Christmas dinner most Poles spend the day feasting with their family. The Christmas meal is elaborate, served in the evening on 24 December, offering large quantities of food. This Christmas Eve meal is called Wigilia. After the first star appears in the sky, everyone shares the Christmas wafer (opłatek) and wishes good things for the coming year. Then supper begins. The meal is meatless, honouring Catholic tradition. Many households also prepare a great variety of special Christmas dishes, typically numbering 12 in honor of the 12 apostles. Dishes include: stuffed carp, fried carp, herring in wine sauce, herring in cream sauce, fruit
Twelve-dish Christmas Eve supper In this respect, it was believed that varenyky, which are also a symbol of prosperity, with poppy-seed filling when served at Ukrainian Sviata Vecheria have the most magical potential for bringing prosperity and fecundity to the villager. Regarding the fish dishes, these are usually herring, carp or pike. In Lithuania, herring () dishes are popular and diverse. Usually "silkė su morkomis" (herring with carrots), or "silkė su grybais" (herring with mushrooms) are served on Christmas Eve. Mushrooms, especially dried or pickled, are also one of the main ingredients used in Christmas Eve dishes. Sauerkraut (Polish: "kiszona kapusta", Ukrainian: "квaшена капуста"