Food & New Year's Eve

In Russia, food is always a pretty big deal. We come together for meals, drink a lot of tea, etc. Eating is like THE social event of a family. You come together, talk, have a good laugh, or discuss things. So, we don't celebrate Christmas on the 24th. So, the major thing we celebrate is New Year's Eve. That's when we put up the tree and everyone gets presents. Obviously, I always loved that day. When I was younger, my entire family came together and we had masses of food. The probably most famous dish for NYE is "Salat Olivye". In most countries it is known as the "Russian Salad", but in fact we in Russia have a French name for it. So basically you put a lot in it - potatoes, eggs, pickels, mayonnaise, sausage and peas. And even if it sounds strange, it is probably the best thing you can eat on NYE! If there are many people present, you can put all kinds of stuff on the table. Basically, there is no such thing as special food, it's a lot of everything. Salads, fish, meat, olives, fruits, whatever one likes. Then we drink tea of course, and champagne. And if it's the right company there will be, of course, the Russian national drink … vodka. Because what would we do without it? In my family it's not that common, we stick to the champagne. But yeah, I would definitely say that Russian NYE parties are legendary.

Oh and one more word about Christmas - due to the fact that we used to have a different calender a long time ago, Christmas in Russia is on the night of the 6th of January to the 7th. That's when the religious people go to church and have the mass and things like that. But still, NYE is a much more of a big deal than Christmas to the majority of Russian people.

If you want to have a completely new level of fun I advise you to visit a artistic Russian-Jewish people NYE party. I've a Jewish friend who took me to such a party once and even if in the beginning you might think everyone is crazy (which is true to a certain extent), you'll love it! Old Russian music, bottles and bottles of vodka that people drink absolutely pure, SO MUCH FOOD, even more tea, the most hilarious people and just this atmosphere you only get on Jewish parties. It's hard to explain.
So, just try it.
You'll remember that night.

Natalia
Zugerberg
Switzerland