Anchorage Daily News

On Christmas Eve, to commemorate Christ's birth, a ritual meal is prepared with 12 meatless dishes representing the 12 apostles. The menus differ among the regions of Ukraine, but this is a sample:

1. Kutya: A porridge of wheat, poppy seeds, honey and nuts.

2. Borscht: A soup of beets, potatoes, carrots, onions, cabbage and tomatoes.

3. Baked/fried fish: Any variety of fish baked or fried, but if fried, only vegetable/olive/hemp oil are used in keeping with the meatless nature of the meal.

4. Oseledsi: Pickled fish.

5. Holubtsi: Cabbage rolls filled with grain.

6 and 7. Varenyky: Pirogies (pastry turnovers) filled with potato and sauerkraut.

8. Cooked beans

9. Kapusta: Cabbage and peas.

10. Beets with mushrooms

11. Fruit compote

12. Pampushky: Deep-fried dumplings filled with poppy seeds, apricots or prunes.

-- from www.radioua.com