have fun - whoever had a “sour face” was beaten by batogs.

Elizaveta Petrovna celebrated Christmas time according to old Russian customs. The courtiers were supposed to appear at the court in costume, but without masks. The Empress herself dressed up, most often in a man's dress. And the empress was very fond of singing Christmas songs with the girls.

Catherine the Great respected folk fun and entertainment and often took part in them. In the Hermitage they played blind man's buff, forfeits, cat and mouse, sang songs.

For Christians all over the world, the bright holiday of the Nativity of Christ has a warm, touching character, and is a beautiful family holiday, permeated with an atmosphere of universal consent and love. On this day, peace, friendship, peace and joy reign in the house. With a festive mood, people meet the bright holiday of the Nativity of Christ. As a rule, the whole family gathers at the Christmas table. On Christmas Eve (called Holy Evening in Ukraine), they sat down at the table after the first star appeared in the sky. In honor of the Star of Bethlehem, the top of the Christmas tree began to be decorated with a star after the custom of celebrating New Year with Christmas trees came to Russia from Germany under Peter I.

Kutya, which is prepared on Christmas Eve, is considered the main ritual dish for the Orthodox. To prepare this dish, you can use boiled grains of cereals - wheat, barley or rice. In more complex recipes, add to the mass walnuts, raisins and crushed poppy.

True Orthodox on holidays observe certain food prohibitions - from November 28 to January 6, the 40-day Christmas fast continues. On these days, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, you should not eat meat and dairy foods, eggs, fish and vegetable oil. After December 19 (St. Nikola), fish is allowed only on Saturday and Sunday. Last days fasting from January 2 to January 6 is the most strict, only simple plant foods are allowed, and then only in the evening. Strict fasting is observed, of course, on Christmas Eve, when you can eat only with the appearance of the first star and only juicy (kutya).

Orthodox are not the only Christians in Russia. Protestants, including Anglicans, eat poultry dishes at Christmas - turkey, duck or goose and do not fast. Seventh-day Adventists (Sabbath-keeping Protestants) are mostly vegetarian and do not consume pork, alcohol, coffee or tea. Catholics, on the contrary, observe fasting and do not eat meat, but prepare their own version of kutya, fish dishes and salads, and festive pudding is also characteristic of the Anglicans' table. Forgetting about the scholastic disputes between French Catholics and Protestants, on the night of December 25, both of them feast on oysters and the traditional "foie gras" - goose liver.

What to lay on the table at Christmas?

Brief Instruction:

On the table there should be a white starched tablecloth and some straw - this is a symbol of the manger in which Jesus Christ was after his birth. Napkins should be fabric and also white. Garlic should be present on the table from four corners, and a little grain - according to legend, this is for abundance, and garlic drives away evil.

The number of dishes should be 12, according to the number of apostles, disciples of Christ.

The traditional holiday menu includes kutya, pancakes, jelly, aspic, honey gingerbread, as well as salads or pickles. Roast on the table should be a must! Poultry is most often cooked as a roast, and fried potatoes are garnished with circles. Potatoes can be supplemented with cabbage or stewed apples, fashionably in the form of minced meat. If goose is used as a roast, it can be stuffed with orange slices. Fish should not be bypassed either, it can be baked in the oven with mushrooms and onions. Pike perch, catfish, sturgeon will go as fish. Do not forget to fill the fish (you need to bake it whole) with sour cream sauce.

Kutia should be in the center of the table. this is the first dish that can be eaten after strictly Advent. Cooking kutya is simple: take a glass of wheat, nuts, raisins, poppy seeds and honey (to taste). Boil the grains, steam the poppy and grind it or pass it through a meat grinder. Mix everything together. Refrigerate and serve Kutya cold.

Be sure to have a large number of various pastries on the Christmas table. For example, traditional “carols”, it is easy to prepare them: - knead the dough from flour and water (milk) in a ratio of 2: 1, slightly salting it. Divide the dough into balls, leave for 20 minutes. After that, roll out the cakes, put the filling inside, pinch the edges so that you get small open cheesecakes or baskets. For the filling, you can take berries, cottage cheese, potatoes, mushrooms. Bake "carols" at a temperature of 200 degrees.

Prepare the traditional Christmas drink uzvar - a decoction of dried fruits (as compote). Or sbiten - a hot drink made from water, spices (ginger, cinnamon, cloves) and honey. All ingredients are boiled for half an hour, then you can add a little cognac to the hot sbiten.

The table needs to be decorated with tall candles, or compositions of coniferous twigs, you can add clusters of viburnum and spikelets to them.

New Year and Christmas in different countries

In Italy, especially large-scale general cleaning is carried out before Christmas. On the festive night itself, city life is quiet and calm, and it is impossible to find a working shop, restaurant, disco, bank. Public transport is also practically non-existent. Over the past few years, the percentage of believing Italians has declined catastrophically. Today they are only 20 percent. Therefore, not everyone goes to church. But the gala dinner is worthy of attention: pork legs, sausages, baked fish and "sea fruits" (various shellfish mixed with traditional spaghetti), Easter cake with candied fruit and raisins.

In Spain, it's a very merry Christmas. The central streets of Madrid, Barcelona and other cities on December 25 were filled to overflowing with people. The population dresses up in national costumes, begins to dance and sing at the top of their lungs. Serene fun is accompanied by widespread illumination, Christmas trees on every corner, wandering Santa Clauses, magicians and jugglers. Before the start of the Christmas mass, it is customary to gather at the main entrance to the temple and dance, holding hands. Church, in spite of everything, is visited by almost everyone, but usually they come there for a short time. Most of the time is spent in the company of friends and relatives at the festive table of their favorite restaurant, with plenty of wine and champagne.

In good old Prague, Christmas trees are decorated with special care on the evening of the 24th. This time of day is called generous. First, for a good mood, they give each other gifts, and only then the whole family has dinner. On the table is the obligatory carp baked with cumin. They certainly buy him while still alive, let him swim in the bath for some time, and then kill him in cold blood and put him in the oven. Starting from December 20, on every Prague corner you can find tubs with fat and unsuspecting fish. After dinner they guess. The most common way is on apples. The fruit is cut across, and if the correct asterisk is obtained from the seeds inside, then the coming year will be happy. In addition, it is customary to float lighted candles in walnut shells on the water. If the candle does not sink, then happiness will come for sure and very quickly.

In Germany, Christmas is the most important holiday. The New Year is celebrated much more modestly. Recently, instead of the previous mythological characters (the shaggy, scary old man Knecht Ruprecht or the baby Christ), gifts are now being distributed to children by the Christmas grandfather, who looks similar to our Santa Claus. Grandfather puts gifts in socks, which he hangs on door handles (on the back). The German Christmas dinner is roast goose and peanut pie with marzipan and raisins.

A few days before Christmas, evening concert programs begin in all French cathedrals. The main Christmas service takes place, of course, at Notre Dame de Paris. Holiday trees shining with lights in huge quantities are not only in apartments and on the streets, but also in the entrances of houses. On a mass scale, a traditional (including Christmas) delicacy is harvested - goose liver. On New Year's Eve, there is a mass celebration on the Champs Elysees. On New Year's Eve it is as bright as day - from the many multi-colored light bulbs hung on the trees. Do not be alarmed when completely unfamiliar citizens will pour you champagne and kiss you, this is a local tradition.

In the UK, you'll be greeted with Christmas carols, church mass, and typical English cuisine with pudding and turkey. On Christmas Eve, crowds of people gather in Trafalgar Square, at England's main Christmas tree, where charitable organizations arrange performances for adults and children with singing of hymns. On December 28, Boxing Day is celebrated throughout England.

Christmas in Switzerland begins with a church Christmas Mass, which takes place in all towns and villages. Religious Christmas carols continue at home around the Christmas tree. By the way, in every family it is customary to make toys, bells and bows for the Christmas tree by yourself (no store-bought decorations). In general, the Swiss begin to prepare for Christmas a month before the holiday itself: they put a wreath of branches and flowers on a special table and put a candle in it every Sunday. The appearance of the fourth candle signifies the advent of Christmas. And on any festive table there is a traditional salmon and roast cooked according to a special recipe.

Christmas is the perfect family holiday, which allows you to gather at the table all the closest and loved ones. Orthodox holiday start celebrating on January 6th. It is Christmas Eve that is an integral part of the sacred rites. It is important to approach it responsibly and follow some rules.

Serving

First you need to set the table. According to customs, you need to make sure that the table is covered with a white tablecloth. Although other variations are now acceptable. Our ancestors put straw under the tablecloth, which symbolized the barn in which Jesus was born.

In the center of the table, you can make a spruce composition. It can be decorated with cones, balls and bows. Some use a Christmas wreath instead.

It is customary to choose napkins to match the tablecloth. If desired, they can be folded in the shape of angels or decorated with appropriate figures. You can put candles on the table, it is better to choose simple white options for Christmas.

The service is also important. It is better if it is designed in a certain color scheme and style. If there is nothing like that, then white plates and dishes will be ideal.

We put on the table

Of course, table decoration - important point, but Christmas, or rather Christmas Eve, should boast a certain set of dishes. The hostess needs to prepare at least 12 treats. This number symbolizes all the disciples of Jesus Christ.

Of course, food may vary from region to region. There are families that traditionally stick to specific treats. In this case, kutya, aspic, fish, roast, dumplings and much more may appear on the table.

It is worth saying that the 12 dishes include drinks, sweets, and even bread. Each family independently decides what to put on the table. Moreover, she can stick to the same treats every year, or she can change the menu from year to year, keeping only a couple of traditional favorite dishes.

It is believed that everything can be on the table except alcoholic beverages. It is best to replace the knot. It is also traditionally believed that the holy evening is the first and last meal.

Of course, many rituals have long been forgotten or adapted in a modern way. The main thing to remember is that Christmas is a family holiday, thanks to which the whole family can gather at one table, sum up the past year and make plans for the future.

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.

Crush 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 the 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 cold water and cook until tender without removing the lid. Steam in hot water dried fruits (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 meatless 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: 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 already 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 the Poltava region, 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.

Christmas goose with sauerkraut

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

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.

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 pigs are necessary, and black piglets, fry with porridge, three dozen, and white ones, 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.

Cold pig 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 feet, 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 to the broth Bay leaf, peppercorns and salt to taste. 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. In a baking sheet we will form a cake, spread the top 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. 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.