Easter bread

In many European countries, particularly inCentral and Eastern Europe, there are various traditions surrounding the use ofbreadduring theEasterholidays. Traditionally the practice of eating Easter bread or sweetened "communion" bread traces its origin back toByzantium,Eastern Catholicismand theOrthodox 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.
AKozunakis the traditional Easter bread in Bulgaria,kulichis one of different traditional Russian Easter breads.Kolachis 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 calledPaska, 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.
Romania and Moldova also have a traditional Easter pastry calledPască(the termPascais "Easter" in the Eastern Orthodox faith, similar toPâquesin French. It is derived from the Hebrewpesah). 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 calledCozonac.
Pincais a variety of Easter bread popular in Austria, Croatia and Slovenia.Poprtnikis a variety native to Slovenia. It is decorated with intricate floral designs and may also incorporate various symbols associated with Easter.
Syrnykis a quickbread with cheese (similar to acheesecake) that in Ukrainian 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.  Thequickbreaddough is made with eggs and butter, cottage cheese, cream cheese, honey, walnuts, almonds, candied orange peel, cream and cinnamon.
Babaorbabkais a Polish cake made forEaster Sunday,but it is not to be confused with the Polish-Jewishbabkabread. A traditionalbabkais tall and cylindrical, often baked inbundt-type pan. It frequently contains raisins,succade, ororangeat, and may be iced on top. It is also made in the western parts of Belarus and Ukraine and is much sweeter than apaska.
During the weeks before Easter, special Easter bread is sold (inGerman:Osterbrot,listen). This is made withyeastdough,raisins, andalmond splinters. Usually, it is cut in slices and spread with butter. People enjoy it either for breakfast or for tea time (in German:Kaffee und Kuchen,lit.'coffee and cake').
The Dutch Easter bread is the so-called 'stol', a fruit bread with raisins and usually filled withalmond paste. It is the same type of bread also eaten as aChristmasbread.
Casatiello(Neapolitan:casatiéllo;Italian:casatello) is aleavenedsavory breadoriginating from Naplesprepared during the Easter period. Its basic ingredients are flour, lard, cheese, salami,cracklings, eggs and black pepper. The bread's name derives probably from theNeapolitan wordcaso(Italian:cacio, 'cheese', hencecasatiello), an ingredient that is part of its dough.
Colomba pasquale orcolomba di Pasqua(lit.'Easter dove') is anItaliantraditional Easter bread, the Easter counterpart of the two well-knownItalianChristmasdesserts,panettoneandpandoro. The dough for the colomba is made in a similar manner to panettone, withflour,eggs,sugar, natural yeast andbutter; unlike panettone, it usually containscandied peeland noraisins. The dough is then fashioned into adoveshape (colombain Italian) and finally is topped withpearl sugarandalmondsbefore being baked. Some manufacturers produce other versions including a popular bread topped with chocolate.The colomba was commercialised by the Milanese baker and businessmanAngelo Mottaas an Easter version of the Christmas speciality panettone that Motta foods were producing.
Pastierais a type ofNeapolitantartmade with cookedwheat, eggs,ricotta, and flavored withorange flower water. It is usually eaten at Easter.Various writers repeat legends about the origin of pastiera. One story connects it to the sirenParthenope, whom the Neapolitans thanked for her sweet singing by giving her ricotta, flour, eggs, milk, spices, and sugar; Parthenope gave these ingredients to the gods, who made pastiera out of it.Another story connects it to a spring celebration of the goddessCeres.
Peniais a sweet bread that originated in rural Italy and is made during the Easter holiday. Ingredients include sugar, butter, eggs,aniseseeds andlemons.
Thepizza di Pasqua(lit.'Easter Pizza') is aleavenedsavory cake typical of some areascentral Italy, based onwheat flour, eggs,pecorinoandparmesan, traditionally served at breakfast onEastermorning, or as an appetizer during Easter lunch, accompanied by blessedboiled eggs,ciauscoloand red wineor, again, served at theEaster Mondaypicnic. Having the same shape aspanettone, the pizza di pasqua with cheese is a typical product of theMarcheregion, but alsoUmbrian(where, as a traditional food product, it obtained thePATrecognition). There is also a sweet variant, withcandied fruitsor without, sugar and afiocca, that is ameringueglazewith sugar beads.According toreligious tradition, the pizza di pasqua should be prepared onMaundy ThursdayorGood Fridayto be eaten only at Easter, that is, at the end of the period of fasting and abstinence dictated bylent.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.
InSardinia, 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 theMediterranean. "Bread is a nexus of economic, political, aesthetic, social, symbolic, and health concerns".Bread is symbolic for life. A peasant proverb mentions, "Chie hat pane mai non morit — one who has bread never dies".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 ofJesus 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".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 — basic themes in Easter and its pagan precursors".The second bread was designed to have no overall shape, but was rather baked to encircle an egg, with the initialsBPput on it. The initialsBPstand forbuona Pasquaor "happy Easter". "Letters rather than forms express meaning. Letters are symbolic of civilization and ... meaning".