Baking "Paska" with Radio Slovakia

There is a common thread through many of the Easter traditions of Central Europe, whether you're in Austria or Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Poland, or Slovakia. The main dishes on family tables are likely to include ham and of course eggs, men will chase women to either beat them with a whip or splash them with cold water and bad perfumes. But we were determined to find something exclusive to Slovakia and found "Paska" in the east of the country. The sweet kind of bread will be the basis of many meals this Easter.

Although "Paska" is known in Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria or Greece, it is only the north-eastern part of Slovakia that really knows what this word means. "Paska", a round bread like sweet cake, is an inevitable part of the Easter table in the regions inhabited by the Rusyn minority. Northeast Slovakia marks the border between the eastern - Orthodox line and the western - Catholic religious tradition. Wooden churches and eastern "paska" delimit the cultural frontier. However, ethnologist Katarina Nadaska says:

"Paska has a specific meaning. It is not only a dish but caries great symbols. Just look at its shape - it is a round cake. Round cakes are known from pre-Christian times when they stood for the symbol of the sun."

Although we see the Easter holiday closely connected with the Christian tradition of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, it has its roots in pagan spring rituals.

"The almost ball-like shape of Paska represents the sacrifice people used to give to the sun. By baking it they showed that they honour the sun."

Paska is not the cake for a weekday tea. It is baked only for Easter, once a year.

"It's served instead of bread and you eat it with ham, sausages and eggs so it's a nice combination of salty sausages and ham and a sweet sort of cake or bread with raisins."

Ivana Komanicka comes from Bardejov, a northeastern Slovak centre situated at the frontier between western and eastern cultures. The Eastern rite represented by wooden churches scattered around this mediaeval town borders the western-Catholic tradition. This is symbolised by the Gothic cathedral standing right in the middle of Bardejov's UNESCO enlisted square. What makes eastern Paska different to western bread?

"It's basically made of two kinds of dough so we distinguish sweet and white."

In case you want to give it a try and have a Paska on your Easter table, here's the recipe:

For the sweet dough you need a litre of milk in which you cook nine spoons of semolina. Leave it to cool.

Then we mix the yeast about one cup of milk, one spoon of plain flour and a little bit of sugar. We leave yeast to ferment for about 15 minutes. Then we prepare the dough - we take yeast, about 1.5 kilo plain flour, one cup of oil, 3 eggs, 2-3 spoons of sugar and 1 pack of vanilla sugar not forgetting about raisins. We mix it all with semolina.

The white dough is made out of yeast, a cup of milk and a pinch of sugar to make the yeast ferment. Pour the mixture into a kilo of plain flour, add 2 eggs and a cup of oil. Mix well and leave it to ferment.

At the bottom of a nice thick pan we put the white dough, then we put the semolina one and we top it again with the white mixture. We bake it for about 45 minutes at 170 - 180 degrees Celsius.

Serve with sausages, smoked ham, eggs and beetroot. Don't forget to have everything blessed. Martina Grenova wishes you Bon appetite with your Easter breakfast ala east Slovakia!