Easter bread: Difference between revisions

| caption = [[wikipedia:Germany|German]] ''Osterbrot'' with raisins and almonds

| type = [[wikipedia:Bread|Bread]]

| other = Prepared for [[wikipedia:Easter|Easter]]

In many European countries, there are various traditions surrounding the use of '''bread''' during the [[wikipedia:Easter|Easter]] holidays. Traditionally the practice of eating Easter bread or sweetened "communion" bread traces its origin back to Byzantium and the Orthodox Christian church. The recipe for sweetened or "honey-leavened" bread may date back as far as the Homeric Greek period based on anecdotal evidence from classical texts that mention this type of special food. It is also widely known that sweetened bread desserts similar to [[wikipedia:panettone|panettone]] were a Roman favorite.

A ''[[wikipedia:Kozunak|Kozunak]]'' is the traditional Easter bread in Bulgaria, ''[[wikipedia:kulich|kulich]]'' is one of different traditional [[wikipedia:Russia|Russia]]n ''[[wikipedia:Paska (bread)|paska]]'' Easter breads. ''[[wikipedia:Kolach|Kolach]]'' is a traditional Czech bread made at Christmas in the shape of a ring. Usually, three rings are stack on top of each other to represent the Holy Trinity. Ukrainian Easter breads are also called ''paska'', where often a rich, white bread is served and decorated on the top with symbols, including crosses, flowers, braids, wheat, or other designs representing aspects of Orthodox and Eastern Catholic faith.

[[wikipedia:Romania|Romania]] and [[wikipedia:Moldova|Moldova]] also have a traditional Easter pastry called [[wikipedia:Pască|Pască]] (The term ''Pasca'' is "Easter" in the Eastern Orthodox faith, similar to ''[[wikipedia:Pâques|Pâques]]'' in French. It is derived from the Hebrew ''pesah''). The Romanian Pască is made with cheese (and may also include fruits, nuts, or chocolate for decoration). It is usually found alongside another traditional sweet bread which Romanians make for Easter and Christmas called ''[[wikipedia:Cozonac|Cozonac]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Pasca–Romanian Easter Bread with Cheese and fruits|url=http://www.uoeonline.com/understanding-our-environment/335/news/pasca-romanian-easter-bread-with-cheese-and-fruits/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.is/20120917182750/http://www.uoeonline.com/understanding-our-environment/335/news/pasca-romanian-easter-bread-with-cheese-and-fruits/|archive-date=2012-09-17}}</ref>

''Baba'' or ''babka'' is also a Ukrainian, Polish and [[wikipedia:Belarus|Belarus]]ian bread also made at Easter<ref name="Davidson 2014">{{cite book|first1=Alan|last1=Davidson|title=The Oxford Companion to Food|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bIIeBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA50|publisher=OUP Oxford|date=21 August 2014|isbn=978-0-19-104072-6|via=Google Books}}</ref> (not to be confused with the Polish Jewish [[wikipedia:babka|babka]] bread). Rather than being broad and round, like ''paska'', ''babka'' typically is tall and cylindrical, often baked in [[wikipedia:bundt cake|bundt]]-type pan. It frequently contains raisins, [[wikipedia:succade|succade]], or [[wikipedia:orangeat|orangeat]], and may be iced on top. It is much sweeter than ''paska''. ''Babka'' usually is only made, like ''paska'', to celebrate Easter Sunday and the rising of Christ.

''Syrnyk'' is a quickbread with cheese (similar to a [[wikipedia:cheesecake|cheesecake]]) that in Russian Orthodox culture is often included in Easter food baskets which are taken to church to be blessed on Easter along with ham, sausages, relishes, chocolate, cheeses and other foods that were forbidden during Great Lent. The [[wikipedia:quickbread|quickbread]] dough is made with eggs and butter, cottage cheese, cream cheese, honey, walnuts, almonds, candied orange peel, cream and cinnamon.<ref>{{cite book |last=Fieldhouse |first=Paul |title=The World Religions Cookbook |publisher=Greenwood Press |page=85}}</ref>

[[wikipedia:Image:Aufgeschnittenes Osterbrot Hamburg 2.jpg|thumb|Easter bread as typically served in northern Germany for either breakfast or tea]]

During the weeks before Easter, special Easter bread is sold (in German: ''Osterbrot'', {{Audio|GT Osterbrot.ogg|listen}}). This is made with [[wikipedia:yeast|yeast]] dough, [[wikipedia:raisins|raisins]], and [[wikipedia:Almond#Culinary uses|almond splinters]]. Usually, it is cut in slices and spread with butter. People enjoy it either for breakfast or for tea time (in German: ''[[wikipedia:German cuisine#Structure of meals|Kaffee und Kuchen]]'', literally ″coffee and cake″).

The Dutch Easter bread is the so-called '[[wikipedia:Stollen|stol]]', a fruit bread with raisins and usually filled with [[wikipedia:almond paste|almond paste]]. It is the same type of bread also eaten as a [[wikipedia:Christmas|Christmas]] bread.

The ''[[wikipedia:pizza di Pasqua|pizza di Pasqua]]'' ("Easter Pizza" in English) is a [[wikipedia:leaven|leaven]]ed savory cake typical of some areas [[wikipedia:central Italy|central Italy]], based on [[wikipedia:wheat flour|wheat flour]], eggs, [[wikipedia:pecorino|pecorino]] and [[wikipedia:parmesan|parmesan]], traditionally served at breakfast on [[wikipedia:Easter|Easter]] morning, or as an appetizer during Easter lunch, accompanied by blessed [[wikipedia:boiled egg|boiled egg]]s, [[wikipedia:ciauscolo|ciauscolo]] and red wine <ref name= AIFB>{{Cite web|url=http://www.aifb.it/cucina-delle-feste/la-cucina-delle-feste-la-crescia-di-formaggio-storia-e-ricette/|publisher=AIFB - Associazione italiana food blogger|title= La cucina delle feste: la crescia di formaggio|access-date=9 May 2019|language=it}}</ref> or, again, served at the [[wikipedia:Easter Monday|Easter Monday]] picnic. Having the same shape as [[wikipedia:panettone|panettone]], the pizza di pasqua with cheese is a typical product of the [[wikipedia:Marche|Marche]] region, but also [[wikipedia:Umbria|Umbria]]n (where, as a traditional food product, it obtained the [[wikipedia:Prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale|P.A.T.]] recognition). There is also a sweet variant, with [[wikipedia:candied fruit|candied fruit]]s or without, sugar and a ''fiocca'', that is a [[wikipedia:meringue|meringue]] [[wikipedia:Glaze (cooking technique)|glaze]] with sugar beads.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.assisinews.it/ricette/torta-di-pasqua-dolce-pizza-umbra/|title=Torta di Pasqua dolce: la ricetta tipica della ‘pizza’ della colazione pasquale umbra|date=14 April 2019|publisher=assisi news|access-date=8 May 2019|language=it}}</ref>

According to [[wikipedia:religious tradition|religious tradition]], the pizza di pasqua should be prepared on [[wikipedia:Maundy Thursday|Maundy Thursday]] or [[wikipedia:Good Friday|Good Friday]] to be eaten only at Easter, that is, at the end of the period of fasting and abstinence dictated by [[wikipedia:lent|lent]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://destinazionefano.it/a-fano-pasqua-la-pizza-formaggio/|title=A Fano non é Pasqua senza la pizza al formaggio!|publisher=DestinationeFano|access-date=8 May 2019|language=it}}</ref> Once ready, then, it was customary to bring the pizza di pasqua to the church, so that it would be blessed together with the other foods to be consumed on Easter day.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ildatterino.com/2018/03/31/il-datterino-di-artusi-pizza-di-pasqua-crescia-al-formaggio/|title=Pizza di Pasqua (Crescia al formaggio)|publisher=Il Datterino di Artusi|access-date=8 May 2019|language=it}}</ref>

In [[wikipedia:Sardinia|Sardinia, Italy]], bread is a part of a wide social context. It is the most important food in Sardinia, as well as all over Italy and the [[wikipedia:Mediterranean|Mediterranean]]. "Bread is a nexus of economic, political, aesthetic, social, symbolic, and health concerns".<ref name=Counihan99>Counihan, Carole. The Anthropology of Food and Body: Gender, Meaning, and Power. New York: Routledge, 1999</ref>{{rp|29}} Bread is symbolic for life. A peasant proverb mentions, "Chie hat pane mai non morit&nbsp;— one who has bread never dies".<ref name=Counihan99/>{{rp|29}} The Easter holiday is one where bread brings itself into the symbolic realm. Bread is significant for religious purposes. Luisa Fois described bread in her life after she was married and for the Easter holiday. The bread was made into a cross to represent the crucifixion of [[wikipedia:Jesus Christ|Jesus Christ]]. Since they were married, they needed to eat it together. They would share their lives now, and they must share their "cross" together (their life's burden) as well. "Bread was a product of their union, and its shared consumption reaffirmed their interdependence".<ref name=Counihan99/>{{rp|30}} From this we gather that bread also displays a message, rather than being an item purely for consumption and nutritional purposes. Two kinds of Easter bread are described in Counihans article. One contained two points, and an egg covered with a cross. "The egg and the points that recall birds in flight speak of fertility, sexuality, and procreation&nbsp;— basic themes in Easter and its pagan precursors".<ref name=Counihan99/>{{rp|41}} The second bread was designed to have no overall shape, but was rather baked to encircle an egg, with the initials ''BP'' put on it. The initials ''BP'' stand for ''buona Pasqua'' or "happy Easter". "Letters rather than forms express meaning. Letters are symbolic of civilization and ... meaning".<ref name=Counihan99/>{{rp|41}}

! [[wikipedia:Cuisine|Cuisine]]

| [[wikipedia:Paska (bread)|Paska]]

| [[wikipedia:Ukrainian cuisine|Ukrainian]]<br/>[[wikipedia:Belarusian cuisine|Belarusian]]<br/>[[wikipedia:Slovak cuisine|Slovak]]<br/>[[wikipedia:Georgian cuisine|Georgian]]

| [[wikipedia:Kulich|Kulich]]

| [[wikipedia:Russian cuisine|Russian]]

| [[wikipedia:Cozonac|Cozonac]]

| [[wikipedia:Bulgarian cuisine|Bulgarian]]<br/>[[wikipedia:Macedonian cuisine|Macedonian]]<br/>[[wikipedia:Romanian cuisine|Romanian]]<br/>[[wikipedia:Moldovan cuisine|Moldovan]]

| [[wikipedia:Pască|Pasca]]

| [[wikipedia:Romanian cuisine|Romanian]]<br/>[[wikipedia:Moldovan cuisine|Moldovan]]

| [[wikipedia:Baba (cake)|Babka]]

| [[wikipedia:Polish cuisine|Polish]]

| [[wikipedia:Kalach (food)|Kalach]]

| [[wikipedia:Serbian cuisine|Serbian]]<br/>[[wikipedia:Hungarian cuisine|Hungarian]]

| [[wikipedia:Pinca|Pinca]]

| [[wikipedia:Croatian cuisine|Croatian]]<br/>[[wikipedia:Montenegrin cuisine|Montenegrin]]

| [[wikipedia:Slovenian cuisine|Slovenian]]

| [[wikipedia:Tsoureki|Tsoureki]] <br />also called ''paskalya çöreği''

| [[wikipedia:Greek cuisine|Greek]]<br/>[[wikipedia:Armenian cuisine|Armenian]]

| [[wikipedia:Hot cross bun|Hot cross bun]]

| [[wikipedia:British cuisine|British]]

| [[wikipedia::cz:Mazanec|Mazanec]]

| [[wikipedia:Czech cuisine|Czech]]

| [[wikipedia:Paasstol|Paasstol]]

| [[wikipedia:Dutch cuisine|Dutch]]

| [[wikipedia:Easter Dove|Easter Dove]]

| [[wikipedia:Italian cuisine|Italian]]

| [[wikipedia:Pizza di Pasqua|Pizza di Pasqua]]

| [[wikipedia:Italian cuisine|Italian]]

| [[wikipedia:Pizza di Pasqua#Sweet variant|Pizza di Pasqua (sweet variant)]]

| [[wikipedia:Italian cuisine|Italian]]

| [[wikipedia:Folar|Folar]]

| [[wikipedia:Portuguese cuisine|Portuguese]]

| [[wikipedia:Hornazo|Hornazo]]

| [[wikipedia:Spanish cuisine|Spanish]]

| [[wikipedia:German cuisine|German]]