How to make 'Kutia'?

Kutia Wigilijna, or Christmas Cooked Wheat Pudding, consisting of whole or cracked wheat (rice for the aristocracy!), honey and nuts (and sometimes raisins, poppyseeds and cream) is typically the first course served at the Christmas Eve dinner known as Wigilia. On About.com I have found a perfect recipe to cook real Kutia. Try it :)


Makes 6 servings Polish Christmas Cooked Wheat Pudding - Kutia
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 3 hours
Total Time: 4 hours
Ingredients:
Note: Wheat berries are available at health food stores and online, but kamut berries, whole-grain barley or rice can be substituted (cooking time must be adjusted) with good effect.
.
1 cup wheat berries or kamut berries, rinsed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup poppyseeds
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
4 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
Zest of 1 lemon
2/3 cup plumped raisins
1/2 cup ground walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup coarsely ground blanched almonds (optional)
5 plumped figs, chopped (optional)
5 plumped dates, chopped (optional)
1/2 cup half-and-half
Preparation:
Place rinsed wheat berries in a large pot or Dutch oven and cover with water by about 5 inches. Stir, cover and let stand overnight.

When ready to cook, drain the wheat berries, rinse, drain again and place back in the pot. Add 6 cups cold water and salt, bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until tender (anywhere from 90 minutes to 3 hours). Drain and set aside to cool.

Prepare poppyseeds by placing them in a saucepan with water to cover by several inchesen the fingers. Drain and grind once in a poppyseed grinder or 3 times in a regular grinder.

In a large bowl, combine cooled, cooked wheat, ground poppyseeds, confectioners' sugar, honey, vanilla, zest, raisins and some or all of the following, if using -- walnuts, almonds, figs and dates. Mix well and add half-and-half, incorporating thoroughly. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Cooking for Christmas

Polish Christmas tradition is very old and rich. In the afternoon, after the first star shines on the sky, families gather together around Christmas table to celebrate the time baby Jesus was born. During this festive dinner we give each other presents, we sing Christmas carols (in Poland you can find hundreds of them!), we put some hay under the tablecloth, we leave one empty plate for a stranger and of course we eat twelve traditional dishes prepared especially for Christmas time. The meals represent twelve Apostles. The main offerings are fish and mushrooms as due to the nativity fast, no meat is allowed on Christmas Eve.

The traditional dishes are: mushroom soup, beet soup with small dumplings called 'uszka', carp: fried and in jelly, cabbage with pea, cabbage with mushrooms (something like Polish 'bigos'), boiled or fried 'pierogi' (dumplings) with cabbage and mushrooms; pasta with poppy, sugar and honey; dry fruit compote. There are also served traditional cakes such as gingerbread and poppy-seed cake. Below you'll find some recipies:

Dumplings with cabbage and mushrooms:
Ingredients for cake:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup warm water
pinch of salt-to taste


Ingredients for filling:
0.5 kg sauerkraut, 17.63 oz
0.2 kg of dried mushrooms, 7.05 oz
1 onion,
salt, pepperExecution: Pour water over dried mushrooms and let stand for about 1 hour.After an hour, cook mushrooms until soft in water in which they were soaked. Sauerkraut pour water and cook for about 15 minutes.When cooked, drain off and cut the cabbage.After cooked, drain off mushrooms and cut into very fine or run through a meat grinder.Dice the onion and fry in oil. Add the chopped cabbage and sliced mushrooms to the onions. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for 10 minutes. Mix flour with salt and add hot water.Knead the dough.Roll out the dough.Trim the appropriate glass shapes.Then we put the stuffing in the center of the cake.We combine the two sides, and glue. Boil water, add a teaspoon of salt and a tablespoon of oil. At the boiling water throw dumplings.Cook over low heat about 5 minutes. Serve with fried onions.

What on earth is 'Oscypek'???

'Oscypek', pronounced something like 'Oh-stzee-peck', is traditional Polish smoked cheese, made of salted sheep milk. It is produced especially in Tatra Mountains in the very south of Poland. In 2007 'Oscypek' became a protected trade name under the EU's Protected Designation of Origin geographical indication. There are some strict regulations which you have to follow if you want to produce delicious 'oscypek', for example:

• cow milk can be mixed with sheep milk, but there musn't be more cow milk than 40% of all the milk used
• cheese can be produced only from May to September and sold until the end of October
• 'oscypek' should weigh between 60 and 80 dag and be 17 - 23 cm long...

 ... otherwise, it isn't 'oscypek' :) Some sellers don't obey those rules and sell their products under the name 'scypek'. If you'd like to buy an original 'oscypek' you have to have your eyes wide open :)
To buy the best 'oscypek' you have to visit southern areas of Poland (which are stunningly beautiful!), for example: Zakopane (amazing town under the highest mountains in Poland), Kraków (very popular city, which used to be a capital of Poland many, many years ago), Nowy Targ (a place where every week a big market takes place) or Bukowina Tatrzańska.

Traditional 'oscypek'
source of the photo

Many kinds of smoked cheese are sold on Krupówki, famous market street in Zakopane
source of the photo