Serbian Christmas in Scotland - How it's Done
Last week, as I was looking through some old photos, I dug up these beauties! Taken early January circa 2000. As a child I remember my mum taking loads of photos, like, all the time! Back then, it was a nuisance, but now, I’m very grateful I have moments like this to look back on. This was my mum, my sister and me getting ready to celebrate Serbian Christmas. The Serbian name for Christmas is ‘Božić’.
We were brought up Christian Orthodox. My dad is an atheist but my mum followed the religion, somewhat. I think she enjoyed celebrating Christmas this way. The Orthodox Church still go by the old 'Julian' calendar, which means Christmas Day falls on the 7th of January. So, as kids, we would always go to a family friends' house on the 25th of December and my mum would invite them back to our house for a traditional Serbian dinner on the 7th.
A traditional meal would consist of pork and some sort of salad or potatoes, with red wine, plum brandy and lots of cakes. Although, mum usually made Sarma, which is cooked cabbage leaves stuffed with rice and mince. She also baked a traditional round shaped bread. She would hide a £1 coin inside, then, during dinner, the bread gets passed around, everyone rips off a piece and whoever gets the coin is said to receive great fortune in the New Year!
My sister and me with our grandparents. That cheeky grin on Tanja’s face suggests that she knows where the coin is hiding!
Straw is placed throughout the house to symbolise the stable where Jesus was born. It is also common to spread walnuts onto the straw, followed by a prayer for health and prosperity. Apparently, when the straw is scattered, it is customary to make chicken noises, but I don’t remember ever doing that! I suppose mum was subtle with the traditions she chose to pass on to us.
Mum taught my sister and me how to decorate our own gift wrap by printing gold leaves onto brown paper (upcycling at its finest!). We delicately painted a rubber stamp with gold paint and printed a pattern onto the paper. Once it was dry, we would wrap the gifts, ready to exchange on the day. Our stockings were filled with fruit and nuts. This is a very old-school way of doing Christmas but actually, I prefer the simple approach.
On the morning of Christmas Eve, traditionally, the father of the family would go to the forest and cut down a branch from an oak tree. This is called the 'Badnjak'. You would then burn it outside, in the same way as a Yule Log, I guess. But, we live in the modern world so my mum would reuse the same dry oak (that she kept in a guitar box) every year and just decorate it with baubles instead.
So far, I have stuck to the conventional Christmas, but who knows, maybe one day I’ll go back to my roots and embrace the humble Serbian style again. Although, I might have to learn how to bake first!
