As a part of Christian Orthodox church, my family celebrates Christmas Day on January 7th because our church uses different calendar. Christmas Day is time when tradition and the other customs must be prepared and completed. One of the traditions is Christmas Day meal.
This automatically means that my mother will have a lot of work to do because she is the only one in house who knows to cook like professional cookers. Since the male part of the family (father, brother, and I) have to go in the morning into the forest to pick up a young oak tree, called "badnjak", mother is left to do cooking part by herself or maybe with assist of little sister.
Traditional meal for Christmas Day is "sarma". Preparing this meal is not easy and short time job. For that reason, mother is waking up early in the morning so she can set up all materials for the sarma. To prepare sarma, she has to make good mix of vegetables (rise, onion, etc) with minced meat (pork or beef) including salt, pepper and different local herbs. After she finishes that part, we are coming back from forest with badnjak. Badnjak is taken into the house and laid on the fire to burn. The burning of the badnjak is done is same time with prayers to God so that the coming year may bring much love, and food. Later than mother begins to roll mixed food into large pickled cabbage leaves. When she completed that, she puts sarma in the large clay pots so she can cook it. The sarma is then boiled for several hours, and the best cooking method is slow boiling which sometimes takes from six to ten hours. During that period all family members are helping mother to organize table and other stuff into the house.
The other traditional customs are usually learned from grandparents. For example, my mother learned from granny how to prepare sarma and a lot of different types of cooked food and now she is teaching sister how to prepare same things.
While sarma is boiling, mother takes a couple pieces of gammon (smoked ham) which suppose to give nice smell to the meal. Sometimes she also puts pieces of bacon or some another smoked meat.
Finally, when sarma is cooked enough, every member of the family take a sit around big table and then mother puts large pot filled out with sarma in the middle of table so evry member can reach it. If everything is ready, one of the children lights up candle and says the Lord's Prayer. Next step is my favorite because it is time for eating. The oldest person at the table takes food first and after that person all others can begin with eating. I love sarma a lot but I don't know how to prepare it, and I don't think I'll ever know it. I don't know what would I do if one day I marry foreign girl which doesn't know what sarma is.
This automatically means that my mother will have a lot of work to do because she is the only one in house who knows to cook like professional cookers. Since the male part of the family (father, brother, and I) have to go in the morning into the forest to pick up a young oak tree, called "badnjak", mother is left to do cooking part by herself or maybe with assist of little sister.
Traditional meal for Christmas Day is "sarma". Preparing this meal is not easy and short time job. For that reason, mother is waking up early in the morning so she can set up all materials for the sarma. To prepare sarma, she has to make good mix of vegetables (rise, onion, etc) with minced meat (pork or beef) including salt, pepper and different local herbs. After she finishes that part, we are coming back from forest with badnjak. Badnjak is taken into the house and laid on the fire to burn. The burning of the badnjak is done is same time with prayers to God so that the coming year may bring much love, and food. Later than mother begins to roll mixed food into large pickled cabbage leaves. When she completed that, she puts sarma in the large clay pots so she can cook it. The sarma is then boiled for several hours, and the best cooking method is slow boiling which sometimes takes from six to ten hours. During that period all family members are helping mother to organize table and other stuff into the house.
The other traditional customs are usually learned from grandparents. For example, my mother learned from granny how to prepare sarma and a lot of different types of cooked food and now she is teaching sister how to prepare same things.
While sarma is boiling, mother takes a couple pieces of gammon (smoked ham) which suppose to give nice smell to the meal. Sometimes she also puts pieces of bacon or some another smoked meat.
Finally, when sarma is cooked enough, every member of the family take a sit around big table and then mother puts large pot filled out with sarma in the middle of table so evry member can reach it. If everything is ready, one of the children lights up candle and says the Lord's Prayer. Next step is my favorite because it is time for eating. The oldest person at the table takes food first and after that person all others can begin with eating. I love sarma a lot but I don't know how to prepare it, and I don't think I'll ever know it. I don't know what would I do if one day I marry foreign girl which doesn't know what sarma is.
