Europäische Weihnacht – in Vielfalt geeint - Sutter GmbH & Co. KG

Griechenland/Greece
In this the Christoxylo, or Christmas log, holds a
particular meaning. This is the largest and best log
found throughout the entire year, lit on Christmas
Eve to warm the Christ-child.
The second Greek peculiarity: Name-days are much
more important in Greek-Orthodox belief than days
of birth. Christmas Eve is the name-day of Eugenios
and Eugenia, the 1st day of Christmas of Christos
and Christina – festivities celebrated with friends in
the circle of the family which, however, are not a
particular occasion on which to give presents to one
another.
And hence the children in Greece have to wait until
the festivities of Saint Basil (Greek: Vassilios) whose
name-day is celebrated on January 01. Legend has it
that Saint Basil (* around 330, †on January 01, 379)
made the tyrannical ruler of Caesarea return all the
riches he had taken the years before from the inhabitants
of his country. But since in most cases the legitimate
owners of these treasures could no longer be
found, the valuables were baked into bread and distributed
among the people. Until this very day and
in memory of this the Vassilopita, or large unleavened
bread also called “Basil Cake”, is divided among
visitors on New Year’s Eve. Whoever finds the coin
baked in it will have much fortune in the year to
come.
Recipe: Vassilopita - Fortune cake
of St. Basilius
Ingredients:
1 kg wheat flour
200 g sugar
150 g melted butter
250 ml warm milk
25 g fresh yeast
6 eggs
1 /2 tsp salt
1 large pinch of ground cinnamon
1 large pinch of coriander
grated zest of 1 orange
grated zest of 1 lemon
Coating:
1 egg yolk blended with 5 cl cream
32
Decoration:
150 g icing sugar
60 g sliced roasted almonds
lemon and orange juice
Blend the flour with the salt in a bowl and form
a mould in the centre. Crumble the yeast, add
and prepare a first dough with half of the milk, a
spoonful of sugar and some flour. Cover and
allow to rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.
Combine with the remaining ingredients into a
smooth dough and beat until the dough separates
from the base of the bowl. Cover and allow to rise
in a warm place for around 1 hour.
Line a round cake tin (approx. 30 cm in diameter)
with buttered non-stick paper. Place dough into
the cake tin, leaving sufficient space to “spread”.
Insert a small coin into the cake! Then cover the
cake again and leave in a warm spot until double
in size.
Brush the surface with the beaten egg yolk and
cream mixture. Bake in a pre-heated oven for
around one hour at 180 °C until the surface is
golden brown.
In the meantime, prepare the icing: Heat 150 g
sugar with 90 ml of a mixture made from orange
juice, lemon juice and water until the sugar has
molten and runs off the spoon like honey.
Remove the fortune cake from the oven and brush
while hot with the icing. Sprinkle the almonds on
top. Allow to cool and remove from the cake tin.
But even the remaining gifts are found underneath
the Christmas tree of most Greek families on January
01 only. Talking about the Christmas tree: Since the
Mediterranean climate does not allow conifers such
as fir trees or the spruce to grow particularly well,
plastic Christmas trees as seen in America are widespread
and popular here.
The highlight and finale of the Christmas season is
Epiphany on January 06, or Theophania in Greek.
On this day and in memory of the baptism of Christ,
the water is blessed. During the festivities a priest
throws a cross into the waters of the sea. The young
men dive for it and then bring it back to the surface
under the ecstatic cries of the gathered crowds.