paska dough must rise considerably before baking. © ianyanmag
As Easter rolls around, the number of eggs in my house tends to increase by the day. Brown ones, white ones, organic ones, free-range ones, they pile up one by one in the inconspicuous refrigerator drawer, and while this may seem normal for the general population, these eggs will not be dyed in brilliant shades and hues, but will be used for making “paska,” a traditional Ukranian/Russian Easter bread that has been a staple in my house as far back as I can remember.
It’s a moist, crumbly, towering bread that melts in your mouth when you take a bite. Bursts of candied orange peels, vanilla and a tiny hint of cardamom explode across your palette, and it tastes so specific, so particular, that you must have some more.
baked candied orange peels. © ianyanmag
Although many buy this bread professionally made and equipped with decorated bonnet like fondant toppings, it’s been a tradition for my mother to make paska for the past few years – and believe me, it is anything but easy.
There’s yeast involved, hours upon hours of waiting for things to rise, for other things to get to the right temperature, for consistency to be well, consistent. In short, it usually irons out to the time you would spend at a day job, along with some overage. But as straining and difficult the process is, the results – a one foot tall block of delicious bread – are well worth it.
paskas sit in a truck, waiting to be unloaded in an Armenian grocery store. Los Angeles, Calif. © ianyanmag
In the book, “Christmas in Ukraine,“ the religious connection to paska is explored.
“Ukranians seems to have a special bread for every holiday and celebration. The paska, specially made for Easter when it is taken to the church to be blessed, is rich, round and decorated with fancy dough ornaments and a cross.”
Author Volodymyr Bassis writes in his book “Ukraine,” that the paska is a “rich round load of bread decorated with elaborate dough ornaments that symbolize prosperity.”
Wikipedia also has some interesting references about paska.
paska bread is usually cut in quarters and served on Easter. © ianyanmag
I do hope I’m not alone in saying this, but I find it truly fascinating how I’ve grown up with such rich and intricate traditions that have somehow wormed their way into my life from other amazing cultures. Last week I was talking about celebrating Iranian New Year, and this week, Ukranian Easter bread. I hate to repeat myself, but the definition being Armenian couldn’t be homogeneous even if it tried. It’s impossible. We are the result of dozens of beautiful, swirling cultures that run deep within our history, emerge in our present and will continue in our futures and I love relishing in it all. I’m Armenian, but what is Armenian? If you look closely, you begin to realize that being Armenian means sharing similar paths in the road of culture with Greeks, Azeris, Iranians or even, dare I say it, Turks.
In my Norooz post, an amazing woman by the name of Anush Avejic made the following comment:
“No matter what day we celebrate the new year, whether Jan 1, on the vernal equinox, or whenever, I think we all truly have the same wishes for peace, love, family, health and hope in the new year and always.”
I like to think the same can be said not just for new year or Easter, but for life. Of course, you may say that I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. At least I have good company in the form of John Lennon.
Happy Easter to you and yours, I’d give you some bread if I could.
homemade paska bread. © ianyanmag
Great article! Here’s a site I discovered that has recipes for Easter breads from around the world.
Krisdos Haryav ee Merelots
Orhnyal e Haroutyoun Krisdossee
A wonderful article on diversity! Thank you. My parents are from Ukraine and my mother left me her handwritten recipe for Paska. She passed away 10 years ago. Her paska was the best I’ve ever tasted so of course I try to replicate it, but I never succeed. Funny thing is my mother left all the ingredients, but no information on how to do what (when to add the yeast, eggs or milk, etc.) So I was online searching for Paska recipes that might help me when I saw your article. Thanks again for sharing your culture. Blessings to you this Easter!
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First off, happy Easter to everyone celebrating!
I read this article by Liana (an Armenian of Iranian origin from LA) in Istanbul and, asked my (Azeri) mother if she knew (how to make) it. She said, “you mean kulich”, I said “I mean paska”, and she told me that Russians, Ukrainians etc. used to make it back home in Baku and bring it to work during Easter and that when they made it at home, her (Russian) mom used tin cans to give it the long shape. That people were already 10 pounds heavier thanks to all the Nowruz desserts from the previous week did not help matters. So we went to a little Polish village right outside of Istanbul for the sunny Sunday, hoping to find some kulich/paska. We found it at a Greek restaurant, next to the Jewish challah-like bread Turks call “Easter bread.” Somehow diversity in spring turns out to mean eating A LOT of awesome doughy stuff
I agree with Nigar, the easter bread is called KULICH .
For your info Paskha is a mixture of butter, sour cream, eggs, vanilla, candied orange
peels, blanched almonds and farmer cheese which is spread on the kulich. Together , it is heavenly. I am a Russian who grew up in Iran, and all Armenians there for some reason called the easter bread “Paskha” , maybe because it means Easter, and I always had to correct my Armenian friends and relatives , but to this day I have not succeeded . Look into any Russian cook book and .
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Hi there, I really enjoyed reading your thoughts on “being Armenian”. It even brought a tear to my eye. I have been searching high and low for a recipe for Paska, and if I’m lucky enough to find it, Hopefully it will be close to what my mother used to make. She was not much for writing down recipes,nor having the patience to share them. I did manage to get a few recipes from her, but there are literally dozens of recipes that I search endlessly for, because I miss not having these dishes, pastries, etc. in my life. Right now I’m on a quest to find a recipe for Paska.
Thanks for letting me be Armenian again.
It is very good and I was happy to find article about Paska, I had no receipt to bake for this Easter would you be able to provide one at least I can make it for next year or one today if I receive a quick response. I live in UK and shops are not baking this kind of cakes for Easter, I always wanted to bake one, last year I bought the baking tin hoping that I can adapt my ususal cake making receipt but unfortunately it did not work, inside of the cake was not baked, it made me determine to find out so I searched the web I am hoping that you can help.
Happy Easter to you
Many Thanks
Novart
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