r/lithuania • u/therealvelichor • 1d ago
Klausimas I'll be hosting a Lithuanian loved one in Canada for Christmas... how can I make her feel at home?
What are some Lithuanian traditions, foods, etc from around Christmas time that someone would appreciate when they're far from home? I will be hosting someone who hasn't been back home to Lithuania for almost a year at Christmas, and I want to surprise her with a couple things that feel (at least a little bit) like home :)
Thank you!
6
26
u/Proxima_leaving 1d ago
Christmas Eve is a big tradition for us. Especially Christmas eve dinner. We prepare a dinner that has 12 courses and they must contain no meat (in many places also no eggs or milk products). These courses vary from family to family, but they are mostly fish, herring and mushroom based.
4
u/Deimokas 1d ago
I think best way to do it in Canada would be to organize the family dinner, when as much of close family members participate. Have a big table full of food, sit eat and talk. Something like thanks giving day in usa, but with out turkey instead use the dishes mentioned in other comments or whats close and feasible to do
6
u/Deimokas 1d ago
And no alkohol except vine on this evening.
4
u/joltl111 Lithuania 1d ago
Bake some kūčiukai. I use this recipe every year. You can also use milk instead of water (that's how I prefer them, however, technically, it's not traditional to use milk). I checked the translation that Google provides and it looks fine.
These biscuits are a Lithuanian holiday staple.
1
u/therealvelichor 1d ago
Thank you so much!! These were on my list, but I wasn't sure how to find a reliable/traditional recipe.
15
u/WayAdmirable150 1d ago
You have to make a herring under a fur coat and traditional "kučiukai". Also dont forget to make other 6-10 versions of herring.
3
1
8
u/Martinukas 1d ago
Kūčiuka with poppy milk, then also Kisielius (traditional Lithuanian berry drink—most famously made from tart cranberries for Christmas Eve—thickened with potato starch into a silky, comforting beverage) and often people eat herring.
4
3
u/ViciousBumblebee 1d ago
Cepelinai with mushroom filling, stuffed Carp, hard kisielius, communion wafers, lietuviška mišrainė, beetroot and peas, smoked mackerel, herring with mayo, breaded white fish, šimtalapis.
Like others said we don't eat meat except fish. Milk products and eggs vary by region or even family, some do some don't.
On christmas day after the gift giving we resume to eating sweets and meats, having drinks.
5
u/Em3rgency 1d ago
There are many traditions, but most are considered old fashioned and very few families follow them anymore. Nowadays christmas eve is generally about eating and being with family, a lot like the american Thanks Giving. Oh and thats the important thing - Christmas EVE is the bigger deal than actual Christmas. Big evening meal, with 12 different dishes is traditional (anything can count as a dish, even a bowl of sweets or a jug of kompot or something). Key part is no meat - things like fish, eggs, mushrooms, cheese etc everything is ok. If you REALLY want some kind of meat, be sure to only serve it after midnight and it shouldn't count as one of the 12.
Balta misraine is a MUST. Its the taste of christmas/new years for us. Boil eggs, peeled potatoes and carrots (a few of each) and dice them up. Dice up pickles. Add some canned peas. Generally the 5 ingredients should be in equal amounts. Add mayonaise and then salt and pepper to taste. Look up an image of it online beforehand to get an idea of proportions and consistency.
If you want another easy taste of Lithuania, you can also make a Tinginys desert. Look up the recipe, I don't know it by memory, but its easy to do. The only thing - it will often ask for a specific type of biscuit (gaidelis), which will not be available in canada. But any type of biscuit can be used, it just needs to be somewhat sweet, plain (no filling, etc) and hard. Soft biscuits WILL NOT work.
The other 10 dishes can be literally anything you would normally eat, salads, herring, other kinds of fish or seafood, even snack trays. But remember - no meat to hold the true christmas eve tradition.
Absolute simplest case - have a normal meal on christmas eve, but just prepare the balta misraine. That in itself might be enough to trigger plenty of memories of home.
1
u/therealvelichor 1d ago
Thank you for such a thoughtful response! I'll definitely look into balta misraine :)
1
u/Em3rgency 1d ago edited 1d ago
Also forgot - tangerines. If your house does not serve and/or smell of tangerines on christmas time, its not a Lithuanian house :D Very cheap and easy addition. Just a plain bowl of unpeeled tangerines, nothing fancy.
I don't know if other countries have different varieties or names, but they basically have to be small and sweet oranges :D Regular oranges won't do, wrong smell and too sour.
2
u/jimandfrankie 1d ago
Kūčios, Christmas Eve, should be quiet and cosy. One of more archaic traditions is putting some hay and/or straws under a white tablecloth. And there should be a specific number of dishes. If not 12, then 9 or 7. Think tapas if that sounds daunting. Any Canadian plant-based or fish favourites, plus something Lithuanian.
2
u/nerkuras Lithuania 1d ago
Get some poppy seeds and let her do the rest
1
u/therealvelichor 1d ago
Love this. Will definitely make sure to have some stocked up for when she arrives 🫡
2
u/MonteDu 19h ago
my take would be: give your love bird truly traditional Canadian Christmas, its going to be better experience for her. its only a year...
1
u/therealvelichor 9h ago
Yes, definitely! She's been traveling for a while, and misses home, so I mostly wanted to greet her with one or two small gestures. But for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, she'll be with my family, and experiencing my family's traditions!
2
2
u/Efficient_Test_8907 1d ago
You can make Tinginys. Easy to get ingredients and only takes like half an hour max. Not exactly Christmas dish but everyone likes sweet stuff. Rec.
1
u/therealvelichor 9h ago
Yes, I'll definitely be making Tinginys and kūčiukai :) Thanks for the recipe!
1
u/Martis998 1d ago edited 1d ago
An easy dish you could prepare for Christmas is balta mišraine also known in other countries as russian salad or Oliver salad. It’s quite simple compared to other suggestions and usually is a classic dish on Christmas for most families in Lithuania. If you don’t have that specific pink sausage in Easter European shops then you can find alternative for that ingredient on the internet
5
8
u/Em3rgency 1d ago
There's no saussage in balta misraine, you saussage.
Boiled and chopped eggs, carrots and potatoes. Diced pickles. Canned peas. Mayonaise, salt and pepper.
2
u/jimandfrankie 1d ago
No eggs or mayo for Kūčios either.
3
1
u/imkmz 1d ago
You describe vegetarian version
3
u/Em3rgency 1d ago
idk man, googling it the first 5 results all have my exact recipe. I stopped looking after that.
Maybe consider that you always made it wrong? Same way latvians add sausage to saltibarsciai.
I'm not saying its bad btw, I would eat both. I'm just saying its not the traditional one.
0
1
1
1
u/KinkiPotato 1d ago
my family eats cooked duck during our Christmas breakfast each year. I don’t know if everyone does this, but we don’t really eat a lot of duck so when we do eat it is special-like Christmas. I think duck and white mišrainė as others suggested would be a lovely way to greet your friend 🙂
2
u/girlssdonttcryy 1d ago
If you're not willing to go all mad with the 12 dishes and millions of herring, the simplest thing to do is make Kučiukai for her on the 24th. It would be very sweet of you. Poppyseed milk is a bonus but hard to come by
1
37
u/Ok-Complex-7588 1d ago
My favorite thing from Christmas Eve and the whole Chtistmas thing in general since childhood are kūčiukai soaked in poppy milk. The smell of the pastry, the cozyness - all children's favorite!