There is always something fishy about Christmas. I mean on the table…
Long tradition that we use to eat fish at Christmas. As I am a half-mermaid [beside I am a fox… merfox? too much anime… nevermind] I die for everything what fish, crayfish and shrimps… the only things I cannot bare to eat is the mussel, scallop, sea cucumber and whatever else and octopuses are sacred for me! I cannot help it I'm Eastern European, beside we have no sea, only a – beautiful – lake and two – also beautiful – rivers. So I mostly eat "our" fishes what more familiar to my taste.
Anyway.
Most of the now living traditions in my country based on Christianity and because of it many ancient folklore traditions of ours fusioned with Christian elements along the centuries [as at many other European countries' as well].
Before Christianity people celebrated the midwinter anyhow as the rebirth of the invincible sun gods. Then in 350 A.D. pope Saint Julius I commanded that the nativity would fell on the day of 25 December and from then on we celebrate the baby Jesus birth on this day [as for me back to sun-gods… ~Ok I like those nativity porcelain scenes before the churches...].
So why we eat fish at Christmas for Christ's sake?! … For Christ's sake.
To the Christians fish symbolizes Christ himself although it's a much ancient symbol [nearly thousands of years old] and not just the fish but the fish eating as well. Fish was known by as the symbol of the "Great Mother". Fish symbolized fertility, birth and the force of women and it always was a major symbol at Midwinter. The word also meant "womb" in some tongues. Egyptians ate fish for the sake of the fertility goddess, I... [You know who]. She wore a fish on her head as well. Scandinavian people ate fish for the sake of their fertility and love goddess, Freya. Romans ate fish on Fridays to celebrate the love Goddess Venus… etc. So the fish-eating ceremony firstly have pagan history.
In Christianity the fish and fishery symbolize Jesus and when Christians were threatened by Romans in the first centuries after Christ, they use it as an own mark. "They used the fish symbol to mark meeting places and tombs, or to distinguish friends from foes…" [1] This was the sign of the 'ichthys' or the sign of Christ himself [ΙΧΘΥΣ/Ichthus greek word means 'fish' but it's an acrostic: Iēsous Christos, Theou Yios, Sōtēr/"Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour" [1]].
Long tradition that we use to eat fish at Christmas. As I am a half-mermaid [beside I am a fox… merfox? too much anime… nevermind] I die for everything what fish, crayfish and shrimps… the only things I cannot bare to eat is the mussel, scallop, sea cucumber and whatever else and octopuses are sacred for me! I cannot help it I'm Eastern European, beside we have no sea, only a – beautiful – lake and two – also beautiful – rivers. So I mostly eat "our" fishes what more familiar to my taste.
Anyway.
Most of the now living traditions in my country based on Christianity and because of it many ancient folklore traditions of ours fusioned with Christian elements along the centuries [as at many other European countries' as well].
Before Christianity people celebrated the midwinter anyhow as the rebirth of the invincible sun gods. Then in 350 A.D. pope Saint Julius I commanded that the nativity would fell on the day of 25 December and from then on we celebrate the baby Jesus birth on this day [as for me back to sun-gods… ~Ok I like those nativity porcelain scenes before the churches...].
So why we eat fish at Christmas for Christ's sake?! … For Christ's sake.
To the Christians fish symbolizes Christ himself although it's a much ancient symbol [nearly thousands of years old] and not just the fish but the fish eating as well. Fish was known by as the symbol of the "Great Mother". Fish symbolized fertility, birth and the force of women and it always was a major symbol at Midwinter. The word also meant "womb" in some tongues. Egyptians ate fish for the sake of the fertility goddess, I... [You know who]. She wore a fish on her head as well. Scandinavian people ate fish for the sake of their fertility and love goddess, Freya. Romans ate fish on Fridays to celebrate the love Goddess Venus… etc. So the fish-eating ceremony firstly have pagan history.
In Christianity the fish and fishery symbolize Jesus and when Christians were threatened by Romans in the first centuries after Christ, they use it as an own mark. "They used the fish symbol to mark meeting places and tombs, or to distinguish friends from foes…" [1] This was the sign of the 'ichthys' or the sign of Christ himself [ΙΧΘΥΣ/Ichthus greek word means 'fish' but it's an acrostic: Iēsous Christos, Theou Yios, Sōtēr/"Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour" [1]].
As for me I eat fish at Christmas because I want to and our fish soup recipe takes time so I cannot have the patience to do this anytime in the year. But the main reason is that this was my father biggest present for us at every holiday a big bowl of warm Fishermen's soup…
We have different kind of fish dishes, but I think the most common and preferred one at Christmas is this paprikan Fish-soup. It hasn't got a long history at all. This dish became from the fish-paprikash and only about 150 years old.
It has many variations across the country but the main ingredients are the same everywhere: carp, onion, paprika and salt. The method of the making of this soup is also variant by regions: Balaton area, Tisza area, Danube area.
The original idea has been found in an old cook book from 1871. An old cook lady 'Aunt Rézi' noted this soup as 'Fish-paprikash a la fisherman' which was fish paprikash/paprikás in loose sauce. The main point at this soup that you add the ingredients to the pot all at once. They say that the Fisherman's soup is ready when your thumb and first finger stick together in the steam of the soup…
Although we live next to Balaton, my dad used to cook the Szeged/Tisza style Fisherman's soup. When once he had been Szeged for awile, his friend taught him to the Szeged/Tisza way, that is they add different kind of fishes' parts [heads, tails] to the soup and they put through the whole on a sieve before they add the fresh carp fillets ["the noble fish"] at the end.
Slow-cooking Fisherman's Soup a la Szeged/Szegedi Halászlé
Cook it the day before you want to serve it. Need one night for the richer flavour. Oh and the cooking time is almost 4 hours so calculate in it this too if you are planning to try this. Just saying. :)
You'll need to the stock
1 big and 1 medium onion [peeled and diced, can be red onion too]
1 1/3 tablespoons sunflower oil
65 g ground Hungarian paprika [Hot or not it's up to your taste. We have many variations from hot to sweet paprika and we usually mark them by strongness: strong/hottest=csípős or erős, mild hot and sweet=csípős csemege, semi sweet=csemege, Noble sweet="Édesnemes" labels on the packages. Best is the Kalocsai and Szegedi brands.]
4 Fisherman's Soup stock-cubes [there is under Knorr or Maggi brands in Hungary and Knorr is the better]
2 fish heads of smaller Ponty/Common carp [or Harcsa/Catfish or Süllő/Pike-perch]
3 fish-tails or fins - also of smaller Ponty/Common carp [or Harcsa/Catfish or Süllő/Pike-perch]
3 whole Jász keszeg/Ide [or Vörösszárnyú keszeg/Common rudd or Dévér keszeg/Common bream, need about max. 25 cm long specimens, offal removed]
1 tomato [cut into four pieces]
1 yellow bell pepper [cut into four pieces]
about 2 1/2 liter cold water
1/2 tablespoon salt
You'll need on the following day
2-3 finger-thick Ponty/Common carp fillets [5-6 dkg per piece]
roe of Carp [optional and no need to salt it]
We have different kind of fish dishes, but I think the most common and preferred one at Christmas is this paprikan Fish-soup. It hasn't got a long history at all. This dish became from the fish-paprikash and only about 150 years old.
It has many variations across the country but the main ingredients are the same everywhere: carp, onion, paprika and salt. The method of the making of this soup is also variant by regions: Balaton area, Tisza area, Danube area.
The original idea has been found in an old cook book from 1871. An old cook lady 'Aunt Rézi' noted this soup as 'Fish-paprikash a la fisherman' which was fish paprikash/paprikás in loose sauce. The main point at this soup that you add the ingredients to the pot all at once. They say that the Fisherman's soup is ready when your thumb and first finger stick together in the steam of the soup…
Although we live next to Balaton, my dad used to cook the Szeged/Tisza style Fisherman's soup. When once he had been Szeged for awile, his friend taught him to the Szeged/Tisza way, that is they add different kind of fishes' parts [heads, tails] to the soup and they put through the whole on a sieve before they add the fresh carp fillets ["the noble fish"] at the end.
Slow-cooking Fisherman's Soup a la Szeged/Szegedi Halászlé
Cook it the day before you want to serve it. Need one night for the richer flavour. Oh and the cooking time is almost 4 hours so calculate in it this too if you are planning to try this. Just saying. :)
You'll need to the stock
1 big and 1 medium onion [peeled and diced, can be red onion too]
1 1/3 tablespoons sunflower oil
65 g ground Hungarian paprika [Hot or not it's up to your taste. We have many variations from hot to sweet paprika and we usually mark them by strongness: strong/hottest=csípős or erős, mild hot and sweet=csípős csemege, semi sweet=csemege, Noble sweet="Édesnemes" labels on the packages. Best is the Kalocsai and Szegedi brands.]
4 Fisherman's Soup stock-cubes [there is under Knorr or Maggi brands in Hungary and Knorr is the better]
2 fish heads of smaller Ponty/Common carp [or Harcsa/Catfish or Süllő/Pike-perch]
3 fish-tails or fins - also of smaller Ponty/Common carp [or Harcsa/Catfish or Süllő/Pike-perch]
3 whole Jász keszeg/Ide [or Vörösszárnyú keszeg/Common rudd or Dévér keszeg/Common bream, need about max. 25 cm long specimens, offal removed]
1 tomato [cut into four pieces]
1 yellow bell pepper [cut into four pieces]
about 2 1/2 liter cold water
1/2 tablespoon salt
You'll need on the following day
2-3 finger-thick Ponty/Common carp fillets [5-6 dkg per piece]
roe of Carp [optional and no need to salt it]
Method to make it
Wash the fish parts, whole ides and carp fillets under cold water until the water is clean. Heads may contain minimal blood so wash them very thoroughly!
Dry the carp fillets with a paper towel. Salt them and put aside them into the fridge along with the roe till next day. Cover them with a kitchen foil.
In a medium-sized pot warm the oil on low heat. Add the onion and the stock-cubes and saute them until the onion is soft and translucent. Stir it constantly!
Add the cleaned fish parts, fish tails, the whole ides, tomato, bell pepper, salt and finally the water. Stir it a little as you can. Bring the soup to boil on high heat. After it boils turn the heat to the lowest. Put the lid on but leave a little space for gases. Cook it for 3 hours long.
If too much water boiled away after 3 hours, add some more. Cook the soup for another 10 minutes.
Then add the paprika and cook the soup for another 30 minutes.
If the soup is ready [every fish parts are overcooked] take another pot and with a sieve put through the whole soup. Only the pure stock what we need at the end, everything else can go to the dumpster.
So we have a pure deep-red spicy liquid now. Taste the stock whether it's salty enough to your taste. If not, add some more, but it's good if it's not too salty.
Cool out the soup completely then leave it for one night somewhere in the coldest place in the house without a lid on.
The following day bring the soup to boil again and after it bubbles turn the heat to low and add the pre-salted carp fillets and roe and boil the whole about 10 minutes on low heat. Ready to serve it with fresh bread!
Enjoy it!/Jó étvágyat!
What for sure you can always find on a typical Hungarian Christmas table: cabbage and fish, poppy seed or walnut rolls [bejgli] aaand pálinka in/and for every case… Hahaha
Ancient Hungarian agricultural people as well used to do magic rituals at this time of the year to predict the next year crops and they hoped it will bring good fortune and good health for the whole family too. The symbols of these magic rituals are still on our tables at Christmas although many people just forgot it what those dishes, fruits, seeds, vegetables symbolized many centuries before. So there are some rules around the dinner table what we "need" to eat if we want some good but don't want any trouble for the next year:
- Eat - something from - beans, peas, lentil, poppy seed, walnut and fish and your following year will be rich in every way [it meant to be good crops]. Especially beans and lentils bring to the eater much money. If it would be such easy… I cannot work only eat. Dream job. Haha
- Our famous
poppy seed rolls were used for love magic [to predict one's future
husband, thank God I hate poppy seed…] and they gave some to the
domestic animals too to guarantee their health to the following year. They leaved a poppy seed roll cake on the table for those whom passed away but want to visit their loved ones once more. They used the walnuts for death magic, for healing and for to keep off bad forces. The apple represented the beauty and health and they used it for love magic and death magic as well. From the Christmas loaf and apples the whole family ate so knew they will stay together in the next year as well. This ritual was important because they believed if someone from the family get into bad ways will remember whom he ate the apples with and go home for good.
- Cabbage also brings richness for the next year. The best is the 'White Beans and Cabbage a la Vecsés'. It brings richness and happyness but only in the toilet, don't daydream...
- They
believed that roasted squash and the honey good for throat problems in
the winter times and garlic garantees the familys' future. The garlic
symbolizes the healthy life and the honey [along with the Hungarian decorated
honey gingerbread] symbolizes the sweetness of the life.
- What is important that do not eat winged animal for Christmas because those means bad omen for the next year, they scratching the soil backward instead of the pigs what scratching it forward, so it means the pigs scratching the good fortunes and good forces in front of you while the winged animals do quite the opposite… [2] Damn it's a misfortune I don't like to eat porky things except bacon sometimes. And my traditional dish
is after Fish soup is turkey meat … ~Hmm so that is why I'm always run
out of luck [and money…] Ancient people were more wise… At least they
survived it anyhow.
[1] Wikipedia, [2] "Hungarian Etymological Dictionary"
These ancient agricolous traditions still live on in our life, these are ineradicable magic "rituals" of ours, although today youth generation does not care for these things at all [as everything else neither…].
These ancient agricolous traditions still live on in our life, these are ineradicable magic "rituals" of ours, although today youth generation does not care for these things at all [as everything else neither…].
So in Hungary we call the evening of 24 or Christmas Eve as 'Holy Night'/Szenteste when the whole family dinner together and after that they give the presents to each other as well. On 25 and 26 the close relatives visit each other for a holiday lunch or just have a good time together.
Now as always I celebrate with my lovely mom, my deceased dad's picture and the youngest but naughtiest one in our family…
~Oh.. I just imagined how she is hopping happily on my parted bodies and organs… I bet she would do it…
Relax my tree is the only abnormal here, the family tree is perfectly normal...
Happy Christmas rein-Dear Reader! [lame joke sorry…]/Boldog Karácsonyt Kedves Olvasó! ✌ See you next year!
finally for "Something Completely Different", a beautiful Hungarian folk song from Márta Sebestyén
finally for "Something Completely Different", a beautiful Hungarian folk song from Márta Sebestyén
