Merry Christmas and a Blessed Holiday Season to all - I will be away from this space for about three weeks.
Turkey dinner is a north American Christmas staple - as if Thanksgiving does not offer enough of the dry, poultry fare - however in many parts of the world, and especially across Europe - fish is the traditional Christmas Eve meal.
My first recollection of a Christmas fish was when I was about five years old and still in the Czech Republic. I am not certain why this was the case, but in those days people typically bought the Christmas Fish live. The Fish swam in our bathtub for a few days - I think it was a carp. I played with it constantly and named it Peter. It would stick its head out of the water and flap its carp lips at me. I loved it - I had never had a pet and Peter the Fish was my pet. Christmas Eve day came around and Peter the Fish had to be sent to Fish heaven. My dad could not do it!! I think he got one of our neighbors to butcher Peter for him. I don't have many memories of that dinner except for the fact that the fish tasted bland, I did not like it, and I also remember that I did not have any remorse about chowing down on my best friend. That was the last time my parents bought a live fish.
My first recollection of a Christmas fish was when I was about five years old and still in the Czech Republic. I am not certain why this was the case, but in those days people typically bought the Christmas Fish live. The Fish swam in our bathtub for a few days - I think it was a carp. I played with it constantly and named it Peter. It would stick its head out of the water and flap its carp lips at me. I loved it - I had never had a pet and Peter the Fish was my pet. Christmas Eve day came around and Peter the Fish had to be sent to Fish heaven. My dad could not do it!! I think he got one of our neighbors to butcher Peter for him. I don't have many memories of that dinner except for the fact that the fish tasted bland, I did not like it, and I also remember that I did not have any remorse about chowing down on my best friend. That was the last time my parents bought a live fish.
Christmas Eve menu at my house every year:
- Orange soup (curried carrot ginger soup), which my boys hate but always want to know will be on the table for dinner (it's tradition you know)
- Baked salmon stuffed with tangerines, lemons and dill (the fish is purchased directly from Fish Heaven)
- Lime and yogurt sauce for the fish
Lemon basil rice pilaf - Haricot vert with fried mushrooms sprinkled with nutmeg
- Czech potato and ham salad (vlaskej salat)
53 comments:
Have a lovely christmas and New Year. Salmon is my favourite fish and your menu sounds so nice ... the soup sounds tasty! Sprouts are our tradition and no one eats them, we always buy too many too. xx
Mmmmmm, nice. Merry Christmas, Raina, and thanks for the beautiful posts.
Merry Christmas my dear
Carp is not my favorite as well. I do not make it, why would I when I could not swallow it myself? And vanilkový rohlíky are the classics of the Christmas even today.
Can I have a curious question? As my son will be probably bilingual and after having read a theoretical book on a bilingual family which results in being a complete mess as for figuring out a right way to teach him both languages, I would like to know if you speak with your siblings English or Czech? And what about with your parents?
Merry Christmas to you and your beloved, Raina
Hope the best for you all for 2009.
We used to eat fish too. But is codfish. Salted codfish keeps for long time. It is a tradition eat it and octopus.
Have a good and peaceful Christmas Eve and enjoy holydays :)
What a great story. Your dinner sounds delicious and the cookies awesome!
Have a great holiday Raina and very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Thanks for sharing your Peter the Fish story :)
Turkey, you know, does not need to be a dry unappetizing meal. Try brining it (soaking in salt water) in advance and make sure you get a fresh Hen. The previously frozen birds do cook up dry.
Enjoy your holiday and see you when you return!
enjoy your time off! see you on the other side!
Oh you have made me chuckle, I love the Peter the Fish story and am very glad to hear that you will be eating un-named fish this year!
Have a wonderful time.
What a wonderful story Raina. I've so enjoyed hearing about your Christmas traditions! Ii hope you have a wonderful break and a Very Merry Christmas!
Have a Merry Christmas! Have a great holiday too!
Merry Christmas Raina..this menu sounds divine.
Have a lovely holiday and KEEP WARM! ;)
sounds amazing Raina! Happy Christmas and enjoy every minute of your time off! Thinking of you!
Ahh, the ham salad, like the few times I will eat ham, or when you make your glazed ham, but those are the only times. I always liked hearing about the fish, never knew his name was Peter though. I look forward to the cookies though, they rule.
Bohemian girl, I don't know if she responded yet or not, but I know she speaks Czech with my grandparents, and sometimes with my Aunt. I think when she speaks English with any of them, its for the sake of my little brother and I as well as our uncle, since the three of us do not speak Czech. However, there are times, if you get mom mad enough, where she will cuss you out in Czech and leave you baffled as to what she said. I like these times, cus she usually realizes what she has done, laughs and forgets why she is mad!
That sounds like me and my Mom when we make cookies. lol
Loved the story about Peter. :-)
Raina! Everything looks so beautiful! I love your tradition* Merry Christmas to you and yours! xo
I have a friend who lives in Prague, and she always makes TONS of cookies!
I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas, and here's wishing you a brilliant new year.
x
i cannot thank you enough for a delightful post and a look into your childhood christmas memories. How those sweeet memories linger on...
The menu is fantastic, I would imagine your family will enjoy it the most.
Have a merry xmas!
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!
Poor Peter the fish! How sad!
I love when cookies just "happen" along the way to a delightful visit.
Wishing you and yours a most wonderful Christmas. If you're sticking around here, it looks like it may stay white for us.
May 2009 bring many good things, including, but of course not limited to a completed full marathon :)
mmm that menu sounds YUMMY! happy holidays. i hope you enjoy them and your break from work and the blog :)
I'm positively drooling over your family's Christmas Eve menu. Enjoy your time away and see you in the new year!
Oh, that is such a sad, little Christmas tale... I'm glad you weren't traumatized by eating Peter! I hope that you and your family have a wonder holiday.
Merry Christmas and a Ver Happy New Year to you and yours!! :)
*drooling* over your menu...
have a lovely xmas - sounds too too yummy - and stay warm!
thanks for sharing peter. too funny! i'm an old softy; i'd not have been able to eat peter. but i do plan on eating a ton of gravelax on christmas eve. :)
enjoy the time off, friend.
Your holiday meal sounds so yummy! Have a great holiday, I'll see you in three weeks!
oh... the cookies sound delicious!
great photos!
happy christmas to you too! hope it is a wonderful one:)
x ashley
the czech connection is sweet - my grandmother's mother was bohemian and one of my dearest friends is from prague :)
What a fascinating and mouthwatering menu, packed with citrus. The yoghurt and lime sauce just sounds wonderful. I loved reading about the vanilla Czech cookies.
Merry Christmas!!! Thank you for your sweet comment, I really appreciate it! See you in a few weeks :)
Having managed to procrastinate to the point of panic this year, of course this message for good wishes to you is LATE! But nevertheless heartfelt. Your stories of Christmases in your childhood have been fascinating and, as usual, your photos have been stunning. All the best in 2009 - Raina - and here's to many more stories, cookies and photos! x ;o)
Sounds so lovely Raina...Happy Holidays and thank you for such lovely inspiration.
just wanted to wish you a happy and peaceful Christmas and a prosperous New Year
love jen x
i wish you a merry christmas!!! have a wonderful time!
What a nice Christmas tale! Happy Holiday Season for you and your family.
that does look good :o)
have a very Merry Christmas :o)
~simply~
raina, happy and warm holidays to you. thanks for inspiring me this year! we make fish soup for christmas eve with my family. none this year as we will be at my in-laws. i'll have to make it for new year's instead.
Wishing you happiness and health for 2009. x
Oh I love this post! Poor, poor Peter! :)
Merry Christmas!
Hi Raina, wishing you and The Babe and your families a very Happy Christmas!xx
A merry Christmas to you Raina! Hope you have a lovely day!
Christmas Eve meal sounds wonderful, i love salmon. I hope you have a very Happy Christmas filled with fun and laughter. Jane x
We had fish last night. Thanks for helping me make up my mind!
Thinking of you today, and hoping that everything is going smoothly in your corner of the world.
Merry, Merry Christmas friend.
Sad, but I did not know that fish is a Christmas Eve staple in many parts of the world! Your dinner sounds soooo yummy! My mom and dad are making Prime Rib tonight - I am glad it is not turkey.
Have a great three weeks off!
Have a very, very Merry Christmas, Raina!! I love reading all the stories of your Christmas traditions. It's turkey for us! See you in the New Year!
Maryxoxo
Getting together is all there is to my Christmas. :)
Merry Christmas!!
Hi there. What a story...I can understand that you didn`t want to eat your friend for Christmas... We don`t eat fish on Christmaseve. Our tradition is to have pinnekjøtt,ribs from sheep or goat and have it cooked for three hours or so...it`s very nice. We eat it with potatoes and vegetables. I want to wish you a very happy new year. warm hugs from me.
I love smoked salmon for Christmas breakfast.
Hi, Raina! Hope you've been having a lovely holiday! So glad to catch up with you...We're just back from our Christmas trip to the US and getting over the jet lag and settling in...ringing in 2009 will be quiet here-LOL! Wishing you & yours love & joy in the New Year! ((HUGS))
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