Oplatek
Created | Updated Dec 26, 2002
Oplatek (o-PWAH-tek) is a family ritual practiced by some people of Polish/Catholic origin. Like Catholicism, it operates on the principle that the only way to repent one's misdeeds is to suffer for them. Because the members of a large family tend to cause one another suffering, Oplatek is a way for each family member to atone in a simple way for any grievances that they have with one another.
This is how it works; each member of the family recieves a wafer of bread. (At least, it is called bread. The wafer itself more closely resembles a very thin sheet of polystyrene in consistency and flavour than anything else that has been called bread.) He or she then proceeds to meet with every individual member of the family, wish them a happy holiday, and break a piece from the other person's wafer. He or she then puts the wafer piece in his or her mouth, and swallows it immediately. This signifies to each member of the family that, "well, yes, I'm quite sure that I've bothered you at some point between now and last holiday, so I shall make it up to you by eating this really nasty little piece of wafer, and suffering as you did."
With the younger members of the family, or indeed, almost everyone else, this ritual can be turned into a sort of game, the object of which is to get rid of as much of your own wafer as you possibly can, whilst you take as little as you can get from everyone else around you. There is no way to win this game against another person, it is merely to keep your taste buds from engaging in an unpleasant rebellion.
Of course, the positive side is this; eating a flavourless wafer before a holiday meal tends to make one really appreciate even the most creative cooking methods.
This is how it works; each member of the family recieves a wafer of bread. (At least, it is called bread. The wafer itself more closely resembles a very thin sheet of polystyrene in consistency and flavour than anything else that has been called bread.) He or she then proceeds to meet with every individual member of the family, wish them a happy holiday, and break a piece from the other person's wafer. He or she then puts the wafer piece in his or her mouth, and swallows it immediately. This signifies to each member of the family that, "well, yes, I'm quite sure that I've bothered you at some point between now and last holiday, so I shall make it up to you by eating this really nasty little piece of wafer, and suffering as you did."
With the younger members of the family, or indeed, almost everyone else, this ritual can be turned into a sort of game, the object of which is to get rid of as much of your own wafer as you possibly can, whilst you take as little as you can get from everyone else around you. There is no way to win this game against another person, it is merely to keep your taste buds from engaging in an unpleasant rebellion.
Of course, the positive side is this; eating a flavourless wafer before a holiday meal tends to make one really appreciate even the most creative cooking methods.
