Traditional Easter Food.

Last week I started a post on Russian Easter customs & Traditions. I thought I'd follow up with some information on traditional Easter foods.

Following Holy Saturday evening services, which last past midnight,worshipers in the Russian Orthodox church return to their homes for a long family feast. Tables are traditionally decorated with fresh flowers and painted eggs. In addition to the Easter Kulich, and Paskha cake, foods prohibited during the 40 Day Fast, such as sausage, bacon, cheese and milk, are also served.

KULICH

A cross between brioche and challah, this bread is a lightly sweetened, egg-glazed cylinder, often baked in a coffee can to make a tall loaf. The kulich would sit proudly in the center of the family Easter basket, surrounded by meats, cheeses, butter, and eggs. It's a central part of the Easter meal, served with sweet paskha cheese or unsalted butter.
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup sugar plus a pinch
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter
Pinch of saffron threads, crumbled
2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast (from a 1/4-oz package)
1/4 cup lukewarm water (105–115°F)
6 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting
4 large eggs
Special equipment: 2 (5- to 6-cup) soufflé dishes or 2 (2-pound) cleaned empty coffee cans

Make dough:

Heat milk, sugar, butter, saffron, and salt in a 1-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to lukewarm.

Meanwhile, stir together yeast, warm water, and pinch of sugar and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If mixture doesn't foam, discard and start over with new yeast.)

Put flour in a large bowl and make a large well in center. Lightly beat 3 eggs and add to well along with milk and yeast mixtures. Carefully stir together with a wooden spoon, gradually incorporating flour, until a soft dough forms. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead, dusting with just enough flour to keep dough from sticking, until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Put dough in a lightly oiled large bowl, turning to coat with oil, and let rise, covered with a clean kitchen towel, in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 3 hours.

Punch down dough and let rise again, covered with towel, until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Form loaves:

Generously butter soufflé dishes. Punch down dough and divide in half. Loosely wrap 1 piece in plastic wrap and set aside. Cut away one third of remaining piece of dough and reserve, then roll remaining two thirds into a large ball and transfer to a soufflé dish.

Roll reserved piece of dough into an 18-inch-long rope on work surface with palms of your hands. Cut rope into 3 equal pieces and lay pieces vertically side by side on work surface, about 1/4 inch apart. Gather 3 ends farthest from you and press them together, then braid strands, pressing together other ends to secure braid. Lay braid over top of dough in soufflé dish (trim braid if using coffee cans). Form another loaf with remaining dough in same manner.

Cover loaves with clean kitchen towel and let rise in draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours (loaves will rise about 1 inch above rims of dishes).

Bake loaves:

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.

Lightly beat remaining egg with a large pinch of salt, then brush egg over top of each loaf. Bake loaves until golden brown and bread sounds hollow when tapped on bottom, about 1 hour. Turn loaves out onto a rack, then turn right side up and cool completely.

Pashka

Pashka, the Russian word for Easter, is one of a few ritual foods served at an Orthodox Easter in Russia. Pashka is traditionally spread on kulich and served on Easter Sunday. Both the pashka and the kulich are taken to church on the Thursday or Friday before Easter to be blessed. Traditionally, once pashka has been unmoulded, the letters XB (which stand for "Christ has risen" in Cyrillic script) are pressed into the side with extra nuts and glace fruits.

Ingredients:

3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 cup whipping cream
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoonsalt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 cups small-curd cream-style cottage cheese
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup chopped mixed candied fruit
1/4 cup finely chopped blanched almond
cheesecloth
Directions
1. Mix egg yolks and whipping cream in heavy saucepan.
2. Stir in sugar and salt.
3. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture just coats a metal spoon, 12 to 15 minutes.
4. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla extract.
5. Place saucepan in cold water until custard is cool.
6. If custard curdles, beat with hand beater until smooth.
7. Place 3 cups of the cottage cheese and 2 tablespoons of the butter in blender container.
8. Cover and blend on medium speed, stopping blender occasionally to scrape sides, until smooth.
9. Repeat with remaining cottage cheese and butter.
10. Stir custard into cheese mixture until smooth.
11. Stir in candied fruit and almonds.
12. Line a 2-quart non-clay flower pot (or any form dish WITH OPENINGS IN THE BOTTOM, like a flower pot has) with double layer dampened cheesecloth.
13. Pour cheese mixture into pot; fold ends of cheesecloth over top. Place pot on cake rack in shallow pan; place weights on top.
14. Refrigerate 12 to 24 hours, pouring off any liquid that accumulates in pan.
15. To serve, unmold onto serving plate; remove cheesecloth.
16. Garnish as desired with additional candied fruit and blanched almonds.

EGGS

Eggs symbolize Jesus’ resurrection and are therefore especially important for Russian-Orthodox Christians. Eggs used to be cooked and painted already on Holy Thursday. It is still popular in Russia to dye the eggs using natural colors. The most common way is to dye eggs with onion skins.

Here is the method:

• Place onion skins in boiling water and simmer for a while. The shade can vary form yellow to dark brown, depending on the amount of onion skins. To produce an intensive brown shade, take lots of onion skins and simmer for about 30 minutes.


• Wash eggs, place in the pan with onion skins and cook all together for 10 minutes. Take eggs out of the pan, let cold water run over them to cool and dry. Rub eggs gently with vegetable oil to give them a nice shine.


• For marble effect, stir a bit of vegetable oil into the saucepan with eggs and onions skins.
  For a dot pattern, roll wet eggs in rice, wrap eggs in a piece of nylon to fix the rice and cook on onion-skin brew.

Easter eggs are not just for eating — both children and adults use them in special Easter games. The most popular Easter game involves hitting eggs together and winner is the one whose egg stays unbroken.

Other Typical Russian Easter dishes include: Eggs Stuffed w/Caviar, Borsch w/Beef and Pork; Baked Fresh Ham w/Honey-Marinated Pears.