Europäische Weihnacht – in Vielfalt geeint - Sutter GmbH & Co. KG

Lettland/Latvia
Traditional thinking frequently also includes a certain
superstition – as is also the case for Latvians.
Here a small selection of superstitious ideas for the
Christmas festivities, which have been around in
Latvia since ages past:
Reach into the glass with peas and count the peas
in pairs. If no single pea remains, fortune will be
yours next year. – Avoid the stables on Christmas
Eve. Otherwise you may easily turn into an animal.
– Eat nine foods on Christmas Eve and you
will not lack anything in the New Year. – On
Christmas Eve walk barefoot in the garden and
shake the fruit trees, so they will carry plenty of
fruit in the next year. – On Christmas Day do
your day’s work early in the dark so that all work
will be successful in the New Year. – If you rise
early on Christmas day you will not oversleep
next year. – Paint crosses onto all doors on
Christmas Eve to drive out the evil spirits and
keep them away.
If Christmas sees nine foods on the table, then New
Year’s Eve will see twelve – and every single one of
them has a special magical meaning:
Pirági (bacon rolls) – enhance domesticity;
Apples – make you beautiful;
Beans – strengthen fertility;
Peas – dispel the tears;
Beetroot – heats the blood;
Sauerkraut – eaten in the old year makes life
sweet in the new year;
Blackberries – make red cheeks;
Radish – dispels all illness (vesels ká rutks,
“as healthy as radish”);
Gingerbread – maintains life;
Pork ribs and snout – secure power and fortune;
Fish – ensure prosperity (put fish soup in the
purse!);
Herbal tea with honey - dispels evil spirits.
Recipe: Pirági
1 cube of fresh yeast
1⁄4 ltr milk
1 tsp sugar
500 g flour
46
100 g butter
salt, fresh ground pepper
250 g smoked bacon
1 onion
1 egg
Heat the milk. Crumble the yeast into the milk,
add the sugar and stir. Allow to rest for 30 minutes.
Combine the flour, soft butter and 1 ⁄2 tsp of salt
and add to the milk and yeast blend. Knead well,
cover with a tea towel and allow to rise in a
warm spot for a further 30 minutes.
Cut the bacon into little cubes, finely chop the
onions. Lightly braise both in a skillet until the
onions are transparent. Season strongly with
fresh black pepper.
Roll out the dough approx. 4 mm thick onto a
floured surface. Use a biscuit cutter or a glass to
cut out round circles of dough (6 to 8 cm in diameter).
Place some of the bacon-onion mixture
into the centre and fold the edges from four sides
toward the centre.
Grease a baking sheet and place the pirági onto
it, leaving sufficient space in between. Brush the
surface with whisked egg yolk.
Bake the pirági at approx. 220 °C for between
15 and 20 minutes, or until light brown.
Latvian songs are some of the most versatile, but
surely the most comprehensive in the world. The
details regarding the number of Dainas, which are
four-versed folk songs, varies between one and 1.5
million; therefore, there is at least one of these songs
for every Latvian household. This verbally conveyed
folklore formed as a result of many centuries of suppression
as the basic pillar of the Latvians’ conception
of themselves and treats all areas of life with
encyclopaedic accuracy: first the existence of man
“from cradle to bier”, second the course of the year and
its festivities and thirdly the cosmic-mythological
realms. Naturally, there are also many Dainas about
Christmas or the winter solstice, called Ziemsvetki-
Dainas.