SHROVETIDE
As I have promised you, some time ago, I have chosen to centre the monthly posts around events, occurring during the year.
For this first year, I have chosen to highlight the cultural side of life in countries with predominantly Christian traditions, not because I am on a crusade here, but more to come to realise, there are deeper meanings behind some of the traditions, we often celebrate without knowing, what they actually mean and signify.
46 days before Easter Sunday we celebrate Ash Wednesday, which starts a period of Lent, where we, as Jesus Christ and his disciples, are supposed to fast, pray and turn towards God and away from worldly matters.
It is also a time for self-examination on what needs repenting and what areas of the worldly and spiritual life, a person needs to ask God's help with.
40 of the days are for this fast and contemplation; the 6 Sundays are exempt from that, to a certain extent.
Food is an important element of this period, as we are only allowed non-sweet food; the main part of the diet is dried fish, mainly produced from cod, laid on cliffs to dry; next they are stuck in barrels with a lot of salt. To eat this, you would have to rinse them in fresh water for days.
I was forced to eat it as a child; it was horrible, and not vegan at all! My saving grace, and that of the cod, as well!
Dried fish is still a huge part of the diet during Lent, and the main consumers are, not surprisingly, Roman Catholic countries.
To kick off this period, we clean our houses, remove all food, give it to charity and celebrate with a huge bash and carnival, SHROVETIDE, Sunday or Monday before Ash Wednesday.
It is, nowadays, mainly a feast for the children with dressing up and having a lot of treats coming out of a barrel, hung on a string.
That part of it I firmly advocate against, as it has a picture of a cat on it, and the kids are taught to bash the cat, which should be absolutely prohibited and unlawful and which I find totally appallingly disgusting and cruel and utterly wrong to even think of teaching kids.
In German the word for the carnival is "Fastel Abend", meaning the evening before the fast begins.
There are many different food traditions for this event, and they differ heavily throughout the Christian tradition, but one thing seems to be in common, and that is a certain bun.
This is the recipe, I follow, and apparently I am not the only one; here it is:
SHROVETIDE BUNS
- 1 tbsp psyllium husks
- ¼ cup water
- 1 cup almond milk
- 25 g. fresh yeast OR
- 2 tbsp agave or maple syrup
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 ½ cup spelt flour
- ¼ cup coconut oil, softened
- 1 ½ cup white flour (you can sub spelt)
-
Custard
- 1 cup almond milk
- 2 tbsp starch (corn or potato)
- ½ tsp vanilla powder or extract
- 2 tbsp agave syrup
-
Glacé
- 1 tbsp coconut sugar
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- 3-4 tsp boiling water
Instructions
- Start
by making the dough: place the psyllium husks in the ¼ cup cold water
and leave it for 5 minutes. Dissolve the yeast in the almond milk. Mix in
salt, agave/maple/ and the psyllium husks and knead in the first 1
½ cup of the dough. Now knead in the soft coconut oil before adding the
rest of the flour. Leave to rise for half an hour.
- While
the dough rises make the custard: Mix everything in a small saucepan
and stir until the starch is completely dissolved in the almond milk. Heat up
while stirring constantly. When it boils whisk vigorously and boil for 5
minutes, until it thickens. Pour out on a plate and cool down in the
fridge or in the freezer.
- Roll
the dough out into a big square on a floured surface. cut 20 (4X5)
squares out of it and place a dollop of custard on each square. Now fold
the buns by picking up the corners of the square and pinch them
together. Pinch the sides together too. Place the bun with the corners
down on a baking sheet with baking paper.
- Leave
the buns to rise for another half hour, while the oven heats to 200°C /
390°F. Bake for 15-20 minutes (until golden brown and brown on the
bottom) in the middle of the oven. Leave to cool slightly before adding
on glacé.
- Make
the glacé by mixing everything together very well. Add a bit of water
at a time to make sure it doesn’t get too wet. Spread out on the buns
and enjoy!
