Oblátky s medom

The story

The first bite of a Slovak Christmas Eve dinner, taken before any other dish, is traditionally oblátky s medom: thin wafers spread with honey and finely ground walnuts. The ritual shares its roots with the Polish opłatek, the thin wafer that is broken and shared among family members with an exchange of wishes for luck and health in the new year. The wafers are often embossed with Nativity scenes or Christmas symbols, pressed into the dough in special molds before baking. The sweetness of the honey and the flavor of the nuts make for a simple, almost ceremonial first bite, one that signals the day's fast is over and the holiday dinner is beginning. In some families each person receives a piece of oblátka before the meal directly from the hand of an older family member, along with a spoken wish. For Slovak families in the diaspora, this brief ritual — performed before anyone even sits down at the table — is often the most direct link to the wider Central European Catholic tradition of Christmas Eve.