Everything got little twisted as it usually happens with me: I baked the Greek Easter bread known as Paskalya Çöreği in Turkey for my Orthodox Easter this Sunday morning. I know only a few of you would share the Easter sentiment but maybe you can understand how it feels not to be “normal” most of the time. I blame it on being Russian, being a woman, sometimes on both. Sometimes there is nothing left to blame it on so I take the blame.
My Easter is different from yours, I don’t celebrate Christmas but have all those Christmas delights for the New Year. Take whatever place in the world - I am either not from there or I have left it long time ago to identify with it. I am a Russian married to a Turk: but not that kind of Russian and not that kind of Turk you most likely to know about. I gave up trying to resolve my concerns about all that and have learned to embrace and celebrate my abnormal ways. So why not on Orthodox Easter - April, 15 2012?
“Tomorrow is Easter and I am not even ready“, - I told anne as we were doing the ironing in between serving lunch and preparing dinner. “Don’t worry, we’ll make paskalya” - said my resourceful mother-in-law as she referred the braided loaves of Greek Easter bread Istanbulites are used to see in many bakeries. As a memory left from the times when Greeks were an important community in the city.
The evening brought a handful of kitchen errands but no time for paskalya. I could not leave it like that. I still remembered the New Year, a miraculous holiday of my childhood, which was carelessly ditched this year as Turks clearly have not tradition of celebrating it. Besides setting yet another raki table.
Around midnight as the kitchen helpers had left I searched the kitchen for tall tins that would be suitable for making toll Russian Easter Bread - kulich, tall and cylindrical. I could not find any and resolved to the Greek version kind of know to Turks as paskalya corek (literally “Easter pastry”). Even though a few would be able to tell you what paskalya is. Having lived abroad for 10 years I’ve grown to understand how important it is to cherish your own traditions even if they don’t make sense to anybody around you. You need to educate people on why this is important to you. And this was one of the reason I stayed up late to bake this Greek Easter bread.
Askim, don’t you think there is something maniac about this late night baking after the whole day at the kitchen and another one coming tomorrow? - Ozgur asked. Olga abla, what are you up to? - his cousin wondered. I have learned one thing for sure: it is easier to be strange if you are a foreigner. That is probably why I have chosen to eternally be one. People would ask you questions but at the end of the day they will leave you alone with all your foreign strangeness. Like making Greek Easter bread in the middle of the night.
I prepared the starter, then the dough and left it to rise overnight in our cellar. After 5 hours of sleep I made it back to the kitchen to form the braids and let them rise again. As I put them into a very low-heat oven for second proofing anne has come. She smelled the mahlep and headed to the oven, “You’ve made them!? Look how well they’ve proofed”.
My Greek Easter bread proofed tremendously and when the loaves came from the oven I wanted to hug them, kiss them and dandle them with no end: they were my babies. The best thing that have come out my strange and little bit manic hands.
The whole day I was receiving congratulations from all the inhabitants and guests of the farmhouse who were treated to my Greek Easter bread. Expecting them to say “Christ has risen” was ridiculous as according to the Muslim belief he, a prophet, was not a son of God on the first place. I can’t insist he was: I sing mantras in Sanskrit during my yoga practice way more willingly than I pray to God. But we all agree that families need traditions. And I think our new one will be to bake this Greek Easter bread on the absolutely non-conventional-Easter-dates.
Greek Easter Bread (Paskalya Çöreği)
Not just for Easter: this will be the best sweet bread you have ever baked!
Source: Adapted from greek.food.com
Prep Time: 40 Min + 3 Hr for proofing
Cook Time: 40 Min
Total Time: 1 Hr 20 Min + 3 Hr for proofing
Serves: 2 huge loaves
Ingredients
- 2 cups milk warmed up
- 10 g active dry yeast
- 9 cups all-purpose flour divided
- 1 3/4 cups sugar divided
- 1 orange rind of, grated
- 1 tbsp mahlep
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup dry figs coarsely chopped
- 1 cup hazelnuts coarsely chopped
- 1/4 cup butter melted
- 6 eggs divided
- 2 tbsp slivered almonds
- 2 tbsp icing sugar
Directions
- Prepare the starter: In a large bowl whisk 2 cups warm milk, the yeast, 1 cup flour and 1/4 cup the sugar. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and set aside to proof for 30 minutes. You would have the confidence to go ahead when and if your starter has risen 2 or 3-folds and looks like a sponge with all its bubbles.
- Make the dough: In another large bowl combine 7 cups flour, remaining sugar, orange rind, mahlep and salt. Make a well in the center. Add the prepared starter, melted butter and 5 well bitten eggs. Stir from the center outwards to bring flour into the well and eventually form a dough. Dust a working surface with a 1 cup remaining flour: be careful you may not need to integrate it all so go slowly with incorporating it. Give the dough a good kneading gradually incorporating the flour sprinkled on the working surface. In 15 minute of honest effort your dough should become smooth and stop sticking to your hands.
- Put or first proofing: Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover the bowl with a kitchen towel. For this purpose I have a large plastic bowl with a cap which makes it ideal for leaving the dough to proof. Set aside in a warm, draft-free place to rise until doubled, about two hours. You can also leave it overnight in a chilly place or a fridge, if preparing the night before. Once risen punch down the dough.
- Form the braids: Divide into six small balls. Mix the chopped hazelnuts and figs and divide into 6 parts. Flatten one dough ball with the base of your palm and sprinkle one part of the hazelnut and fig mixture into the middle. Now close it by lifting and bring together the opposite ends of the dough. Roll the “stuffed” piece of the dough into a strip 25-30 cm/10-12 inches long. Repeat with two more dough balls and lay three strips side by side, pinching together at one end, and braid. Pinch together at the other end to hold the loaf. Make the second loaf in the same way.
- Put for second proofing: Place the breads on a parchment-lined baking sheet sprinkled with flour, put in the oven switched to very low (60°C/140F) and leave the loaves to rise for about 30 minutes, or until double in size. Once risen gently but quickly take one out and immediately brush with 1 beaten egg and sprinkle with slivered almonds. Put back in the oven and repeat with the second loaf. I also put a metal cup with water to moisten the air in the oven.
- Bake the bread: Set the temperature to 180°C/356F and once it reached the maximum bake for about 40-50 minutes but check midway. After 15-20 minutes, or once the tops of the loaves become golden brown I reduce the heat to 160°C/320F to prevent excess browning and let the bread bake slow. To check if ready make the wooden toothpick test. Also the bread should sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Remove, sprinkle icing sugar (optional), cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rest for good 2 hours before cutting and serving.
Mrs Ergül April 18, 2012 at 6:17 am
I got so excited glancing down the ingredient list as I have all the dried figs and nuts. But I think my askim ate too many of the figs and we probably only have enough to make half of the recipe. Alas, I don’t have mahlep.
Congrats on your marriage!
Olga Tikhonova April 30, 2012 at 10:50 pm
Thank you, Mrs Ergül! Instead of mahlep you can experiment with the following replacements: finely ground almonds, or ground cardamon, or vanilla, or cinnamon+clove.
Laura April 18, 2012 at 9:34 pm
Indeed, He has risen.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I might have to do some night time baking myself.
Joy (My Turkish Joys) April 19, 2012 at 2:28 pm
Wonderful story! It’s difficult but also nice to share some of your traditions with others. My husband and I made a traditional-sort-of Easter dinner 2 weeks ago and shared it with his Turkish staff. They had a blast coloring Easter eggs and I introduced them to my American mac-n-cheese made with…kasar peynir!
Olga Tikhonova April 30, 2012 at 10:44 pm
You are so right, Joy! And very smart about localizing the flavors: like I add some dry thyme to my borsch to please my Turks.
Bahar April 28, 2012 at 4:48 pm
Hi Olga,
I discovered your blog a couple of months ago. You are doing an outstanding job! I laughed out loud when you said it is easier to be strange when you are a foreigner. I am a Turkish girl living in Canada, married to a Canadian. Your article reminded me of the past Christmas Eve, how I was making Ispanakli Borek at 10pm for the midnight feast (ok, i did buy the yufka). Good times
Take care and I will definitely keep your tours in mind next time my hudband and I visit Istanbul,
Bahar
Olga Tikhonova April 30, 2012 at 10:41 pm
Bahar, it makes me very happy to know that you could relate to my experience of living abroad. We all have those Ispanakli Borek moments, for sure. Will continue reporting on mine and hope to see you around!