Christmas and Easter Meals

A RECIPE BOOK FROM BULGARIA

IVAN VAZOV SECONDARY SCHOOL PLEVEN, BULGARIA

Christmas Eve Bulgaria’s Christmas Eve is celebrated with a meal consisting of an odd number of dishes which follows the forty-day Advent fast.

This vegetarian meal includes grains, vegetables, fruits and nuts.

Walnuts, in particular, are found on the Bulgarian Christmas Eve table. These nuts are cracked in order to predict success or failure for the coming year. Another special aspect of the Bulgarian Christmas Eve meal is the round loaf of bread, into which a coin is baked. The person who finds the coin will be rewarded with good fortune. The Christmas Eve dinner table may not be cleared until the next morning to provide sustenance for the ghosts of ancestors who may come back to visit before Christmas morning.

One belief that is central to Bulgarian culture is the legend that the Virgin Mary bore Christ on Christmas Eve, but only announced his birth the day after, on Christmas Day. Legend also says that Mary was in labor from December 20th until the birth of Christ.

December 20th is the Day of St. Ignat, or Ignazhden.

Christmas Celebrations in Bulgaria Talking about Christmas customs and traditions, Bulgaria religiously follows the Eastern Orthodox Church. This can be said because the country fulfils the two main characteristic of the Orthodox celebrations – fasting during Advent and preparing the symbolic lavish Christmas Eve meal.

Forty days before Christmas, Bulgarians observe fasting, thereby abstaining themselves from all animal products, such as meat, cheese, yogurt, milk and eggs. The fasting ends on Christmas day, after an essentially vegan Christmas Eve meal, when meat consumption returns.

Koledari A traditional ritual that was practiced in Bulgaria during Christmas is Koleduvane. In this, koledari or young, unmarried men would spread Christmas cheer around the place by dressing in costumes and singing songs. These young boys would sing songs for wealth and health of the hosts and be rewarded with money, food and so on. They used to carry long sticks called 'koledaris', on which round bread with holes, known as 'kravai', were stuck. The ritual is still seen in practice in certain villages and towns. Apart from this, Bulgarians used to light a bonfire and leave it to burn throughout the night. It was believed that this would bring luck and turn hopes to reality.

Bread with a coin Another spell for prosperity on Christmas, which is practiced in Bulgaria till date, is the inserting of a silver coin into a loaf of bread. Similar to the custom practiced in other parts of the world, the eldest member of the family cuts the bread and gives a piece to everyone at the table. The person who finds the coin in his piece of bread is expected to have good fortune in the coming year. A little variation of this custom is also practiced in some parts of Bulgaria.

Here, the unmarried girls take their first piece of bread from the Christmas Eve meal and place it under their pillows, believing that by doing so, they will dream of their would-be husband in the night.

Banitsa On Christmas, celebrations and lavish meals go hand in hand around the world. Such is the sight in Bulgaria as well, as people prepare scrumptious vegan dinner on the Christmas Eve. In every household, at least 12 items are prepared and served at the dinner table, each signifying the fortune and prosperity of the coming months. An ideal Bulgarian Christmas Eve dinner table would boasts of beans, different kinds of nuts, dried plums, cakes and the traditional Banitsa. Besides this, there is walnut for everyone at the table. Whoever gets a good and delicious nut would have a lucky year ahead and vice versa. Though, over the years, the

customs have changed a little, one thing that has remained constant is the festive spirit of Christmas!!

Recipes Christmas Eve Koledna pitka This recipe for Bulgarian Christmas bread or koledna pitka requires only one rise. It is typically eaten on Christmas Eve and throughout the holidays. Often, a silver coin is tucked inside and the one to find it should expect good luck in the coming year. There are many ways to shape this bread, but I think this sunflower look is most festive.

Prep Time: 1 hour Cook Time: 30 minutes Rising time: 45 minutes Total Time: 1 hour, 75 minutes Yield: 1 Bulgarian Christmas Bread Ingredients:  1 cup warm water  1 package active dry yeast  2 tablespoons sugar  2.2 pounds all-purpose flour  4 tablespoons oil or softened butter  4 large eggs (reserving 1 egg yolk to brush on bread)  1 tablespoon salt Preparation: In small bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Stir in sugar and 2 tablespoons flour until well combined. Transfer to a stand mixer bowl, and add remaining flour, oil or butter, 3 whole eggs and 1 egg white (reserving remaining egg yolk to brush on the bread before baking), and salt. Knead until smooth and pliable. If dough is too dry, add 1 tablespoon warm water at a time until desired consistency is met.

Likewise, if dough is too wet, add 1 tablespoon flour at a time until deisred consistency is met.

Divide dough into 7 equal-size balls. Place 1 ball in the center of a greased 12-inch baking tray like a pizza pan without a lip. Cover with greased plastic wrap while you roll each of the other balls into 10-inch circles and, using a pizza cutter, cut into 8 triangular pieces.

Lightly brush the top of each triangular piece with oil or melted butter. Stack three pieces on top of each other. Twist to form a cone. Repeat with remaining dough. You will have 16 "cones."

Arrange these around the center ball of dough with the wide side of the cone facing out. Cover and let rise until almost doubled. Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Slash an "X" in middle ball of risen dough.

Brush bread all over with remaining beaten egg yolk mixed with 1 tablespoon water. Bake about 15 minutes and cover top loosely with foil to prevent overbrowning. Bake an additional 15 minutes or until instant-read thermometer registers 190 degrees when inserted in the thickest part of the dough. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Pull off "cones" for individual servings.

Sarmi Sarmi is a traditional meal in Bulgaria, it is present in every Bulgarian home on Christmas Eve. Preparation:

Rice, onions, and various spices, including salt, pepper and various local herbs are mixed together and then rolled into large plant leaves, which may be cabbage (fresh or pickled), chard, patience, vine leaf (fresh or pickled) or broadleaf plantain leaves. The combination is then cooked together in boiling water for few hours.

While specific recipes vary across the region, it is uniformly recognized that the best cooking method is slow boiling in large clay pots. A special ingredient, flour browned in fat, is often added at the end of the process. Other fine-tuned flavours include cherry tree leaves in some locations; Bulgarian people overwhelmingly use sour cabbage as opposed to fresh cabbage. At the end of the autumn, families traditionally prepare the sour cabbage (as whole cabbage, or as individual leaves, but not shredded) for sarmamaking. Another kind of sarmi are those rolled in (grape) vine leaves— smaller and with slightly different taste.

Sarma is normally a heavy dish (though families are increasingly using healthier options such as olive oil or other oils instead of the traditional pork fat). Thus, it is usually eaten during winter.

Traditionally, they are served along with polenta or potatoes, which are sometimes mashed.

Serving It is virtually impossible to make sarma for a small number of people, unless they are willing to help themselves to huge servings.

Traditionally, a pot filled with sarme/sarmale is usually prepared for an entire family. Sarma is often served as a one of the main dishes during wedding ceremonies. In diasporic communities, it is often cherished as a reminder of their former homelands.

Stiffed capsicum with beans Ingredients: 20 dried capsicum 1/2 kg. dried beans 2 onions 3 cloves garlic 50 gr. flour 1 carrot 1 bunch of parsley Red pepper Salt Preparation and serving: Put the capsicum in warm water and leave it for 1 hour. Cook the beans. Chop fine the carrot and the onion, then add them to the cooked beans. Add as well the fine chopped parsley and the flour.

Stir the mixture to make it homogeneous. Fill in the capsicum with the mixture and put in a baking tin, covering the capsicum openings with flour to seal it during the baking. Bake it for about 30 min. at 200掳小.

Tikvenic Banitsa s tikva Pumpkin Pie - Filo Pastry - Sunflower oil or melted butter

- Pumpkin chopped into small chunks - 8 - 10 oz Sugar to taste Brown if you have it, if you do use less of it.

- 5 oz Walnuts chopped - 1 tbsp Cinnamon - Honey optional drizzle it over each layer Cook the pumpkin in a little water or steam till soft, drain it well push out some of the excess water. Mash the pumpkin then add the sugar and cinnamon and cook together over a very low heat stirring till all the water has gone. Add the walnuts to pumpkin and mix it through well. Layer the filo pastry and mixture oiling the filo on each layer don’t forget to drizzle with honey if you are using it!

End with a layer of filo and oil the top.

Cook in a pre heated oven 220c.

Banitsa Banitsa (pronounced BAH-nit-sa) is a traditional Bulgarian pastry prepared by layering a mixture of whisked eggs and pieces of sirene (white cheese) between filo pastry and then baking it in an oven.

Cheese Filling Ingredients: 4 eggs pinch of baking soda 1/4 kg sirene (white cheese)

Beat eggs, adding baking soda, keep beating and add crumbed (or grated or crushed) cheese.

Preparation: Take 12 pastry sheets (phyllo). Grease bottom of a pan with butter or oil. Brush 3 sheets with butter. Place sheets one atop the other.

Spread 1/3 of filling. Top with 2 more sheets, each brushed with butter or oil. Spread second third of filling. Repeat one more time.

Top last layer of filling with 3 oiled sheets. Bake in a moderate oven until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean

Home-style turkey Ingredients 1 (12 pound) whole turkey 6 tablespoons butter, divided 4 cups warm water 3 tablespoons chicken bouillon 2 tablespoons dried parsley 2 tablespoons dried minced onion 2 tablespoons seasoning salt Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Rinse and wash turkey. Discard the giblets, or add to pan if they are anyone's favorites.

Place turkey in a Dutch oven or roasting pan. Separate the skin over the breast to make little pockets. Put 3 tablespoons of the butter on both sides between the skin and breast meat. This makes for very juicy breast meat.

In a medium bowl, combine the water with the bouillon. Sprinkle in the parsley and minced onion. Pour over the top of the turkey.

Sprinkle seasoning salt over the turkey.

Cover with foil, and bake in the preheated oven 3 1/2 to 4 hours, until the internal temperature of the turkey reaches 180 degrees F (80 degrees C). For the last 45 minutes or so, remove the foil so the turkey will brown nicely.

Christmas cookies Products: • 1 1/2 cup melted butter • 3/4 tea cup castor sugar • 1 vanilla • ½ pinch of salt • 3 cups flour • 1/2 cup crushed nuts Making: Heat up the oven to 19 degrees. Mix the butter, sugar, vanilla and salt until a homogeneous mixture. Add gradually the flour and the nuts. Form small balls and bake in a greased baking dish for about 10-12 min. until the

cookies get brown. After that powder with castor sugar if you want.

Dried fruits (Oshav) Products: • 3 tea cups dried fruits – apples, apricots, plums, quinces…

• 3 coffee cups sugar Making: Well washed dried fruits should be soaked in cold water and let them like this all night. After that Boil them in the same water until they become soft. Sweeten them with sugar or honey.

Easter Easter is the Resurrection day, but also the last day of transition to spring and summer, the day of final resumption of nature.

That’s why according to the national concept Easter is the greatest and most important spring feast in the calendar.

The preparations for the feast start a week earlier, when the young girls go around the village and collect eggs for the holiday. They are usually painted on Maundy Thursday.

The first egg is always painted red and with it the housewife draws a cross on the children’s foreheads, so as to be healthy and ruddy trough the year.

It is placed in front of the icon or is buried in the field to protect it of hailstorms.

Easter cakes are being made. Here we call it “kozunak”. On the table there are also green salads, roasted lamb, cookies and biscuits.

In accordance with the traditional beliefs Maundy Thursday is appropriate for different magic, especially love spells.

The night before Easter maidens put their rings under the pillows and dreams the man they’re going to marry to. On the holiday itself each person can wish something, holding valuable object in hand and if he is pure of sins he will receive it.

At midnight between Saturday and Sunday everyone go to the church and walk around it 3 times for the tree nights and days that Jesus spend in his grave until the resurrection. After a solemn liturgy, people go home with burning candle.

On Sunday we say “Christ has risen!” and the reply is “Truly, he has risen!”, we visit one-another and bring presents.

In the afternoon maidens go on a specific place and make swings, dance and sing songs, some of them are about nymphs and dragons: Green flat mow, Always be as green As in an empty Sunday And Great Saturday.

Easter boasted at me With it’s red eggs, St. George’s day with young lambs, St. Peter’s day with fragile chicks…

Recipes Easter cake with raisins Products: • 7 ½ tea cups flour • yeast • 500 ml milk • 200 g butter • 6 eggs • 200 g sugar

• 1 lemon • 50 g raisins • salt Making: • Dilute the yeast with ½ tea cups warm milk and flour and let it for a while.

• Knead a dough with the rest of the flour, the risen yeast, the stirred eggs with the sugar, the milk, salt and the grated rind of the lemon. Mix it very well then add gradually melted butter.

• Let the dough to rise until it doubles it’s size. From that dough make roll or plaits then put it into greased forms and decorate with raisins. Let it rise a little more then smear it with egg and powder it with sugar. Bake it in moderate oven.

Lamb with sauce Products: • 600 g lamb meat • 3 pickles • 1 tablespoon mustard • 1 tablespoon white vinegar • 1 tablespoon chopped basil

• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley • 2 cloves of garlic • 8 tablespoons olive oil • salt • black pepper Making: • Chop the garlic and the pickles. Mix it and add mustard, vinegar, basil and parsley.

• Pour gradually 4 tablespoons olive oil. Put salt and black pepper. The sauce is ready.

• Cut the meat on small pieces and fry it in the rest of the olive oil.

• Serve it with the sauce.

A RECIPE BOOK FROM ASTURIAS

COLEGIO DE LA INMACULADA CONCEPCIÓN. GIJÓN ASTURIAS - SPAIN

CHRISTMAS TIME December 21st

Christmas holidays start on 21st December. A day after, the Christmas lottery takes place. The draw is the most important of the world because of its repercussion and the space and quantity of the shared money. The child who sings the prizes is from the school of St. Ildefonso, an orphanage. The amount of the first prize is about 3 million Euros.

It’s

a

tradition to buy a ticket and give it to a person as a Christmas present. In Spain the

Christmas

lottery draw is very famous.

The other lottery in Christmas time is the child lottery. It takes place on 6th January, the same day as the Three Wise Men bring presents to the children. This lottery is less important than the Christmas Lottery.

December 24 th Christmas in Spain is a fun loving time with friends and family.

These are the most relevant traditions.

El Olentzero He is a clever and kind shepherd, who likes wine and gastronomy.

He was working in the mountains when he was told that Jesus had been born. Then, he climbed down, and he went to the village to bring presents for children and tell the Good News.

Olentzero is used to remember an old celebration: Winter Solstice.

Each year a parade about Olentzero is celebrated. He looks like a very big doll, and he is accompanied by music and songs.

The King’s Speech Every year, in Christmas Eve, the Spanish King talks about the nation and sends his best wishes to Spanish people. He remembers important moments of the year and mentions some problems which had taken place in Spain, but he always shows optimism. He also wishes Merry Christmas to everyone.

He starts every year with a similar sentence, and continues talking for a half an hour.

On 24th December children usually sing carols from house to house and if they do it well, people give them some money or chocolate snacks. It´s called “agüinaldo” in Spanish.

A typical menu on Christmas Eve: - starter: seafood soup - main dishes: lamb - dessert: marzipan - drinks: cava Seafood Soup Ingredients: 800gr fish (monkfish) 150 gr clams 100 gr prawns 300 gr tomato 2 carrots 2 onions 3 cloves of garlic 100g bread One glass of White wine ½ dl of oil 1 chilli A pich of cayenne A pepper How to prepare it:

Boil the fish´s head in water with salt Fry the vegetables in olive oil (without tomato) Add the fish`s heads and the shells of the prawns. Add wine Boil for 5 minutes, put stakes of tomato and the cayenne After 20 minutes , put all this in the mixer and keep it there.

Boil the soup in the saucepan and add the bread cut in small pieces. Boil it foe an hour Cut the fish in pieces ,add it together with the clam to the saucepan

prawn and

Boil it for 10 minutes, then it’s ready to eat.

Roast Lamb Ingredients: A lamb leg or shoulder garlic white wine (1/2 glass) salt olive oil (3 spoonfuls) water ( 1 glass) potatoes (2 or 3 small ones for each person)

How to prepare it: -Before you put the lamb on the oven add some salt and garlic ( two or three cloves , chopped) to it..

Water it with white wine and water(2 measures of water for each measure of wine.

Add some olive oil over the lamb.

Bake it at mid-heat for one hour. From time to time cover the lamb with the liquid (water, wine, oil) from the tray..

-Stick a knife or a fork to check that the meat is tender..

A quarter of an hour before the meat is cooked, add some boiled potatoes to roast with the lamb.

-Serve everything on the same dish.

Marzipan Origins: The appearance of Marzipan takes place in the eleventh century.

In the year 1150 quoted a paste of sugar and honey in the culinary description in this year.

They were invented by the nuns of the Convent of San Clemente in Toledo during “a famine�, which was suffered in Castile after the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212). At that time there was no wheat in the city, its storerooms were filled with sugar and almonds. So they decided to feed the hungry with the succulent food.

Ver diccionario detallado Ingredients (serves 3) 300 gram of ground almonds

300 gram of powdered sugar Tablespoons water One egg white Optional (half a lemon zest and cinnamon) How to prepare it: In a bowl, place the almonds with sugar and two table spoons of water.

Optionally we add the cinnamon and lemon zest. Knead it for quite a while until you make a uniform dough.

Leave the dough for a couple of hours in cool place Afterwards, make different figures and place them on a baking sheet.

In a bowl place the egg whites, with a mixer whip it.

Then with a pastry brush, paint the figures with this eggwhite When you completed it, we introduce the plate in the oven for about 2 minutes at 200 ยบ C temperature until the figures are golden brown. Remove from the oven and let them cool.

In a bowl put the figures accompanying the rest of Christmas treats.

It is very easy, you can do it with your children

Cava Cava is a sparkling wine very traditional in Spain, it is very similar to champagne.

This is followed by the addition of selected yeasts to cause a second fermentation in the bottle making the way for the fine bubbles, aromas and flavors of the second fermentation are perfectly integrated into the wine cellar that has been obtained You can follow cava with aromas and flavors to be a better cava.

December 25th On 25th December families gather to have lunch. These are some typical recipes.

- starter: soup - main dish: sucking pig - dessert: nougat, polvorón - drinks: white or red wine Sucking Pig Ingredients: 1 sucking pig about 4 kilogram’s Salt and pepper Lard 20cl of water

How to prepare it: Add salt inside the sucking pig. Then, spread with lard. It´s very important to burst it for put in the oven and the skin will be crisp.

Open the sucking pig with the skin down. Put it in the oven for an hour about 180º.

Turn the pig and add water and continue to roast during another hour. Spread again the skin with lard and increase the oven temperature to 200º and roast it 30 minutes more. Take out the sucking pig from the oven, cut up it and pass the juice from the source to a gravy boat.

Nougat It is a product created with almonds and sugar .It appears many years ago. Arabian people “create” this sweet because they wanted to find a food that lasted many years. Other people say that turrón (nougat) is the surname of a countryman that created a product with original materials.

There are two different types of nougat : hard nougat and soft nougat "Turron de Alicante" (hard nougat) Ingredients: 1 kilo Honey 500 gr sugar 2 egg whites 1.500 gr almonds, heated up in oven 1 lemon

How to prepare it: Slowly heat the honey in a saucepan until all the water that it contains has evaporated. Add the sugar and mix with a wooden spatula.

Beat the egg white until stiff and then add to the mixture.

Stir briskly with the spatula for eight to ten minutes then stir slowly over a low flame until it begins to caramelise (turn brown) Put the hot almonds into the honey mixture with the rind of the lemon Mix well and let cook slowly for a few minutes taking care it does not stick The mixture is then poured into wooden moulds lined with rice paper After two and a half hours, the turr贸n is cut. When it is completely cold, the slices are stored in an airtight container.

Turr贸n

de

Jijona

nougat) Ingredients : 1 dessertspoon cinnamon 250 gms sugar 250 grams white honey 250 grams toasted almonds

(soft

250 grams toasted hazelnuts 5 egg whites How to prepare it: Chop the nuts finely and then crush them in the mortar until they become a smooth paste Beat the eggs whites stiffly and then add them to the paste Put the honey and sugar in a saucepan and bring to the boil Add the paste to the honey mixture Mix constantly with a wooden spatula for ten minutes Remove from the heat, put into wooden moulds lined with rice paper Polvorón Origins: Polvorón originated in Spain in the 16th century. Like the tradition of the twelve New Year’s Eve grapes, the eating of this product began with an excess in the crops. People say that it was in Antequera, Andalucía or in Estepa.

Ingredients 400 grams of flour 100 grams of butter 100 grams of almonds 1 spoonful of cinnamon 150 grams of powder sugar How to prepare it: Sieve the flour and mix with the almonds Toast the mixture in the oven at 150 degrees for 30 minutes, and stir sporadically

Let the mixture cool.

Pour it into a bowl, add 100 grams of powder sugar and butter Knead it until you obtain an uniform pastry.

Form a bun with the preparation, put it on a plate, cover it with paper and freeze it for an hour.

Knead one more time, spread the pastry and form the polvorón (You can use baking pans with different forms) Put on a tray the polvorón and bake them at 200 degrees for 10 or 15 minutes. Take them out of the oven and sprinkle powder sugar on them.

You can add anisette to the preparation, to have a good smell.

The polvorones must be manipulated carefully, because they are fragile and can break easily.

Wine In Spain, adult people used to drink Cava and Rioja Wine with the meals, especially in the Christmas time.

Rioja Wine is the best Spanish

wine.

Then, while almost appeared rosé wines, which the classic blend of pink appeared the wine called

simultaneously also came from champagne, so Rosado

Rosado, It’s the barrel aging is where the major changes that we appreciate the sensory level with the development of aromas, color, roughness, etc. The wine is then to be bottled and here is where the qualitative best after aging. The bottles remain at a constant temperature in an atmosphere of darkness and silence.

December 28th This is The Feast of the Holy Innocents.

It is celebrated similarly to April Fool's Day, with practical jokes. Perhaps the most traditional joke is to pin a paper doll on the back and say “Innocent!”

December 31st San Silvestre It’s a race, approximately 7 km long, which is run the 31th of December. The tradition says that if you finish the race you’ll be fit enough to start the year.

You can take it easy, it’s not competitive, you can wear a costume, talk with friends while you run… There are more and more participants every year. At first there were only 100 people but now there are a lot of people. Town council usually pays people to win the race in a better time than the year before.

Dinner On New Year’s Eve families gather again to welcome the coming year. After a good dinner, we have 12 grapes. Before the New Year starts

the clock strikes 12 times and we eat a grape with each stroke.

That brings good luck.

After dinner young people usually meet friends in a ball, which lasts until late. Before going back home, it is common to have chocolate with churros. Here is the recipe.

Churros Ingredients: (Makes one platefull) Vegetable or Olive Oil 1 cup water 1/2 cup margarine or butter 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup all-purpose flour 3 eggs 1/4 cup sugar How to prepare them: Prepare to fry the churros by heating oil in a pan (1 to 1&1/2 inches) to 360 degrees F. To make churro dough, heat water, margarine and salt to rolling boil in 3-quart saucepan; stir in flour. Stir vigorously over low heat until mixture forms a ball, about 1 minute; remove from heat. Beat eggs all at once; continue beating until smooth and then add to saucepan while stirring mixture.

Spoon mixture into cake decorators' tube with large star tip (like the kind use to decorate cakes). Squeeze 4-inch strips of dough into hot oil. Fry 3 or 4 strips at a time until golden brown, turning

once, about 2 minutes on each side. Drain on paper towels. Roll churros in sugar or dump the sugar on the pile of churros, like the pros.

January 5 th and 6 th On the night of 5th January the Three Wise Men bring present to the children. But only if they have been good boy and girls, otherwise they will receive coal!! Children open their presents early in the morning of 6th January, afterwards they have roscón de Reyes for breakfast. The roscón usually contains a small present inside.

Roscón de Reyes (large ring-shaped cake baked for Epiphany) Ingredients: • • • • • • • •

4 cups unbleached flour 1/2 tsp salt 1 oz yeast 2/3 cup mixed lukewarm milk and water (of equal parts) 6 Tbsp butter 6 Tbsp sugar grated rind of 1 lemon grated rind of 1 orange

How to prepare it: Serves 8-10.

Sift flour and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Make a hole in the center of the flour.

In a small mixing bowl, stir and dissolve the dry yeast in the lukewarm milk-water mixture. Once dissolved, pour the dissolved yeast into the center of the flour. Stir in just enough flour from around the bowl to make a thick batter.

With your hand, grab about a teaspoon of the flour from the side of bowl and sprinkle it over the top of batter. Cover bowl with a kitchen towel and leave in a warm place, away from any draft. Allow batter to turn spongy, about 15 minutes.

In a medium-size mixing bowl, use a hand mixer or whisk to beat together the butter and sugar. The mixture should be smooth and creamy. Set aside.

Put grated orange and lemon rinds, eggs, brandy and water to the bowl with flour misture. Mix all. The dough will be sticky.

Beat flour mixture until it is elastic and smooth. Beat in buttersugar mixture and mix until the dough is smooth. Dough should be formed into a ball, then covered with oiled plastic wrap. Cover bowl with a kitchen towel and leave it again in a warm place and allow to rise until doubled in size. This will take approximately 1.5 hours.

While you are waiting for the dough to rise, grease a large baking sheet with vegetable shortening and set aside for use later. If you will use a baking stone, no need to grease it

Once dough has doubled, remove plastic wrap and punch dough down. Lightly flour a clean counter or cutting board and place dough on it. Knead for 2-3 minutes. Then, using a rolling pin, roll dough into a long rectangle, about 2 feet long and 5-6 inches wide.

Roll the dough on the long side into a sausage shape. Carefully place the dough onto the large baking sheet or stone and connect the ends together, forming a ring. If you will hide a bean or a small foil-wrapped, ceramic figurine in the cake, now is the time to tuck it under the dough. Cover with oiled plastic wrap again.

Leave in a warm place and allow to double in size. This will take about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Heat oven to 350F degrees. Lightly beat the egg white in a bowl.

Uncover the dough and brush the top of the cake. Decorate the ring with the candied fruit pieces. Push them into the dough slightly so that they do not fall off. Place in oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool on a rack before serving.

CARNIVAL The Carnival is known traditionally in Asturias as "Antroxu", a word that derives from the ancient Castilian and that means "entry", doing allusion to the fact of which it precedes the Lent. There are numerous the localities that celebrate it in Asturias, and each one with peculiarities that make them special.

In the 19th century the carnival day was consisting of a great food and familiar celebration before happening the epoch of fasting and religious concentration that precedes to the Holy Week. But little by little there are interfering new celebrations that manage to turn

into traditions and that they lengthen the time of this holiday, being celebrated in some localities from January. After the prohibition the holiday recovered, but very limited, with six days of duration but with great intensity of activities.

The main festivals in Asturias take place in two cities: Aviles and Gijon.

In Avilés people make funny “boats” to go down Galiana Street

which is full of foam.

Boats in Galiana Street In Gijón, the carnival takes place three days Saturday, Monday and Tuesday , in this day we have the “Entierro de la Sardina”. As Gijon is a city on the coast it is related to the sea “A sardine dies “and a funeral is celebrated to say goodbye to the sardine and throw it to the sea. In this festival we eat typical dishes like Bollo preñao, Pote Asturiano, Codfish, Garlic soup, Pote de Vigilia, Frixuelos, Picatostes.

Entierro de la Sardina – Sardine’s Funeral

The "bollo pre単ao" is a piece of bread stuffed with chorizo is usually small in size and appears in various outdoor spring festivals held in Asturias. It is usually accompanied by cider.

Pote Asturiano Ingredients people)

(10/12

1 kg of red potatoes.

2 slices of bacon 5 black sausages.

5 red sausages. a little saffron 400 g of beans 2 cabbages How to prepare it: Cut the cabbages in small pieces, then it has to boil for 10 minutes.

Cut the red sausages in small pieces.

The beans boil alone on the fire for 30 minutes; next add the potatoes, the bacon, the black sausages, the red sausages, the saffron, the beans and the cabbages.

Finally leave it on the fire for two or two and a half hours.

Garlic soup Ingredients: 2 liter of water.

Stale bread.

6 cloves garlic.

Oil. Salt.

Parsley.

300gr. of sting onion.

50gr. of ham.

Little spoonful of paprika.

6 eggs for 6 people.

How to prepare it: First: Fry the stale bread with some oil until it gets brown. Take away the oil from the frying pan and fry the garlic.

Then: Fry the onion and the whole garlic, separate from the fire and add the paprika and the ham (remove all the time).

Next: Add the boiling water or the stock, take away the garlic and put over the fire. Add the bread and soak well. Add the parsley, then the salt and the oil on a low flame for ten minutes.

Finally: Crack the eggs in a casserole with the soup. Put it in the oven until the white of the egg is curdle. The soup is ready.

Codfish with artichokes Ingredients (4 people): 800g. of codfish 60g. of flour 6 eggs 180ml. of oil 1 tomato 2 cloves of garlic 1 onion 1 bay leaf 250g. of artichokes 100g. of red pepper How to prepare it:

Cut the codfish in big pieces and leave it in water for 24 hours changing the water 3 times, when the codfish is desalted, dip it in flour and egg and you fry it all.

With the rest of the oil make the sauce with 1 peeled tomato, 1 chopped onion, some cloves of garlic, some flour and 1 bay leaf.

Put the codfish in a bowl and add the cooked artichokes (in a cross shape), the eggs and the sauce over.

Boil it for some minutes and decorate it with some strips of red pepper.

Potaje de Vigilia con Bacalao (Cod): People in the past followed a tradition very carefully: in Easter they couldn’t eat meat and in the houses there was fish. The cheapest fish and the easiest to keep in salt was the cod.

Ingredients: 320g/ chickpeas.

400g/ spinach.

200g/ codfish.

2dl/ olive-oil.

300g/ onion.

100g/ carrot.

2 clove of garlic.

1 spoonfull of floor.

1 spoonfull cayenne pepper.

How to prepare it: Put the codfish in a pot with water; take the salt away from the codfish, introducing in water for 24 hours. And change the water at least every 8 hours. And put the chickpeas in water overnight.

We draw water out of the codfish, and take the skin and bones out of the codfish, dry it and make crumbles.

Wash the spinach, drain it and chop.

We put a pot on the fire with water and add half the oil, whole garlic cloves, unpeeled and cut, and one of the onions, peeled and halved.

When about to boil add the chickpeas, cover and let simmer until tender (approximately 2 hours).

Meanwhile, put the bread with the remaining oil on a frying paid, and when hot, add the two onions finely chopped carrots, and cook, stirring, over a low heat.

When the onion is soft, add the flour and paprika, stirring well to prevent lumps. Add a few tablespoons of broth chickpeas, mix well, turn up the heat and keep stirring with a wooden spoon for 1 minute.

Pour into the pot of chickpeas, stir and let simmer with the pot uncovered, for about 15 minutes.

Then add the cod and spinach and let it cook for about 10 minutes all together.

Put salt and serve hot.

Picatostes Ingredients: 1 loaf of bread 1 / 2 liter milk 1 egg some olive oil

cinnamon sugar and lemon How to prepare them: Cut the bread into slices, about eight, about 1 centimeter thick.

Boil the milk with a cinnamon stick and lemon rind, add 2 tablespoons sugar remove from heat.

Then soak the slices for about 15 minutes.

Roll the slices in beaten egg and fry them in hot oil until they get golden brown.

Frixuelos (pancakes) Ingredients: Three eggs.

A glass of milk.

300 grams of flour 100 grams of butter A pinch of salt.

How to prepare them: First, beat the three eggs (you can use a fork).

Second, pour de eggs in a bowl and add a glass of milk, 300 grams of flour, 100 grams of butter and a punch of salt.

Then, mix the ingredients. The mixture should be like a light cream.

After that pour a spoonful of that mixture into a hot frying pan.

Repeat this action until finish the mixture.

Finally sprinkle sugar or chocolate and if you want cream.

To serve “frixuelos”: On top of a plate sprinkle a spoonful of sugar and put the first “frixuelo” on it. On this “frixuelo” sprinkle again another spoonful of sugar. Repeat this, one by one.

We usually eat the “frixuelos” rolling them up and they should be hot.

EASTER Easter in Spain is a very wellknown holiday. It lasts a week, from “Palm Sunday”, we remember when Jesus arrived to Jerusalem, until “ Easter Sunday”, when we remember Jesus’ resurrection.

During the forty days before, we celebrate Lent. It starts the first Wednesday after Carnival that it’s called “Ash Wednesday”. In this period it is traditional not to eat meat.

On “Palm Sunday” Christians usually go to church to bless their palms and give them to their Godfather and Godmother. Godchildren receive a chocolate egg or other presents.

During the following week there are school holidays and a lot of people travel

to different places. On Holly Thursday we commemorate Jesus last dinner with his disciples. On Holly Friday we remember Jesus’ passion and his death on the cross. On Holly Sunday, also called Easter Sunday, we commemorate Jesus’ resurrection and it’s a happy day to enjoy with the family.

There are a lot of processions some of the most famous are: -The body of Christ: we take the body of Christ in procession.

-Coastal procession: Jesus comes in a ship. It’s typical in Gijon

PAINTED EGGS "Huevos Pintos" One of t he most popular Festivals in Easter is held in Pola de Siero a small town in the centre of Asturias. It is the Festival of Painted Eggs.

This festival, Huevos Pintos, was declared a Festival of National Tourist Interest in 1968 and is held every year on the Tuesday after Easter Sunday.

As Asturias is a mine region it is thought that this tradition was introduced in the 19th century by people from other European countries, who had moved to Asturias to work in the mines.

However, the custom of coloring and decorating eggs has roots in Spanish regions such as Catalonia, Valencia, the Basque Country and AndalucĂ­a as well.

Here in Asturias, this tradition is transmitted from parents to children.

Its origins are not very clear. Some people think it is related with religion, others think it has something to do with the concept of the renewal life each spring.

The Festival of Painted Eggs involves the exhibition and the sale of the painted eggs. Those eggs are also given as gifts to friends and relatives.

The wonderful eggs, which are exhibited in stands around the Alfonso X park, are decorated by hand with all types of drawings, scenes, proverbs, names and dedications. It takes days to do this work.

Every Tuesday after Easter Sunday, people from the village wearing the traditional regional clothes, attend the blessing of the Dark Eggs in Bable, the language of Asturias, as well as the parades of floats and performances by traditional groups which provide the beauty, sound, music rich colour surrounding this unusual festival of the Eggs in Pola de Siero.

EASTER IN SPAIN The high point of the liturgical calendar is not, as might be supposed, the birth of Jesus, but the Easter resurrection signifying Jesus's triumph over death and the promise of eternal life. The actual date for this celebration varies.

On Easter Sunday in Castile-La Mancha as in Castile-Leon , and in other parts of Madrid, Andalusia and the Basque Country, a rag or straw effigy representing Judas is burnt. In some places it is filled with rockets or explosives, producing a most spectacular effect at the moment of truth --normally on a bonfire or even under a hail of gunfire.

The Descent of the Angel is celebrated in a fashion common to Aranda de Duero (Burgos), PeĂąafiel (Valladolid) and Tudela (Navarre). A child dressed as an angel is lowered down by a rope, sometimes hidden in a type of could which opens at the given moment. The child then removes the black veil covering the Virgin Mary's face.

Emotional reunion ceremonies between the resurrected Christ and his Mother usually occur during processions held on this day. These sometimes culminate in an embrace between the two figures as happens in the Coria embrace ceremony in Coria del RĂ­o (Seville) where the bearers compete to see who can best step up the rhythm.

There are races which turn into fierce competitions in Pilas (Seville), and also in Villanueva de la Serena (Badajoz), the end result of which is the reunion. In Elche (Alicante) thousands of multicoloured streamers displaying religious images are thrown from balconies before the resurrected Christ and the Virgin of the Ascension as they pass below.

Of note in Catalonia are the caramelles, traditional Easter hymns

usually sung in the street, while all sorts of food is collected in a basket. During this period the Fiesta del Bollu (Cake Festival) is held in Avilés (Asturias), the vueltas rocieras (open-air festival) in Castilleja de la Cuesta (Sevilla), Lord's Day in Finisterre with the performance of a sacramental play (La Coruña), Firewater Day in Portomarín (Lugo), the Trujillo Passover in Trujillo (Cáceres) and the Toro embolao in Vejer de la Frontera (Cádiz).

Easter Monday and Tuesday (and even Easter Sunday in some places) are notable for the amount of outdoor festivals, where it is typical to eat chocolate buns or cakes in specific regions. In Murcia there is the Spring Festival, with the Orchard Proclamation, and the Burial of the Sardine, in Pola de Siero (Asturias) the Festival of Painted Eggs can be seen, and in Talavera de la Reina (Toledo) the Mondas ceremony takes place on the Saturday. On the Sunday following Easter (known as Low Sunday or Quasimodo Sunday) San Vicente de la Barquera (Cantabria) stages the Folía ceremony accompanied by the local Picayos group and the Charles V dancers.

On the Monday the Miracle Plays by San Vicente Ferrer are performed in Valencia.

Easter is celebrated in every corner of Spain, and each different place does so in its own special way. For centuries these festivities have been deeply-rooted in popular imagination and inextricably linked with art. This can be seen, for example, in the many images of Christ and the Virgin Mary, masterfully sculpted with incredible realism by the likes of Juan de Juni, Pedro Berruguete and Gil de

Siloé. These exceptional works of Spanish religious art (many of which are more than 500 years old) are paraded through the streets to be devoutly and respectfully admired by thousands of people.

You can hear the silence and austerity of Easter week in CastileLeón, in the processions of León, Zamora, Salamanca and Valladolid.

Their sober atmosphere is only broken by the sound of the trumpets and drums that accompany the religious figures as they pass. The pinnacle of the Easter week in Hellín (Albacete province) is the Tamborada (drum-playing), when up to 20,000 drums start playing. There are intense moments to experience like those in Cartagena, with thousands of people singing at the end of each procession in honour of the Virgin Mary.

Easter week in Lorca is especially original - the processions include figures and scenes from the bible and from ancient civilisations. You can feel the echo of the bugles that accompany the processions through the streets of Cuenca; enjoy the colour and cheer of thousands of waving palm leaves in the Elche procession; or take part in the huge Andalusian processions, especially those of Málaga and, above all, Seville, a city that lives these days of religious fervour with all its spirit.

In this period, the most traditional dish is cod and if you have a sweet tooth you can’t miss casadiellas and teresitas.

Cod with pil-pil sauce Ingredients: 750g desalted bacalao 500ml extra virgin olive oil 3 cloves of garlic 2 dried chillies, soaked for 20 minutes in boiling water How to prepare it: Cut the bacalao into large chunks. Use a large, heavy bottomed frying pan. Pour the oil into it, add the garlic and whole chillies, and heat gently. After a few minutes, and before the garlic has begun to brown, remove the garlic and chillies from the oil with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Make sure the oil is not too hot, and add the cod pieces skin side down. Cook very gently for about 10 minutes, then carefully turn over and cook for another 2 minutes or so. With a fish slice, remove the cod pieces to a plate, pour the oil into a heatproof bowl and allow to cool until it is tepid.

Once the oil is tepid, use a ladle to return about half of it to the pan. Put it on a very low heat, and stir it for about 5 minutes. If the sauce is very thick, then just add a little more oil from the bowl and keep stirring.

Transfer the fish to individual plates and pour some sauce over it.

Cod a la VizcaĂ­na Ingredients: 1 pound salted cod fish 4 potatoes, sliced thick 2 onions, sliced

4 hard-boiled eggs, sliced 2 teaspoons capers 2 large cloves garlic, minced 1/4 cup pitted green olives 1 (4 ounce) jar roasted red bell peppers, drained 1/2 cup golden raisins 1 bay leaf 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil 1 cup water 1/4 cup white wine How to prepare it: Soak the salted cod in about 2 quarts of water, changing the water 3 times over the course of 8 hours. Drain and cut the fish into bitesize pieces.

Layer the half of each ingredient in the following order: potatoes, cod fish, onions, hard-boiled eggs, capers, garlic, olives, roasted red peppers, and raisins. Place the bay leaf on top, then pour half the tomato sauce and half the olive oil. Repeat with the remaining ingredients in the same order. Pour the water and white wine on top. Do not stir.

Cover and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to mediumlow and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes.

Coca de Pascua Ingredientes: 200 g flour 4 eggs 2 egg yolks 50 g pine nuts

1 deciliter oil 1 teaspoon of yeast zest of a lemon, milk How to prepare it: In a bowl beat the eggs, sugar, egg yolks one tablespoon of milk and zest. It must be a consistent cream. Then add the flour, to which we will have mixed the yeast, and finally, the oil.

Mix in the mass for a few minutes.

We dump the ingredients well mixed in an oven dish greased and we have 30 minutes with the oven-temperate strong, 180 째c.

The Coca de Pascua and is taken when it cools down.

Casadielles (16 units) Ingredients: 100g shelled walnuts 55g sugar 40ml sweet anis liqueur 30g melted butter 550g frozen puff pastry, defrosted 1 egg white Icing sugar How to prepare them: Grind the walnuts to a powder and mix in with the sugar, anis liqueur and melted butter.

Roll the pastry out into a rectangle, approximately 3mm thick. Cut into 16 rectangles measuring 11cm x 6cm.

Place a ball of the walnut stuffing at one end of each rectangle.

Brush the edges with egg white, fold over the pastry and seal with the prongs of a fork.

Place the pastries on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper and bake for approximately 30 minutes in a preheated 220°C1425°F/gas 7 oven. The pastries should be well puffed and golden. Dust the casadielles with icing sugar. Serve while still warm.

Teresitas de sartén Ingredients: Cake cream 250 grs. of flour 75 grs. of butter 1 cup of white wine 1 cup of water Sugar 1 spoonful of yeast Salt Olive oil How to prepare them: This recipe is very popular in Gijón. People eat it at Carnival. It can be filled with almond or cake cream.

Mix the water, the white wine, the softening butter, salt, sugar and yeast. Work the mixture to form a ball. Spread the mass and fold it again. Cover in a damp cloth and put in the fridge.

Later, roll the mixture in small quantities and put the almond or cream inside. Fry with a lot of olive oil. When it is golden, move it to a bowl and sprinkle with sugar.

THE MOST POPULAR DISHES This cookbook can’t finish without the recipes of the most representative main dish of our region, Asturias: a bean stew, called Fabada and our favorite dish: rice pudding. Fabada is strong dish perfect for the cold winters.

Fabada (bean stew) Ingredients: Olive oil Salt Saffron Paprika 1kg of white beans 4 chorizos (red sausage) Black pudding (black blood sausage) 1 piece of white bacon How to prepare it: The previous day, put the beans to soak in water.

The following day, put the beans in a cooking pot and add water until they are covered. Add the red sausage, black pudding and the piece of bacon.

Cook everything on a low heat and when it starts boiling, take the scum out. Add a spoonful of oil and a bit of paprika.

Leave it on a low heat and cook it very slowly. Check that there is always water in the cooking pot. Add cold water when necessary.

Taste the salt and serve it.

Rice pudding Ingredients: 3 litres of milk 3 glasses of sugar ½ glass of rice A lemon peel Ground and stick cinnamon How to prepare it: Put the milk, the sugar, the rice, the lemon peel and the stick cinnamon in a pot. Boil it all and stir thoroughly until the rice is cooked.

Put it in a bowl and decorate it with the ground cinnamon and some lemon peels.

All these dishes can be accompanied by our cider, an alcoholic drink made of apples. Not only its flavor is original but the way it is served too. In chigres , a cider bar, trained escanciador, or cider server, takes the bottle with the right hand and lifts the arm above the head. With a straight back and a serious expression on the face, the

escanciador pours the cider from about 2 feet up in the air into the special glass, without missing and hitting the floor (which is what will happen when you try to do this!). The objective is to “break� the cider in the glass, giving it a quick injection of air bubbles, and you should drink the cider immediately after pouring. This special glass is shared by the guests in a table.

People wearing regional costumes.

Asturian cider

A RECIPE BOOK FROM POLAND

MARSZALKA J. PILSUDSKIEGO PUBLICZNE GIMNAZJUM NR 8 OPOLE, POLAND

Advent Is the time of the fasting, prayer and focus on divine service, and lasts four weeks. This is the period which leads up to Christmas and during this time there are no parties or festivities. It is a a time of devotion and prayers for those who have died, as it is believed that those who have died can also harass the living. In the time of Advent there are treats early in the morning in all churches (the so called Rotary or Jutrznie) along with prayer to celebrate the Advent of Christ.

Holy Evening Is the most festive evening of the year and the beginning of Christmas, which belongs to the family feasts of the year which is full of traditions, atmosphere and excitement!

The Holy Evening typically includes dishes which are prepared from the ingredients of the field, the orchard, the garden, the forest and the water. A festive menu must contain: soup from red beets, mushrooms or from fish. A central dish would be herring or carp which could be prepared in several ways. On the table it is not be permitted to miss cabbage-dishes, compote from dried fruit, noodles with poppy seed, sweets, poppy seed cakes or poppy seed with dried semi-tropical fruit the so called “Kutia� -. Various Christmas cakes can be served including honey-cakes, biscuits and curd cheese cakes. And no

Holy Evening table would be complete without nuts, fruit and various assorted sweets.

Christmas In the “Christmas Godami, (dignityChristmas Day participation in day no one days, it was a social gatherings exception of people have attitude and do low-key and family.

colloquial language Day”, formerly called Godnimi or Godnymi festivity-day). commences with the an early mass. On this works and in earlier day of rest without or guests with the family.

Nowadays moved away from this socialize however it is spent with immediate

Holy Szczepan The day after Christmas Day. The patron saint of the day is the “Holy Szczepan”, the first Christian martyr.

Traditionally, mainly in the villages, people consecrated oats, or other cornsorts, during the divine service in memory of the first Christian martyr, who was stoned to death. At home the whole family, neighbors and acquaintances enjoy the various cornsorts. The Holy Szczepan also signals

the beginning of carnival, ad time of festivities and the tours of the balled-singers.

New Year’s Eve Still in the XIX century the New Year’s Eves were almost exclusively celebrated in affluent families.

Nowadays the dancing, festivities and parties are considered a timehonored tradition. New Year’s Eveand New Year’s festivities are spent mostly among family or with close friends at a private party, disco, in a restaurant or some other location where people reserve their place far ahead of time. However, it is not compulsory to celebrate this as big as possible. Many people prefer to spend the evening sitting snugly in front of the television or at home, but the fact remains that no one is supposed to be alone on this day. On this day it is appropriate to wish someone, in the old Polish language, “do siego roku” which means “I wish you well” but the most fun is had drinking champagne and at midnight ringing in the New Year with fireworks in the European way.

Carnival After an old Polish habit called “zapusty”, is the time from New Years up to Ash Wednesday. This is a time of pleasure, feasts and dancing which takes place right before the long fasting period.

Marzanna On the fourth Sunday in the time of fasting is a ceremony of destruction.

Destruction, or Death is represented by a doll named Marzanna, Morena or simply death. This doll is plunged into water or burned. Marzanna’s symbolism represents winter, death, sickness, destruction and starvation of the people.

This ritual is meant to speed up the onslaught of spring and is to this day still practiced albeit much less commonly than in the past.

Today this is primarily practiced by children plunging the Marzanna doll into water.

Palm Sunday Also called flower- or plant Sunday, represents the beginning of the most important church-ritual and has a direct connection to Easter.

On this day the Church celebrates the triumphant entry of Christ into Jerusalem.

In Poland the Palm is represented in many different folk ceremonies, and the

Palms are commonly made of willow, yew, bilberry or palmtree twigs, green and decorated with dried flowers and multicolored ribbons. Once the Palms have been consecrated in the church they can be used to bless houses, farms and cattle. A Palm which is hung from the ceiling is thought to give protection against negativity, witchcraft, misfortune, sickness and above all against fire.

Consecrated Palms are kept until they are replaced by new ones at the next Easter mass in a year’s time.

The Great Week Is the last week during the time of fasting and precedes “Christ’s resurrection” (the most important Christian festivity) and is a time of reflection, fasting and prayer. On Great Wednesday all candles in the church are extinguished and the priest strikes the pulpit which represents a time of chaos when Christ was persecuted. Great Saturday is the day representing consecrated food in addition to water and fire. On this day when attending church people bring with them a basket filled with eggs “symbol of life, fertility, love and power”. Some people also bring dishes filled with bread, salt, pepper, sausages and beets but this varies depending on the indigenous heritage of the women.

Easter In the early days called „Pascha”, was the first Christian ceremony to be introduced. It is held in memory of martyrs as well as the death and resurrection of Christ. The feast of the resurrection on great Saturday will be dedicated with a midnight mass or a mass at dawn on great Sunday. After mass everyone goes home for a festive breakfast with their family with consecrated easter food which is commonly prepared the day before in order to allow a day of rest. To begin this meal there is a ceremony to divide the consecrated eggs between the family members and then to eat them. All of the food typically eaten at this meal was traditionally known as „the plentifulness of riches’. In the middle of the table a roasted lamb was served but nowadays it more commonly consists of cold dishes such as meat, hard boiled eggs, cakes, „white sausages” - also called „Polish sausages”, cooked or roasted and the „żurek” soup. Festive cakes include sponge-cake, „mazurek-cakes” and cheese-cake.

At Easter, many different games are played which are based on Easter eggs. One such game involves using festively colored eggs which are rolled along the tabletop and may not click against the other eggs. The winner is the one whose egg does not break.

In some parts of Poland the adults prepare surprises for the children by dressing up as the Easter Bunny and hiding in the orchard, under trees or around the house.

Easter Baba

What do we need?

• Rolls and other baked goods • Smoked meat (chicken thighs or other) • 12 eggs • Smashed parsley leaves • Salt • Spices • Water • a baking mold whose bottom is spread with grease and poured with bread crumbs

Procedure: 1.We wash and cook smoked meat in water (chicken about half an hour in a pressure cooker)

2. We pour rolls with either water or, if we have, meat broth to make them soft

3. When meat is cooked, we deprive it from bones and then cut

4.

When meat is cut, we squeeze already soft buns/rolls as much as possible to get them rid of water

5. Then we separate yolks from whites and we add the yolks to buns.

6. We beat egg whites to stiff snow 7. We mix buns, chopped meat with egg yolks, parsley, and salt together.

9. Then we mix stiff white snow gently to the meat mass 10. We spread grease in a baking tin and sprinkle it with breadcrumb to prepare it for baking in the oven

11. We heat an oven to 200 ˚C, fill the baking tin with the mass and when the oven is ready we bake ´baba´ for about 1 hour

Easter Lambkin

What do we need?  1 mug of granulated sugar

 1 mug of oil  2 eggs  2 and a half mug of flour  1 yeast powder How to prepare?

1. We beat eggs, sugar and oil until foamy. Then we add flour and one yeast powder and we mix it together.

2. We prepare a baking form so that it is spread with fat or butter and poured with flour. We empty out all dough in the form and then we start baking the lambkin at 150 ˚C. 3. Once baked, we wrap the form with a wet towel so that the freshly baked lambin could be easily tumbled out. Sometimes it can happen that a few parts of the lambin dough stay stick in the form. In that case, the lambkin is not very nice-looking 4. At the end we make the eyes for the lambkin using 2 cloves and we powder its body with sugar powder. We can also make it look nicer if we tie a riggon around its neck

A RECIPE BOOK FROM SLOVAKIA

EMILA BELLUSA SOS STAVEBNA TRENCIN, SLOVAKIA

Carp – A Slovak Christmas Tradition These wading pools start popping up all over the city.

They start popping up about a week before Christmas. The pools are filled with carp.

That’s kapor in Slovak. Fresh carp will also appear in the fish counter of grocery stores that have fish counters.

Large quantities of them will appear

in frozen food sections. But the coming of the carp pools is the hardest to miss.

Depending on who owns the wading pools, they take on different shapes and sizes. However, there are always some constants: they are always filled with a little cold water and lots of carp, and they are manned by a fish monger with a net and a scale. You point to your carp; he reaches into the pool gently with the net, so as not to create a disruption among the carp. His assistant nestles the bag up to the net, the carp flops around once and then slides into the bag. The bag goes onto the scale, the assistant moves a few weights around to determine the weight of the carp, the customer pays 4 Eur/kilo ($2.38/lb.) and then goes on his or her way with the new carp.

Purchase complete.

How to Recognize the Start of Christmas Bratislava was clearly not built to handle the immense number of cars that currently inhabit the town. Therefore, a rather intricate and well-run transportation infrastructure is needed and utilized – trams, buses, trolley-buses all run day and night to get people around the city from home to work and back. During peak hours, you often need to nudge or push your way on-board so that other passengers will move out of your way quickly enough for the heavy and powerful bus doors to not close on you. And once on-board, as you would at any other time during the winter, you ride snuggle packed in the warm bus with a hundred other strangers.

The Christmas lights and decorations around the city are nice. The Christmas market is very nice. Occasional Christmas music is pleasant, so is the occasional appearance of Svaty Mikulas (St. Nicholas) in gold, or Santa Claus in red. Of course there are also lots of Christmas items on sale. But none of these are the true herald that Christmas is upon us. In this environment, this snug

bus – at 5:15 pm on this pitch black Bratislava evening, where you could not fall over if you tried because people are packed so tight – on this bus is where you are first reminded that Christmas preparation has truly begun.

On that quiet warm bus, calmly, your mind starts to wander, heck you might even feel your eyelids get a little heavy. There’s comfortable warmth to the bus and even the tightness of the packed bus is comfortable as it insulates you from the bumps in the road and the twists and turns along the way. You can’t hear anyone talking, as is the way in Bratislava’s buses. Those few people who are talking are talking very, very quietly, nearly imperceptibly. It’s almost silent aside from the hum of the motor underneath your feet. Warm and pretty peaceful aboard this bus, there’s a very strange and sudden wiggle against your leg.

You freak out for a second and jump just a bit and the guys next to you looks at you like he’s about to report you to the police as a lunatic. Anyone who suddenly jumps like that on a bus cannot be normal. On a packed bus, you automatically reach for your valuables to make sure they are still there before you worry about what the heck it was that just wiggled against your leg. You can barely even move enough to look to see what it was, but you push against those around you a little and make room, and you tense your legs a bit as you look down and the instant before you look it happens again. That wiggle that strange creepy wiggle against your leg.

You smell a smell and another neighbour eyes you and says “prepacte” “pardon me” or maybe he too gives you an ugly look.

Christmas preparation has begun. The first time a carp wiggles through a plastic grocery bag against your leg on a packed tram, you know that Christmas preparation has begun in Slovak families.

The carp will make his way home with the father or mother carrying it. He or she will have phoned ahead to alert the family that a cold-water bath should be drawn. And in goes the carp. The carp will float for a bit until it gets over the shock of not being able to breathe for the last 45 minutes and will then get accustomed to the bathtub. The tap will be left trickling to give the carp fresh water and oxygen and there it will live, perhaps played with by the children and even given a name. It will remain there in the bathtub until Christmas Eve when it will be pulled out, thumped with a hammer on his immense bone head and then decapitated, skinned, gutted, sliced into steaks, soaked in milk, breaded, and fried, before the family sits down to eat him along with potato salad.

Some Christian churches place a prohibition on the eating of meat before Christmas Eve, as a sort of a vigil, a fast for the Christ child. In Slovakia, this eating of fish grew out of that tradition and spread so as to make fish the standard for all Slovaks.

Carp is very common. Trout is popular too. Some families might eat salmon. Some families might have a member who doesn’t care for fish at all and might therefore avoid this “traditional” dish.

As Slovak ethnologist Rastislava Stolicna puts it on Christmas Eve “Catholics and Orthodox [would fast, during which time] they ate only fish, formerly only salted or cooked, but in the twentieth century fish fried in oil served with a potato salad began to be gradually consumed.” So, in fact, the meal of fried carp and potato salad is not all that traditional across Slovakia. It’s 100 years old according to Stolicna, and taste a little bit like a pond, and is really full of lots and lots of bones. However, I sit down each year with

my friends to eat this bottom feeding fish that looks like a gigantic black goldfish, because there is something nice about the whole tradition.

There’s something pleasant about the taste. There’s something pleasant about eating it fried. And once you get used to it, it’s no even that bad making your way around the bones. Some people have a harder time dealing with the bones that others – it’s annually reported in Slovakia that several dozen Slovaks do go to the emergency room each year to have carp bones removed from their throats. Despite how strange a carp eating tradition may seem to an outsider, the tradition lives on. You don’t have to walk five steps on a nearly empty street to find a Slovak who loves carp and potato salad on Christmas. Like any other taste associated with any other tradition, it’s virtually impossible for an outsider to rationalize. Every reader of this sentence loves a taste and connects it with a memory or an emotion that may be unique to that person.

Eating carp on Christmas is not strange, its simply what Slovaks do.

The Christmas meal in Slovakia has lots of other traditions. A few that I have seen have been: Oblatky – wafers are appreciated 365 days a year in Slovakia, more so than in the U.S. For example, you can buy these giant cousins of communion wafers sprinkled with garlic seasoning in the store on sale right next to potato chips.

Around this time of year, the markets fill up with people selling oblatky and trubicky (their rolled cousins). At Christmas Eve it is common to have oblatky at the table before the meal as the first course. In some families it is drizzled with a little honey. In others it is topped with honey and garlic.

Kapustnica – On December 23, anyone who subscribes to my newsletter will get a special gift. I will send the kapustnica recipe of one of my favorite Slovak cooks.

She’s a lunch lady in the Petrzalka section of Bratislava and makes this cabbage soup for 150 teachers, friends, and honored guests every year. Kapustnica is a soup that is loaded with a bunch of different items, which vary from valley to valley and family to family. Her version contains three kinds of meats, sauerkraut, dried mushrooms and more.

Cutting an apple – This tradition is such a ubiquitous Slovak symbol of health that this year, one of the Bratislava mayoral candidates even featured it in her campaign ads. You take an apple and cut it in half. If the seed pods inside are full and healthy, a healthy 2011 awaits you. If you cut it in half and see something different, woe is to you for even cutting that apple open.

Recipes Raisin Bread (Vianočka) Ingredients: leavened dough, raisins Prep Time: about an hour Another food item that can be prepared from the sweet leavened dough is vianočka. It is a sweet braided raisin bread that looks very much like the Jewish challah. It is often eaten for breakfast, topped with butter and jam (raspberry being my favorite). It is also often prepared for Easter and for Christmas. In fact, the name vianočka is derived from the Slovak word for Christmas, vianoce.

The trick in making this bread is in braiding the dough. I am sure that just about every Slovak babiÄ?ka (grandma) has her own way.

Here I show you how my grandma makes it, by braiding four strands. The standard way is by braiding three strands so here is a slightly more advanced technique. Start by kneading the dough and lightly rolling it out to a rectangle about an inch thick. Cut it into six rectangles again about an thick. By the way, you should work raisins into the dough while kneading it. We didn’t do this, since my grandma also wanted to show me how to prepare buchty na pare. These dumplings are made out of the same leavened dough but do not contain raisins.

Take four of these braids and join them at one end. Add raisins if they were not already worked into the dough. Then fold the 2nd braid from the top to the bottom and the fourth one to the top.

Then take the first braid and move it to the bottom, underneath the bottom braid. Then take braid that’s on top and move it underneath the outer braids.

Then basically continue braiding until you run out of dough.

Tuck the ends together and place in your baking pan.

Now take the other two braids and twist them together. Place this “ponytail” on top of the bread. Brush on little bit of oil and let rest for about 15 minutes.

….

Finally bake on bottom of a preheated stove for about 20 minutes.

Vianočka is also often brushed with egg yolk during baking to get a shinier crust. Slice and serve with hot chocolate.

Linecka Kolecka (Linz Tarts) Ingredients: •

2 sticks (1 cup) of soft, unsalted butter

• 2/3 (5 oz) cup of sugar •

1 Tsp of grated lemon rind

•

1 Tbs vanilla extract

•

4 egg yolks

•

2 and 1/4 cups (18 oz) of all-purpose flour

•

3/4 cup (6 oz) or raspberry, strawberry or red currant jelly

•

1/4 (2 oz) of powdered sugar

Method: 1. Preheat the oven for 325 F 2. In a big bowl, mix in the butter, sugar, lemon grind, vanilla extract and egg yolks.

3. Slowly mix in the 1 and 3/4 cups of flour 4. Work the mixture into a dough and place it in the fridge for about 2 hours (or overnight) 5. Pull the dough out of the fridge and let it stand in the room temperature for a while until it is workable (about 1 hour) 6. The hardest part: Roll out the dough onto a floured surface until it is about 1/4 inch thick (coat the pin with flour as well; as you are rolling out the dough, keep sprinkling it with a little bit of flour at the time to prevent sticking) 7. Use cookie cutters (circle-shaped ones are the most authentic) to cut out the cookies and in half of them cut out a smaller circle in the centre.

8.

9.

Transfer the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet (use spatula for the transfer if necessary) and bake them for 10 to 12 minutes (see step 1 bellow) Once the cookies have cooled down spread half o them with jelly (see Step 2 bellow)

10.

Sprinkle the cookies “holed” cookies (i.e. cookies with holes) with powdered sugar

11.

Put those powdered cookies on top of the jellied cookies (see Step 3 bellow)

12.

And you are done! Now taste the heaven‌.

Slovak Christmas Eve Mushroom Soup Ingredients o 1 -2 lb onions, chopped o 1 1/4 cups butter, divided ( May need a little more) o 2 lbs mushrooms, finely chopped ( we use white mushrooms) o 1 quart water o 10 (7 1/2 ounce) cans sauerkraut juice o 1/4 cup flour Directions 1. Saute chopped onions in 1 cup butter until golden brown.

2. Add finely chopped mushrooms to onions, and cook until mushrooms are done.

3. Add water and cans of sauerkraut juice, bring to boil, lower heat and simmer 1/2 hour.

4. In a small sauce pan brown remaining 1/4 cup butter, adding flour to make a roux.

5. Slowly add some soup juice (about 2 cups) to the roux, stirring to blend.

6. Add roux to soup and cook another 15 minutes to 30 minutes.

Serve.

Slovak Easter Bread Recipe - Paska Makes 3 round (7x3-inch) Slovak Paska loaves, or 2 loaves and 40 Peeps Prep Time: 1 hour Cook Time: 40 minutes Total Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes Ingredients: •

2 cups milk

•

1/2 cup sugar

•

2 teaspoons salt

•

12 ounces (3 sticks) butter

•

3 packages active dry yeast

•

1 tablespoon sugar

•

1 cup warm water (no hotter than 110 degrees)

•

3 large eggs at room temperature

•

8 cups all-purpose flour

•

1 tablespoon sugar

•

Milk or beaten egg yolk

Preparation: 1. In a small saucepan, heat milk, 1/2 cup sugar, salt and butter over low heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Cool to lukewarm (no hotter than 110 degrees).

2. Dissolve yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in warm water placed in a mixing bowl or stand mixer bowl that has been warmed.

Let proof for 5 minutes. Add eggs, milk mixture and 4 1/2 cups flour. With the dough hook attachment, mix on speed 2 for 1 minute.

3. Continue mixing on speed 2, and add remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time and mix about 2 minutes or until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of bowel. Continue mixing 2 minutes longer or until dough is smooth and elastic. It will be sticky to the touch.

4. Place dough in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise in warm place about 1-2 hours or until doubled.

Punch down dough and divide in thirds, reserving a small piece of dough from each to make decorations. Shape each into a round loaf and place in greased round (7x3-inch) bread pans. Using reserved dough, decorate with cross in centre or braids around the edge. Cover and let rise in warm place 1-2 hours or until doubled.

5. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Gently brush tops of risen dough with milk or beaten egg yolk. Bake 40 minutes or until golden brown and instant-read thermometer registers 190 degrees.

Remove from pans immediately and cool on wire rack.

6. To Make Paska Peeps: After dough has risen the first time, portion out 1/8 cup dough for each peep. Let rest, covered a few minutes. Roll each portion into a 10-inch rope. Form a

knot with a short end sticking out for the head and the long end for the tail. Position the knot so that it looks like wings sticking up and head is in an upright position. Tweak the head to shape a beak and embed cloves (cut off the stem end) or 1/6 of a raisin for the eyes. Place on greased cookie sheet.

Flatten long end a bit and make 3-4 slashes on it, being careful NOT to cut completely through the dough, to give the appearance of tail feathers. Cover and let rise for 20 minutes.

Brush with milk or egg yolk and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Slovak Easter Cheese (Cirak) "This is traditional Slovak Easter cheese that is served Easter Sunday. It is traditionally served with baked ham and beet horseradish and is great on sandwiches. It is very mild in flavour and not like other cheeses."

Ingredients • 4 cups milk • 12 eggs • 1 teaspoon salt Directions 1.

Measure milk into a bowl, and set over a saucepan filled half way with simmering water. Heat until warm to the touch, then gradually start cracking eggs into the milk while stirring

almost constantly. This will scorch very easily. Continue to stir slowly once all of the eggs are in, until the mixture resembles scrambled eggs.

2.

3.

Pour into a cheesecloth bag and tie tightly. Hang from the sink faucet or over a bowl and allow draining for 1 to 2 hours. Place on a cooling rack set over a pan or bowl and set a heavy object on top to press out the liquid. A cool cast iron skillet weighted with heavy cans works well. Press for about 2 hours.

Carefully remove the weights and cheesecloth bag from the cheese. Refrigerate the cheese for several hours or overnight before slicing and serving.

Travelling Through Cultures Comenius Programme 2012 Made by ‘Ivan Vazov’ Secondary School Pleven, Bulgaria