Several warnings:
- There will be no alcohol! Mentioning of something Russian doesn’t mean that there will be vodka. You can add Champaign, we drink it during the celebration, true. But I will not say more.
- Some of these point might be a tradition only for my family. But my family is Russian, so it’s fair enough. Just saying, not every Russian family will agree with me on these points.
- For Russians, New Year is more important than Christmas. So don't be surprised that I'm talking only about New Year.
Наряжать елку 31 декабря и загадывать желания /
Decorate the Christmas Tree on December 31 and make wishes
In Russian tradition New Year is the first celebration in winter, that is why our Christmas Tree is usually decorated closer to December 31. But you can take this tradition for your decoration, I don’t know when you are doing this. Even in May it is still nice to have an opportunity to make one or two wishes which have to come true. So, the point is to make a wish every time you hang a toy on the Christmas Tree. For us it’s usually connected with expectations for a new coming year. Also you can change rules and say thanks to old year for everything good that happened. Both of these options are pretty nice.
Оливье / Olivier
Traditional Russian salad. To prepare it you don’t need much stuff – potatoes, dill pickles, peas, eggs, carrots and boiled beef, boiled chicken or bologna. Everything should be cut in small pieces and dressed with mayonnaise. No New Year menu in Russia can survive without Olivier. We cook usually for two-three people, so it’s not much. However, all jokes about New Year in Russia always suppose that people cook a huge bowl of salad and eat it from December 31 till something like January 3 or 4. And, you know what? It’s actually true for some families. But I would not recommend to do this in your first Russian New Year. You don’t need to spend January 5 with a food poisoning.
Наполеон / Napoleon
Desert, it’s important, isn’t it? For my family the traditional one is Napoleon. If you’ve never heard about it before, it’s fine, maybe you don’t know this exact name of this cake. Originally it’s called mille-feuille and comes from French pastry’s menu. In Russian history this cake exists since 19th century with Napoleon name. Some theories say that this name was chosen because of romantic and historic spirit of that time. However, I believe, it’s just because of the War of 1812. When Russian bit Napoleon. And then began to call a cake Napoleon. No logic, but funny. So, for cooking Napoleon you, basically, need three layers of puff pastry and two layers of crème made of condensed milk and butter. It’s the easiest way to cook it. After several times of doing it you can try to be creative and change this as you wish. But firstly you have to try the original one. Just saying.
Куранты / Kremlin Clock
Every year 5 minutes before midnight on December 31 we are watching TV. The thing is that the whole country is waiting for a traditional president’s New Year speech. Usually he says something like “this year was tough, but we are together, next year will be better”. Then, magic happens. After president’s speech we watch how big Kremlin Clock counts last seconds of the old year. And then Kremlin Clock strikes 12 times. Here everyone has their own traditions. We usually make wishes on every strike. Someone writes a wish on a piece of paper, burns it, throws it in a glass of Champaign and drinks it. I believe if you google it you will find lots of weird and funny stuff. And then we all sing the national anthem. But it actually doesn’t really matter.
I hope you enjoyed my list and will try something. Can I ask you to share your exoerience if you do? Thank you in advance. Also, maybe some day I will write more about Russian stuff. Who knows. We love sharing our culture, it's fun.
