Spicy Christmas
Spicy Christmas

Video: Spicy Christmas

Video: Spicy Christmas
Video: KiriBaku SPICY christmas CMV 2024, March
Anonim
Spicy Christmas
Spicy Christmas

As early as November, Estonia begins to prepare for the winter holidays: people in gnome hats appear on the streets, fabulous extravaganzas unfold in the windows of central stores, a beautiful Christmas tree is installed on the Town Hall Square, and no one else turns out to be the driver of the train that drives tourists through the streets of Tallinn like Jouluvana, aka Santa Claus, aka Santa Claus.

Post offices are crowded with people eager to congratulate their loved ones with postcards, parcels, in bars smells stronger of cinnamon and cardamom and often candles burn on the tables. When the fourth Advent candle lights up, Christmas is coming soon.

Advent is four full weeks and another piece before Christmas, the time when Catholics and Lutherans of the whole world are fasting and waiting for the birth of Christ. From English this word is translated as coming, coming. As the pastors explained to the children gathered in the House on Sunday, Advent is the news of the imminent birth of Christ. The beginning of preparations for the holidays. This is the time when the star lights up over Bethlehem, and the three wise men from the East begin their journey.

There is no state church in Estonia, but according to statistics, adherents of the Lutheran church are in the first place, the Orthodox is in second, and then the followers of the Evangelical and Roman Catholic churches. Most of the people in the country are still not so religious, but the old traditions are observed in the country, and many people light candles on the Advent wreath of spruce branches - one every Sunday.

A candle is a symbol of light that will come into the world with the birth of Christ and that is why there are so many candles, candles and huge candles around during Christmas time. Already in early December, walking around any area of the city, you can see that two-thirds of the windows are decorated with either electric or real candles. In the store, eyes run up - candles are classic, antique, of all kinds of colors and various geometric shapes, gel and powder, in the form of jars of jam, placed in ceramic houses, scented and floating - they are all full participants in the Christmas and New Year mood, the special spirit of this time of year.

In Estonia, as in all of Europe, this spirit is very spicy - special almond gingerbread is baked, mulled wine is brewed - a spicy wine; spices and spices appear in usually bland kitchen - nutmeg, coriander, cardamom, cloves, candied fruits, nuts - that's what a good housewife buys at this time.

I confess that Estonian cuisine is a pleasure for an amateur and the Estonians themselves have long departed from its traditions in daily food, but Christmas cannot be without blood sausages with barley porridge, stewed sauerkraut, pickled pumpkin and lingonberry sauce, as well as salted beans for table, as a symbol of the future wealth of the family. True, next to the blood sausage it is now customary to display another meat dish more familiar to most - baked ham, roast pork, which are still served with lingonberry sauce and pumpkin. Well, it never happens that fish dishes are not on the table - they serve dried, salted or baked fish.

Many have heard about Estonian milk soup with herring, but to be honest, I have never even seen it, let alone tasted it.

Special beer is brewed for Christmas. It is dark, strong and sweet with a caramel flavor and is sold only during the winter holidays, but most prefer mulled wine (hoogvein or glogg) - at this time it is sold on every corner, in all bars, cafes, pubs.

By the way, if you suddenly want to cook mulled wine on your own and bite it with peppercorns - a piparkok, I give a recipe:

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Mix the wine with sugar and spices and heat, stirring with a wooden spoon. Never bring to a boil, otherwise the taste of mulled wine will irreversibly change. Cover with a tight lid or pour the wine into a thermos for 30-40 minutes.

Add cognac, for stronger lovers, 50 grams of vodka and let the wine stand a little longer.

Serve in glass mugs with almond shavings and raisins or a slice of lemon.

Mulled wine (or glug) can be made non-alcoholic, and take currant, apple and grape juices as a basis.

Simple piparkoks

Usually the dough is sold ready-made, but some people prefer to cook it on their own according to the preserved recipes:

Combine butter, sugar, spices and cocoa in a saucepan and heat slightly, stirring occasionally. Remove from stove, cool.

Mix flour with baking powder and pour into a saucepan, stirring occasionally, add eggs and knead everything well, using a mixer. Wrap the dough in foil and leave in the refrigerator for 12-20 hours.

Then roll out the dough, cut out the figures and bake over medium heat (175-180 ° C) for about 5-10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the dough.

Finished figurines are painted with colored glaze, decorated with chocolate or nonparella.

Piparkoks are brought to children by gnomes, who begin to walk from December 1 and put small presents in the socks or boots of obedient children. Who wants to be suddenly naughty and lose the treat? So the kids are trying their best not to upset their parents and bring only good marks in their diaries. And even now, the independent production of New Year's decorations, toys, gift wrappers is again very popular, and this process captures both children and adults. Blanks for Christmas wreaths made of foam, vines or spruce branches are used, which are decorated with tinsel, fruits, toys, wine corks, beads, shells and other cute little objects.

The windows are decorated with stained-glass windows, both purchased and home-made, painted with paints or "frost" is applied from special spray cans. Ethnic style is popular and often decorations are dry bouquets, wicker balls, stars, cones and nuts, painted in gold and silver.

Earlier, back in the Middle Ages, it was very popular for the Estonian population to make special crowns imitating church candlesticks, but the tradition practically disappeared into oblivion and was supplanted by the aforementioned Christmas decorations.

On the other hand, nothing could supplant another ancient tradition: every year on December 24 at noon, a sound of fanfare is heard on the Town Hall Square and the Mayor of Tallinn proclaims the Christmas Peace. From that moment on, everything vain and everyday fades into the background and people begin to prepare for the most important, for someone religious, for someone family holiday of the year.

For three and a half centuries, the words of the Swedish Queen Christina have been pronounced from the window of the Town Hall building, following which the state proclaims the Christmas Peace "so that people celebrate with piety and decent moderation and behave peacefully and decently" punishment "according to the law and the established order".

The Christmas world is valid until January 13 - Kanutov day.

There comes a time when solemn liturgies are heard in churches and not only tourists, but also locals often walk around the city and enter the organ halls. For some reason, it is at this time that you want to hear the solemn sounds of the organ, which fill you entirely, rise up the spine and make the soul tremble with delight, from the expectation of something bright, sublime, in general, a holiday.

And the holiday comes. It is very cozy and quiet. Everyone feels good and warm in it: both for those who left for the farm to listen to the silence of the winter forest and break away from the work bustle, and for those who stayed in the city and laid a festive table for loved ones. Christmas grace sank to the ground and helped everyone to feel happy even for a moment.

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