The history and recipe of jidáše, ceremonial Czech Easter pastries
The meal is a prayer of sorts. At least that's how people used to interpret the symbolism of ceremonial pastries. They put their faith in the act of preparation, hoping for a bountiful harvest, for love and for health. For all this, they prayed to the forces of nature.
"Most indigenous rituals, especially those that take place in autumn and spring, turn to nature. Man was closely connected to it, since his life depended on the local harvest. Specifically, spring signifies the awakening and return of the sun as a life-giving deity, which our ancestors wanted to turn to their side," says author Alena A. Gajdušková. She has studied historical recipes for more than twenty-five years, learning how previous generations cooked and lived.
"Some traditions are older than we think. They come from pagan times and festivals that the church has rebranded and adapted to the liturgical calendar. It was easier to continue than to introduce new ones, and this was the case with Easter," adds Alena, whose work helps to preserve awareness of the customs of Czech cuisine. She shares her knowledge in her book Easter of our grandmothers, which contains a recipe for jidášky, and guided cooks during testing at UM on Národní.
Hand-braided, with honey and with jam
The typical Easter jidáš pastry is eaten for breakfast on Maundy Thursday. The yeast dough rolled into ropes symbolises the rope of the hanged Judas, a disciple of Jesus Christ, twisted into various shapes to represent Christ's sacrifice and the beginning of spring. Nature traditionally inspires - in the oven, the shapes of birds, deer or foxes, aces, eights, spirals, snails, knots, are baked until pink, and believed to protect against snake bites or insect stings.
There is also the symbolism of abundance and gratitude for surviving a hard winter. Once baked, the pastries are brushed with honey - a ritual once believed to prevent sore throats in children. Sometimes the pastry was cut in half, brushed with butter and honey and sugared; in the Znojmo region, jidáše were spread with jam and across the regions it was common were commonly prepared salted. Braids sprinkled with salt and caraway or poppy seeds were eaten on their own or perhaps with soup. In any case, they had to be baked at home, as the bought ones were said to lack protective power.
Easter jidáše
Historians attest to references of jidáš, or cakes with honey, no later than the early 19th century. In printed manuals, we would not read recipes for them until the inter-war era and, despite their association with the Catholic Church, they continued to be baked under the communist regime. Tradition continues in man, as long as we keep it on our plates and alive.
Ingredients:
(for 20 pastries)
For the starter:
- 50 ml whole, lukewarm milk
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons of plain flour
- 20 g fresh yeast
For the dough:
- 300 g plain flour + extra to sprinkle on the work surface
- 200 g semi-coarse flour
- 150 ml whole milk (+ extra depending on the consistency of the dough)
- 100 g butter, melted
- 2 egg yolks
- 70 g granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
- salt
- whole beaten egg for washing
For the sweet version:
raisins, warmed honey with rum (1 : 1) or fudge
For the savoury version:
poppy seeds, coarse salt, cumin
Procedure:
- First, activate the starter. Stir the sugar, flour and crumbled yeast into the lukewarm milk. Leave to rise in a warm place.
- Sift both flours into a bowl, add the starter, milk, butter, egg yolks, remaining sugar, lemon zest and a pinch of salt. Knead and work into a compact dough. If you are adding raisins, do so now.
- Cover the kneaded dough with a tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place. It should double in volume.
- Then turn the dough out onto a floured rolling board, work it through and divide it into 20 loaves. Let them rest for 5 minutes.
- Roll out each piece of dough into ropes about 20 cm long and twist them into different shapes.
- Place the jidáš on a lined baking tray and leave to rise for 30 minutes.
- Brush with the beaten egg. If making the savoury version, sprinkle with poppy seeds, salt or caraway seeds at this point.
- Bake until golden brown in an oven preheated to 180 °C. It takes about 15 minutes.
- Brush with a mixture of honey and rum or jam while still hot.
Something extra:
After jidáše, other Easter pastries follow. On White Saturday, we bake beránek (a sponge-like cake in the shape of a lamb), which in poorer households used to replace the meat of the ram. On this Saturday, mazanec is also baked, while on Easter Monday Boží milosti (God's graces) are fried.
On Maundy Thursday, bread or millet porridge with honey was also prepared for breakfast, which not only sweetens but also protects. The tradition of green dishes has been going on since the 20th century, and usually spinach or nettles were eaten. In some places, lentils were cooked, in the German border region (Podyjí) people indulged in the first spring salads and in southern Bohemia cabbage soup was made. The popularity of herbal soup Devítka and many recipes with wild garlic and other spring herbs also remain.
Ritualistic overtones were given at Easter to Vaječný škvar - scrambled eggs with herbs and bacon, which were eaten from one bowl around one table, like other festive meals. This was said to keep the family together.
Jaroslav Štika, in his book Folk Food in Wallachia, mentions jidášky or židovky, which he describes as a pastry stuffed with sausage. This dish also resembles Easter plecovník.
Sources: Easter of Our Grandmothers (Alena A. Gajdušková, Alena Scheinostová), Encyclopaedia of the Culinary Heritage of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia (Irena Korbelářová and Collective), Culinary Heritage (Peter Eckl, Sabine Flöcklmüller, Jiří Mačuda, Alexandra Zvonařová)
