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Spring Foods In Different Cultures

Spring is coming, spring is coming and its impending arrival has been celebrated in just about every culture. And every tradition has specific foods that are enjoyed specifically for Spring festivals. Here is a multi-cultural sampling of these foods for you to try.
 

Purim

This festival from Jewish tradition falls on March 21^st 2008.  A traditional treat eaten at Purim are pastries filled with a poppyseed filling and shaped in a triangular form. They are called Hamantaschen which literally means Haman's Pockets.  There are many ways to make these pastries and many fillings may be used as well. However the poppy seed filling seems to be the most traditional, and it sure is tasty. This recipe uses a yeast dough for the pastry shell. This allows us to let the dough “soak” overnight to eliminate phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors found in the grains. You can also soak the poppy seeds overnight in warm water with some lemon juice.

Hamantashen with Yeast Dough

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1/3-cup rapadura or 1/4 c honey

1-teaspoon sea salt

4 cups flour ( use a mix of whole and unbleached)

1-cup warm water

1/3-cup olive or melted coconut oil

1 large egg
 

Egg Wash:

1 large egg

1-tablespoon water

Filling

1 cups poppy seeds

1/2 cup milk

1/3 cup honey

1 egg

Dough:

Combine all dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix together all liquid ingredients. Gradually add dry ingredients to the liquid to form a dough. Knead dough for 5 - 10 minutes until it is smooth and elastic. Coat a large mixing bowl with olive oil or butter and place dough inside. Turn once to coat the dough and cover loosely with a towel. Let rest in a warm place until dough doubles in size, 45-60 minutes.

Punch down dough. Divide into thirds on a lightly floured surface. Roll out each piece until it is ¼-inch thick. Cut out 3 -inch rounds. Reroll scraps. Place filling in the center of each dough round. Fold three sides up to form a triangle, leaving some filling exposed in the center. Place hamantashen 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheets. Cover again and let rise at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush tops of the hamantashen with the egg wash Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Filling

Soak seeds in boiling water for 30 minutes. Drain. Combine with the remaining ingredients, except for egg. Cook over low flame until thick. Allow to cool, and add egg.

Ostara/ Spring Equinox

Ostara is the name giving to the festival held in pre-Christian Europe to celebrate the Spring Equinox. Many of the traditional foods we associate with Easter celebrations actually antedate Christianity. The concept of renewal/rebirth is responsible for the important role played by the egg in Easter celebrations. In Europe, there is a general tradition, not confined to Christians, that Easter is the time to start eating the season's new lamb, which is just coming onto the market then.

The history of Easter Eggs as a symbol of new life is an ancient one. The notion that the Earth itself was hatched from an egg was once widespread and appears in creation stories ranging from Asia to Ireland. Eggs, in ancient times in Northern Europe, were a potent symbol of fertility and often used in rituals to guarantee a woman's ability to bear children. Nowadays we still use eggs as a symbol for the rebirth of nature.

Deviled Eggs

Deviled eggs are a great way to use up the hard boiled egg you colored. They can be served as snack, appetizer or lunch. See the side bar to learn how to boil the perfect egg.

6 hard boiled eggs

3 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 teaspoon mustard (honey mustard is great!)

1-2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

salt & pepper to taste

paprika, sliced green onions, minced red pepper, minced pickle or caviar (all optional) as a garnish

Remove shells from eggs, and halve lengthwise with a knife. Carefully remove the yolks. Mash yolks with a fork, and add remaining ingredients tasting and adjusting as harnesses. Spoon mixture back into the egg white halves. Garnish with any of the garnishes listed above if you'd like.

Easter

Easter foods are primarily those of Easter Sunday, the day on which Jesus rose from the dead, a day of special rejoicing for Christians, who rejoice too at reaching the end of the long Lenten fast. They also include traditional Spring foods that were used in pre-Christian spring celebration, such as the egg and the lamb.

According to the Encyclopedia of Religion :"Among Easter foods the most significant is the Easter lamb, which is in many places the main dish of the Easter Sunday meal. Corresponding to the Passover lamb and to Christ, the Lamb of God, this dish has become a central symbol of Easter. Also popular among European and Americans on Easter is ham, because the pig was considered a symbol of luck in pre-Christian Europe”

Another traditional Easter food is the hot cross England, hot cross buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday; they are marked on top with a cross, which is either cut in the dough or composed of strips of pastry or icing. The mark is of ancient origin, connected with religious offerings of bread made by Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and Saxons. Nowadays the cross on the bun is used as a symbol of the crucifixion as well. According to superstition, hot cross buns baked on Good Friday never went moldy, and were sometimes kept as charms from one year to the next.

Hot Cross Buns

Ingredients:

3/4 cup milk

1 package active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1/4 cup honey

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup butter, room temperature

2 eggs

3 1/4 cups (or more) flour

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Instructions:

Heat the milk in a saucepan on low heat until warm. Stir the yeast into the water and let sit for 5 minutes. Mix the warm milk, sugar, salt, butter, and eggs together in a bowl and beat on medium for 1 minute. Add the yeast mixture and beat for 30 more seconds. Beat in 1 1/2 cups of flour and the spices, then cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour. Add the rest of the flour and knead it in. If it's still not handleable, you may have to add up to almost a cup more flour. Flour it until you can knead it and then do so, finally working in the raisins. Punch it down to 1/2 inch thickness and cut in 2 1/2-inch rounds. Let them rise on a buttered sheet for 1 hour. Snip in crosses with kitchen scissors and bake for 15 minutes at 375º F. Cool on a wire rack. When cool, pipe on icing made with ½ c confectioners sugar and 2-3 T of water, if desired . Makes about 15-20 buns