New Year's Eve among the northwestern Slavs was called "generous", or the evening of Vasily the Generous. They said: December is the month of the old grief ends, the new year is laying a path with new happiness. New year, be businesslike, sewn out of joys, covered with good, not broken by grief.
The main rituals were cooking porridge and sowing grains. The porridge was put in the oven until dawn. If the porridge came out large, crumbly - expect happiness in the house, healthy children. Another rite - sowing seeds - was performed by children. They ran around the hut and scattered grains of spring bread, saying: "Goddamn, God, every life is in the bins, but great."
We also went to Vasiliev's evening "under other people's windows" to collect pies and "pork legs". One of the legends tells that somehow Basil the Great, blessing people, blessed a piglet that turned up by chance, so the people began to pray to Basil the Great for the fertility of pigs, which means good farming. According to custom, on this day they put the head of a piglet on the table, while saying:
The pig's belly is not clean, God has nothing unclean, the fire will scorch the pig-bristle, and St. Basil will consecrate the winter.
An abundant festive table, according to ancient belief, ensured well-being for the entire coming year and was considered a guarantee of family wealth. There was such an abundance of baked goods that the head of the family could hide behind a pile of pies, saying: "Children, can you see me?" For the last time the girls wondered about marriage, wives and husbands - about the harvest of the coming summer. There was a legend among the people that on Vasilyev's evening witches hide a month, so they watched the sky: "Vasilyevsky night of a star - summer is berry".
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The traditional New Year's treats were pickled hares or other meat cooked in cucumber pickle with various spices. The fried chicken was served with something sour: vinegar or lemon. Hot meat dishes were put on the table under the brew - this was the name of any kind of sauce. Housewives usually cooked onion, cabbage, cranberry or lingonberry infusions. Special seasonings went with certain dishes. Turnip was served with a hare, garlic for beef, onions for pork.
The table was full of fish: salmon, sturgeon, white fish, pike perch, crucian carp, bream. And to them - pickles, tomatoes, pickled mushrooms. Kvass, fruit drink, beer, vodka, grape wines and honey also decorated the festive table. Those who walked around especially, so as not to have a headache, were served the next morning a dish called a hangover: these are cut slices of cold lamb mixed with cucumber pickle, vinegar and pepper.
In Ukrainian villages, they prepared all kinds of boiled and fried sausages with porridge and lard, stuffed pork belly, dumplings with sour cream. They rubbed horseradish, heated it in oil, added flour and diluted with sour cream. Pork head was poured with this sauce.
In Moldavia, kutya and kalach were placed in the center of the table, and 6 more kalach were placed in the eastern and western corners (according to the number of months in a year). And they made sure to cook placinda - a big pie made from butter dough stuffed with pumpkin, apples or feta cheese.
From the book: "100 Great Holidays". Elena Olegovna Chekulaeva