The Christmas Eve Dinner in Lithuania must consist of at least 12 dishes, according to the tradition. Where does that figure come from?
In the old days, Lithuanians used to prepare nine dishes on Christmas Eve, not 12, according to ethnologist Libertas Klimka. Lithuanians used to count a lot of things by 9s or 10s, he notes.
“It’s like we sing in the songs: nine twigs, tenth is the top; nine bullets flew by, the tenth one pierced my head; I crossed nine rivers and drowned in the tenth.”
“The number nine is very deeply rooted in our folklore, coming from the old calendar system. Triple nines – three times nine is twenty-seven. That’s how many days – 27, or to be precise, 27.3 – the moon is visible in the sky, then for three days the sky is pitch dark and moonless.”
He notes that the 19th-century historian Simonas Daukantas mentioned in his writings that, before Christianity and agriculture took hold, Lithuanians used to follow a calendar with nine-day weeks.
“Moreover, nine months is the cycle of life, life comes into the world during this time. [...] There are also nine months of work, followed by the winter rest. The practicalities of life determine why particular numbers come to be important in a culture,” says Klimka.
The nine dishes on the Christmas Eve table used to symbolise abundance. The table would be set with what the household had harvested on its farm and what they wanted for the following year. Some of the ingredients were picked in the forest, such as berries or mushrooms.
The 12 months or apostles
When did the tradition switch to 12 dishes?
“When serfdom was abolished in Lithuania [in 1861], peasants were better off. They were able to grow their own flax and sell it, earn money, and have a freer economic life. There was money in the household. And their diet became more varied and richer. People were no longer limited to nine dishes, they came up with a reason why there had to be more dishes,” explains Klimka.
Since there are 12 months in the year, having 12 dishes on the table meant that the coming year would be abundant and not in want of food. “We also want all the months to be free of natural disasters, free of troubles, and to be good to people.”
On the other hand, Christianity had already been thoroughly entrenched in the culture. “Christ had 12 disciples, but there are 13 people at the last supper if we count Christ himself. So in some parts of Lithuania, people prepare 13 dishes for Christmas Eve table,” says Klimka.
Signature dishes
The most original dish that has to be on every Christmas Eve table is kūčiukai – hard bite-sized Christmas cakes made from yeast dough with poppy seeds. Kūčiukai can be called differently in different parts of Lithuania: šližikai, parpeliukai, riekutukai, riešutukai, etc.
According to Klimka, only Lithuanians and their close neighbours the Belarusians – along with parts of Poland and Ukraine – have this dish.
“Scholars believe that kūčiukai was a kind of ceremonial bread to feed the ghosts. Since they have no body, the kūčiukai were made the size of a fingernail for easy eating,” says Klimka. “They were also used for witchcraft. But I want to stress that this is ceremonial bread.”
Another important attribute of the Lithuanian Christmas Eve table is the poppy milk (aguonpienis). Made from poppy seeds, it has a slightly sedative, dream-inducing quality.
“Maybe it had a ceremonial meaning because Christmas Eve is the night of magic, and people used to say that whatever you dream on that night will come true. So maybe the poppy seeds helped to bring about beautiful dreams,” Klimka suggests.
“Poppies are sometimes used to connect with the world of the deceased ancestors. At other times, sprinkled poppy seeds symbolised the starry sky or the Milky Way. Therefore, dishes with poppy seeds probably also allude to the heavenly path, a road to the beyond,” comments ethnologist Klimka.
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