Parthemores in Poland

The origin of the carp question began about a month ago.  As we were walking to school, I saw a supermarket ad on a sign that had a picture of a carp, and the word “żywy,” which means “live,” as in still swimming around.  Traditionally, Poles eat carp (along with 11 other courses) on Christmas Eve.  During Communist control, there were long lines for food, with no guarantee that there would be any left once you got to the front.  So if you had the chance to buy a carp, you jumped on it and kept it alive until Christmas in your bathtub.  

As a matter of tradition, people still do this today, though there are no longer food lines or shortages any more than in the US.  In fact, we saw folks buying carp a few weeks before Christmas.  The Tesco Hypermarket had huge (about 8’ x 8’) wheeled tanks that were stuffed with karp żywy.  They didn’t look very comfortable.  There was an additional tank for carp that no longer qualified as żywy.  The preferred method for extracting a carp or two for sale seemed to be a snow shovel. 

Having a large, live fish at home presents several challenges:  how do you get it home?  how do you bathe?  does your house stink?   I was so fascinated with this, I asked both of our teachers if they had carp in their bathtubs.  Neither did, so I still don’t have a good answer on the logistics of the whole operation. 

Poles do not eat meat on Christmas Eve, which is why carp and salmon are popular.  We, however, wanted to have a traditional American Christmas meal, like ham.  You would think that in a country so enthralled with pork products, we could find a bone-in ham.  But at every supermarket and butcher shop, people looked at us like we were crazy.

We also had a wonderful Christmas Dinner at a friend’s house (the other American in our Polish class.) 

The following day, we took off for a trip to Budapest, Hungary, stopping over in Brno, Czech Republic.  Both were a great time, and we’ll post a rundown soon.

For New Year’s, we are planning to go to the big party in the square, after sitting on our balcony (all bundled up!), grilling sausages and watching the fireworks.  Fireworks appear to be extremely popular, since people have already been lighting them off.  We saw this stand set up outside one of the malls:

And the fireworks they are selling are no joke!  It looked like the selection from the Indian Reservation in Washington.  This might prove interesting in an urban environment.  Hopefully, our next blog will not be how we are homeless due to an unforeseen fireworks incident.

Finally, Wesołych Świąt to everyone!  We hope you all had a wonderful holiday and are looking forward to a great New Year.