The day before Christmas is called “Wigilia” or "Gwiazda” in the Wielkopolska tradition. The word “wigilia” (from Latin vigiliae meaning “vigil”), which denotes both an evening mass and the day preceding an important Roman Catholic feast day, has been broadened in Poland to include the consumption of an evening meal on Christmas Eve. The name “Gwiazdka”, however, is even more popular. The appearance of the first star (Polish: gwiazdka) in the sky is the traditional time to sit down to the Christmas Eve meal.
Sharing the opłatek (Christmas Eve wafer) and wishing each other the very best for the coming year is one of the most important moments of Christmas Eve supper. The word “opłatek” comes from the Latin oblatum, which means “sacrificial gift”. This is made from wheat flour dough and water and has Christmas presentations engraved on it. People share a white opłatek and add a red one to the leftovers fed to the animals.
The dishes consumed during this kolacja (supper) are pretty much the same now as they were 50 or even 80 years ago. The basic dishes that have come down through the generations are supplemented with others which are promoted in the media and which have their own kind of appeal. The Christmas Eve dishes served in many Wielopolska homes are as follows:
- fruit soup with dried apples and prunes and thickened with cream - served with tiny wheat noodles
- noodles (larger) with ground poppies and “makiełki” (makówki) sweetened with sugar
- herrings in cream with boiled potatoes
- herrings cooked in oil
- cabbage with peas (white runner beans): cooked cabbage with mashed beans
- baked carp
- dried mushrooms roasted in butter
- stewed fruit with prunes
- gingerbread cakes
- poppyseed cake
Borsch with “uszka” (a type of pasta), mushroom soup with “łazanki” (another type of pasta), kutia (a sweet grain pudding), pierogi and other dishes seldom seem earlier have been added to these traditional courses as a result of western influences, the media, migration and marriage.
Gwiazdor (a male figure personifying Christmas) visits after Christmas Eve supper. Gwiazdor is a masked figure with a cap on his head and dressed in a sheepskin coat turned inside out so the hair is on the outside and done up with a length of rope or a belt. He has a rod and a bell in his hand and a sack of presents flung over his back. Some villages have more than one. Sometimes Gwiazdor is accompanied by “Gwiazdka” (Gwiazdor’s female companion) dressed in white and helping Father Christmas by carrying his bell. The bell notifies people of their approach. Both good and naughty children are given presents. The latter receive an added admonition to shape up over the coming year. Sadly, figures dressed like this are mainly seen in villages and are becoming increasingly rare. The ubiquitous St. Nicholas is slowly but surely taking over.
