Tahini cake

(Grk: Taxinopita)

A dairy-free cake that can be eaten during the Nativity Fast.

Ingredients:

3 cups self- raising flour

1/2 cup semolina

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground gloves

3/4 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup sultanas

1/2 cup currants

1 1/2 cup tahini + 2 tbs for greasing

1 cup fresh orange juice

juice of one lemon

zest from one orange and one lemon

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup sugar

5 tbs brandy

Instructions:

1.      Beat tahini, sugar, honey, lemon and orange rind for 10 minutes then gradually add in orange juice.

2.      Add the walnuts, cinnamon and ground gloves, currants, sultanas, brandy and the baking soda dissolved in the lemon juice.

3.      Add the semolina, sift flour twice and fold into tahini mixture.

4.      Grease a slab cake pan with tahini and dust it with flour. Turn mixture into pan.

5.      Bake in preheated moderate oven for 50-60 minutes.

6.      Test by inserting a toothpick in the middle. If it comes out clean remove from oven and allow to cool on a rack. Sprinkle with icing-sugar, optional.

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Pettuli

From the region of Taranto, Greece these golden fried pieces of dough are traditionally eaten during the fasting-Christmas period.

The folklore is they were given by the infant Christ to the poor – this tale acts as a “prequel” to Christ’s adult miracle of the five loaves. It represents Christ never leaving anyone go hungry, His infinite compassion and encouraging the faithful to be just as charitable.

Ingredients

7 cups all purpose flour

warm water

1 tsp salt

25g live yeast

1 tablespoon sugar

olive oil for frying

1.      Combine flour, salt, sugar, yeast (dissolved in a glass of warm water) and enough warm water to make a little bit moist, sticky and smooth dough. Leave the dough in a warm place to rise.

2.      Heat olive oil, take a bit of dough with a spoon and fry. (Or sink you hand in the dough and squeeze it. Dip your fingers in cold water to keep the dough from sticking to them). The pettuli will puff up immediately.

3.      After 30 seconds turn them on the other side and let them fry to golden brown.  Remove and drain them on absorbent paper.

Serve them sprinkled with sugar or honey. You can eat them with a meal instead of bread. There are also savoury versions with tomatoes, vegetables, fish, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes or with pumpkin, all suitable during this fasting period.

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St Nicholas

During the Advent period, a great saint of the Church is celebrated – St Nicholas.

St Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors and he is commemorated on 6^th December (19^th Dec) and is the patron saint of Greece. He is also the patron saint for students, merchants, pawnbrokers, children.

Presents are given on this day. As St Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors boats are decorated (see Karavaki (little ships) post).

Gifts in shoes or socks

One tradition practised on the eve of St Nicholas’ feastday is for children to leave their shoes outside the frontdoor of their house for St Nicholas. In the morning, they should find small gifts, such as: sweets, fruit, toys and a few coins. This symbolises the great charitable works of the saint. It also commemorates when St Nicholas saved the three peasant daughters from a life of prostitution, when he threw gold coins in their window for their marriage dowries. The coins are traditionally believed to have landed into their stockings/shoes close to the fireplace, which the saint did for each daughter each following night.

Other gifts one can leave in their children’s shoes are:

• gold coins – representing the money he threw into the window of a poor family’s house
• a toy representing the toys he had commissioned a toymaker to make for poor children
• something that represents the saint’s devotion to God: a spiritually oriented book, icon, cross or prayer rope.
• something to represent the food he would give to the poor (fruit, nuts etc).
• an item of clothing representing him clothing the poor.
• a toy ship symbolising the many sailors saved through his prayers.

Another tradition is to do a charitable work or make a donation anonymously, as this is what St Nicholas always did. Use St Nicholas’ feastday to give to the poor and needy, whether in money or clothing. Saint Nicholas models obedience to Christ by feeding the hungry, helping strangers, and caring for prisoners (Matthew 25:34-36).

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