Christmas & Christmas Food in the Past

Summary by Annika Aunapu,

Tartu Tamme Gymnasium, Estonia

The aim of our group work

• Visits to the National Museum

• Searching the internet and written sources

• Attention was paid to Christmas traditions and traditional food during last century.

Results of the group research work, menu 100 years ago

100 years ago Estonians ate:• Meat: pork, trotters, pigs` tails,

mutton, fish, ham;• Fruits and vegetables: turnip, carrot,

cabbage, sauerkraut, potatoes, peas, beans, apples;

• Milk products: cream, butter;• Drinks: milk, beer, tea;• Sweets: pies, ginger biscuits;• Other: oatmeal, rice porridge, eggs,

white pudding, black pudding, bread, nuts, barley-bread, brown-bread, beer soup.

Energy and nutrients of the Christmas Eve meal 100 years ago

• Pork, nuts and ginger biscuits had the highest energetical value.

• Most carbonhydrates were gotten from ginger biscuits, oatmeal and buns.

• Pork, meat in jelly and nuts considered the most proteins.

• Nuts, ginger biscuits and pork gave the most lipids.

• The highest amount of water was in sauerkraut, turnip and apples.

• Most common microelements in a Christmas meal were Na, K and Cu.

Results of the group results work, menu 50 years ago

50 years ago Estonians ate:• Meat: pork, liver pie, jellied meat, meatballs with stuffing; • Fruits and vegetables: fried potatoes, sauerkraut,

pumpkin, cowberry, beetroot, apples;• Milk products: milk, cheese, butter;• Drinks: beer from barley, selfmade wine, kvass, tea,

coffee;• Sweets: ginger biscuits, peppermint loaves, holiday buns

with raisins;• Other: black pudding, holiday bread, fine rye bread;

Energy and nutrients of the Christmas Eve meal 50 years ago

• The highest energetical value has pork, buns and bread.

• Most proteins can be found in pork, meat in jelly and liver pie.

• Buns, bread and black pudding have the most rate of carbonhydrates;

• Pork, liver pie and black pudding have the most rate of lipids.

Comparison 50y / 100y

No:– cheese– wine– coffee– meatballs with stuffing 100y ago;

An old traditions: Meat in jelly, pork, sauerkraut, black pudding, etc.

Some examples of Christmas traditions

• Sending out the Dirty Thomas

• the household was washed thoroughly

• Grime Thomas was taken from door to door in secret

• men went from house to house as Thomases

• eating repeatedly (7-14 times during the night)

Some examples of Christmas traditions

• Marking gates and doors with a cross

• lighting candels at the graves

• a Christmas goose

• going to the sauna

• going to church