Christmas

Baking cookies is one of the most beloved Christmas rituals. Weeks before Christmas, the kitchen fills with the scent of vanilla, nuts and cinnamon. Classics include vanilla crescents, linzer cookies, gingerbread and wasp nests. The foundation is quality ingredients such as butter, nuts, flour, eggs and real vanilla. Every family has their own treasured recipes passed down through generations.

Christmas Eve is the culmination of festive dinner preparations. The main course is most often fried carp, though some replace it with schnitzel or fish fillet. Breading in flour, egg and breadcrumbs and frying in lard or oil is a classic technique. Alongside the carp, potato salad with mayonnaise is a must, and every family has their own cherished recipe for it.

In most households, fish soup made from carp head and innards is served, often enriched with root vegetables, butter and croutons. Elsewhere, lentil or pea soup is popular as a symbol of abundance in the new year. Some families serve the soup as a starter for the festive dinner, while others prepare it a day ahead to let the flavours develop.

No Christmas table is complete without homemade Christmas bread, braided from yeast dough with raisins, almonds and sprinkled with sugar. It is a symbol of fertility and abundance. Other festive bakes include gingerbread loaf and honey slices. The bread is best sliced the next day, when the dough has settled and become moister and more flavourful.