What is kutia?
Kutia is a traditional Ukrainian sweet cereal pudding. It is an important part of the traditional Christmas Eve in Ukraine and for some Ukrainian origin in other countries. The ingredients may vary somewhat, but always include wheat, poppy, honey and salt. Kutia is also a traditional Christmas meal in parts of Poland, where it is called Kutia Wigilijna, or Christmas Eve Kutia. The alternative spelling is "kutya". Dried wheat berries are cooked for several hours in water with a little salt until it is soft but disintegrated. After cooking, poppy and honey are added to the berries. Sometimes poppy seeds are soaked or cooked and then ground, but in many versions the bowls are left whole. Modernized recipes are sometimes baked after boiled berries are mixed with other ingredients.
over the years and as Ukrainians, and those of Polish origin moved to other parts of the world, changes in the cutia ingredients became numerous. Common additions include raisins or currants, almonds, pecans orOther nuts, cinnamon and sugar. Polish recipes often included alcohol, usually grains and modern variations sometimes require rum or other spirits. Other possible additions include figs, data, vanilla, lemon peel and chopped apple. Milk or cream is sometimes replaced by a part of the water.
In the Ukrainian and Polish traditions, Kutia is the first course of vegetarian food on Christmas Eve. This meal traditionally begins after the children of the house saw the first star of the evening and include 12 courses, many of which have symbolic meanings. Wheat in Kutia represents the staff of life, while honey is a symbol of Spirit Christ.
Kutia is an ancient food and some customs surrounding it are not religious. One tradition that seems to disappear that Ukrainian families throw parts of grain on the ceiling during their Christmas Eve celebrations. It has been said that the amount of grain that stuck to the ceiling corresponds to the happiness of the householdShe experienced in the coming year. Some Ukrainian households have built food from Kutia on Christmas Eve to honor their ancestors or after the First World War those soldiers who died in the fight for Ukrainian independence in 1918.