echrzanowski@watmath.waterloo.edu (Edward Chrzanowski) (12/15/87)
WIGILIA-1(M) USENET Cookbook WIGILIA-1(M)
RYBA W SOSIE CHRZANOWYM
WIGILIA-1 - Fish in horseradish sauce
This recipe is the first of the 12 dishes that make up the
traditional Polish Chrismas-eve meal, which is eaten after
sundown on Christmas eve. The Polish word for "Christmas
eve" is Wigilia (pronounced VI-gee-lee-ah). Its root is like
the English "vigil": waiting for Christ to be born. At the
end of the Wigilia meal the family goes off to midnight mass
at church.
There are usually 12 dishes in a Wigilia meal to symbolize
the 12 apostles, though some families serve 13 because they
include Christ in their count. The meal starts when the
first star can be seen; this symbolizes the star of Beth-
lehem. Although The Wigilia is meatless (Advent, the season
of penance, continues until midnight), it is still festive
and delicious. The tradition of Wigilia, though centuries
old, is still current in Poland. There is no fixed set of
rules for what the 12 (or 13) dishes must be; the items in
the meal change somewhat according to location and availa-
bility of ingredients. Nevertheless, all of the dishes are
traditional, and in addition there are many traditions for
the serving of the meal. For example, some people place
straw under the tablecloth to symbolize the manger in which
Christ was born. Most families set an extra place, for the
stranger who might be passing by. This is my family's tradi-
tional Wigilia meal:
Fish in horseradish sauce
Pike Polish style
Pickled beets
Pickled herring in sour cream
Stewed sauerkraut with mushrooms
Christmas eve kutia
Almond soup
Noodles with poppy seed and raisins
Poppy-seed rolls
Christmas bread
Baked apples with red wine
Marzipan
12-fruit compote
With this first recipe you will notice a similarity with my
last name. Now you know a word of Polish (namely chrzan =
horseradish ie. "hot stuff").
INGREDIENTS (Serves 6)
FISH
2 carrots
2 stalks celery
1 parsley root
1 onion, quartered
5 peppercorns
1 bay leaf
2 tsp salt
6 cups water
2 lbs fish fillets (carp, sole, pike or similar fillets)
SAUCE
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
3/4 cup prepared cream-style horseradish
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup sour cream
2 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and sieved
PROCEDURE
(1) Combine vegetables, dry seasonings, and water in a
saucepan or pot. Bring to a boil; simmer 20
minutes, then strain.
(2) Cook fish in the strained vegetable stock 6 to 10
minutes, or until fish flakes easily.
(3) Remove fish from stock. Arrange on serving
platter and cover with plastic wrap. Chill.
(4) Strain fish stock and reserve 3/4 cup for hor-
seradish sauce; cool.
(5) For horseradish sauce, melt the butter in a sau-
cepan, then blend in flour until smooth, making
what the French would call a roux.
(6) Add the cooked fish stock gradually, stirring con-
stantly. Cook and stir until the sauce boils and
becomes thick and smooth.
(7) Remove from heat and stir in horseradish, sugar,
salt, sour cream, and eggs. Cool for 15 minutes.
(8) Pour the horseradish sauce over the chilled fish,
and garnish with shredded lettuce.
RATING
Difficulty: moderate. Time: 1 hour. Precision: approximate
measurement OK. Experiment.
CONTRIBUTOR
Original recipe passed down through the generations and
translated from Polish into English (with a few mods) by
Edward Chrzanowski
MFCF, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
echrzanowski@watmath.waterloo.edu or {ihnp4,allegra,utzoo}!watmath!echrzanowski