On
Saturday night, my husband and I attended a dinner at one of his fellow doctor’s home. Since both the doctor and her husband are of Polish descent,
they decided to host a Polish food dinner.
My mother was 100% Polish and even though my Polish grandparents lived
in our town, I don’t remember her cooking Polish food. She cooked a lot but not specifically Polish
food. So, I was very excited for this
dinner, to taste some of my Polish ancestry!
Before we
started eating the dinner, our hostess introduced to the tradition of the
Christmas wafer or “oplatek”. Before
eating the Christmas Eve meal, the family would gather around the dinner table.
The father would hold the large unleavened wafer (similar in composition to the
Eucharist served at the Roman Catholic Mass).
The wafers can be embossed with Christmas related images. The Christmas wafer is symbolic of the unity
of the family.
At our
dinner, the hostess broke the “oplatek” and passed it on to the two people on
either side of her, while also giving them wishes. They in turn did the same to the person next
to them.
