Traditionally Christmas Eve (Badni Vecher) dinner in Bulgaria would be vegetarian marking the end of a 40 day fast. Customarily an odd number of meals will be prepared. The dishes have symbolic meanings centering around fertility and abundance:
- Bobena Chorba (bean or lentil soup), so the coming year will be fertile, abundant, and wealthy
- Zelevi Sarmi (rice stuffed in sour cabbage leaves), so the next year will be abundant and crops and families will be fertile
- Tikvenik (pumpkin banitza), so life will be sweet
- Honey Bread, so life will be sweet
- Walnuts, to tell fortunes of of success or failure in new year
- Fruits, for new year to be fruitful, and walnuts
- Boiled wheat with walnuts and sugar, symbolizes the association between death and life
- Oshav, a dried-fruit compote, to represent abundance
- Onions and garlic, for abundance and protection
Tradition holds that the more dishes on the table, the richer the next harvest will be.
