How was Christmas some years ago?
Some years ago, nine weeks before Christmas, people
went to church to pray and get ready for Christmas. In those days, many people
were poor and, for that reason, they offered fruit and vegetables from their lands
instead of money.
On Christmas day, they woke up early to go to church. After
the prayers, there was an auction with the fruit and vegetables offered and people
won bottles of Port Wine.
After the auction, people came home and ate Old Clothes. This is a typical
Portuguese Christmas dish which consists of the remains of the dinner from the
night before - boiled potatoes with codfish (at that time, people only ate codfish
on Christmas). For dessert, they had vermicelli.
At Christmas people
didn’t put the presents under the Christmas tree, but they made the crib four weeks
before, when they started preparing for the Advent.
They got some moss and put it in near the fireplace, where they would build the
crib with some figures like shepherds and sheep. They would only put the Jesus
figure on Christmas day.
The children believed that Jesus gave them the presents
so they put Christmas socks hanged by the fireplace, but, unfortunately, the
poor families didn’t have presents.
Made by: Lucas Laranjeira de Oliveira Lomba
Interview to: Grandmother -Maria Laranjeira and Great-aunt Belandina Laranjeira
Como era o Natal antigamente?
Antigamente, nem toda a gente fazia
presépios e árvore de natal. Na véspera de natal, comia-se bacalhau cozido com
batatas e penca. Como sobremesa, comia-se frutos secos, rabanadas e migas de
vinho.
No dia de Natal, comia-se o
ensopado, o farrapo velho, a aletria, os bolhelhos e o queijo da serra.
As crianças punham um sapatinho na
lareira à espera de uma prenda do Menino Jesus. Às vezes, havia uma prenda,
outras vezes não.
Depois de comer, todos se juntavam
à lareira, contavam histórias e jogavam ao rapa, às cartas, aos dados. Também
se bebia vinho do Porto.
How was Christmas in the past?
In the past, not everyone had cribs or Christmas trees
at home. On Christmas Eve, people ate boiled cod with potatoes and bunch kale.
For dessert, they had nuts, French toasts and bread soaked in wine.
On Christmas Day, they had stew, a plate named “old
clothes”, which consisted of the food eaten the day before, vermicelli, «bolhelhos» and Serra cheese.
Children put their shoes by the fireplace, waiting for
a present brought by Jesus. Sometimes, they were lucky, sometimes not.
After eating, everybody joined together by the
fireplace and they told stories, they played a game called «rapa», they played dice, besides other things. It
was also usual to drink Port Wine.
Clara Madalena Moreira, Núcleo da
Iniciação
