Celebration

Christmas in Ukraine can be celebrated on the 25th of December or 7th of January. This is because different Orthodox and Catholic churches within Ukraine use the old Julian or the new Gregorian calendars for their church festivals. But following Vladimir Putin’s invasion in February, the Orthodox church of Ukraine is allowing its congregations for the first time to celebrate Christmas on 25 December, in a move away from Russia and towards the west.

On Christmas Eve, we have main Christmas meal also called Sviata Vecherya that consists of twelve dishes which represent Jesus's twelve disciplines and with the appearance of the first star, Ukrainians sit down to a generous but lean table. It is customary to spend the Sviata Vecherya in the circle of the whole family. Everyone associates this day with such a delicious dish as Kutia (halfway between porridge and pudding), Ukrainian kutia is a simple, nutritious dish served on festive occasions such as Christmas Eve and including wheat, poppy seeds, nuts, dried fruit, honey, It flaunts itself on the table among 11 other dishes. After all, everyone knows that 12 dishes need to be prepared for the Sviata Vecherya. Kutya is the first dish eaten.

The host is the first to sit down at the table, lights the Christmas candle and blesses the dinner, after which he tastes the kutia and distributes it to the family.

After kutia, you can move on to other dishes - fish, mushrooms, borsch, dumplings, stewed cabbage, potatoes, uzvar pierogi (Varenyky), etc. In different regions of Ukraine, the set of dishes is different, but their number remains the same. On the first day of Christmas, fasting ends, so Ukrainians sit down to a truly festive table and carol.