Whatshot
Through My Eyes
Through My Eyes
Date: 2015-12-25
Christmas is the most important holiday in our family. It is one thing that links us with our country, our culture and our tradition. At a recent restaurant launch a wise man gave a profound speech. TembiNkosi Ngobo spoke about the importance of the food we eat and how it defines who we are.
In my household my mother has recipes that belong to our ancestors one such cabbage recipe is a signature dish, a hundreds years old, my grand mother taught me just like she taught my mother before me and just like I taught my sons today.
Christmas means so much to us as a family. The smells, the sounds, the decorations and the food, oh, did I mention the food? There is one tradition that we have never broken, even when overseas my mother makes sure that I don't leave home without it.
The sharing of the oplatek is the most ancient and beloved of all Polish Christmas traditions. Oplatek is a thin wafer made of flour and water, similar in taste to the hosts that are used for communion during Mass.
Christmas dinner in our home includes many traditional dishes and desserts, we sit at my mothers long table and we eat and sing and share. But my favourite part is the exchanging of the gifts.
The next day, Christmas Day, is often spent visiting friends. In Polish tradition, people combine religion and family closeness at Christmas. Although gift-giving plays a major role in the rituals, emphasis is placed more on the making of special foods and decorations.
Everyone's home is made up for Christmas. In my village, there is so much food that you really do not know what to do with it. Because everyone visits with their family's favourite bake and you in term give them a gift of your speciality.
According to our tradition, bits of hay are spread beneath the tablecloth as a reminder that Christ was born in amanger, my mother does that without fail. In my friends home that tradition has been altered and they place money under the tablecloth for each guest, in order to wish for prosperity in the coming year.
Some practice the superstition that an even number of people must be seated around the table. In many homes an empty place setting is symbolically left at the table for theBaby Jesusor, for a lonely wanderer who may be in need of food, or if a deceased relative should come and would like to share in the meal.
The supper begins with the breaking of the oplatek. Everyone at the table breaks off a piece and eats it as a symbol of their unity with Christ. They then share a piece with each family member.
In my home this tradition has been passed down for generations to serve twelve different dishes at chrismas eve dinner symbolizing the Twelve Apostles.
This year there is no exception we will feast, we will celebrate and we will remember where we came from. We will thank God for the blessings and wish our closest more blessings and peace in the new year.
I wish all my readers a blessed Festive Season. I hope all of you take time out to celebrate your individual greatness. May you find the love, respect and adventure in 2016!