Hluboká Castle, Bohemia
Here’s another warm weather favourite which I sometimes make for our Boxing Day picnic, and which I will be making again this Christmas!
Summer Pudding
2 packets (20+) Italian Savoiardi Biscuits
400g raspberries
300g boysenberries (fresh or frozen)
200g redcurrants
220g castor sugar
200ml water
2 tbsp Kirsch
Place fruit in a pan with water and sprinkle over sugar.
Bring to the boil over a low heat, stirring occasionally, and add kirsch.
Drain off most of the juice into a large shallow dish and place the sponge fingers in, turning them over and allowing them to absorb the liquid and soften.
Line a pudding bowl or fluted tin, making sure they overlap and there are no spaces.
Fill with the fruit and a little juice, reserving some of the liquid (if there is too much liquid you can reduce it in the pan).
Seal the top with more sponge fingers and coat with liquid.
Use a plate that just fits into the bowl to cover pudding and allow to stand, weighted, overnight in the fridge.
You can also put it between two close shelves and force in a tin of the appropriate size to compress the pudding if you don’t have a weight.
Unmould onto a serving plate and serve with fresh lightly whipped cream.
You can make all sorts of fruit substitutions depending on what is available: blackcurrants, blackberries, blueberries. I like to throw in some halved dark cherries. Some people like strawberries, but I find they can go a bit mushy and don’t look as nice as the darker and redder fruits. If not using raspberries, redcurrants or other tart fruit you can add some lemon or lime juice to the liquid. Brandy, a red fruit liqueur or even Cointreau may be substituted for the Kirsch.
The origins of Boxing Day are uncertain. There are many and varied theories without an awful lot of evidence to back them up. One of the favourites is that it was the day on which the Medieval alms boxes were opened in the churches and the funds distributed to the poor. The other contender, which certainly occurred, but whose origins are again unknown, was the Victorian custom of providing a Christmas box containing money, food or other gifts to tradespeople, deliverymen and servants on this day. The common element is the non-reciprocal gift giving to those of a lower or dependant status as opposed to the reciprocal gift giving of equals on Christmas Day.
The 26th is the Feast of St Stephen, the first Christian martyr. This might not seem like a logical association with Boxing Day, but it turns out St Stephen was also the early church’s first deacon and possibly in charge of the fair distribution of alms from the common fund, argument having arisen between Hellenist Jewish converts and Palestinian Jewish converts.
1 And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.
2 Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples … and said …
3 Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.
…
5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:
…
8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.
Acts 6:1-8, King James Version
In Ireland, St Stephen’s Day was formerly the day for “Hunting the Wren”. Local boys would hunt and kill a wren and, tied to a pole or holly bush, the bird was paraded from house to house by the youths wearing masks or with blacked faces and dressed in straw, motley or drag. The were accompanied by musicians and sang one of the many local versions of the Wren Song;
The wren, the wren, the king of all birds,
On St. Stephen's Day was caught in the furze,
Although he is little, his family is great,
I pray you, good landlady, give us a treat.
My box would speak, if it had but a tongue,
And two or three shillings, would do it not wrong,
Sing holly, sing ivy - sing ivy, sing holly,
A drop just to drink, it would drown melancholy.
And if you draw it of the best,
I hope in heaven your soul will rest;
But if you draw it of the small,
It won't agree with these wren boys at all.
Contributions were used to fund a village dance and the contributors were given one of the wren’s feathers for luck.
The Feast of St Stephen is also the day Good King Wenceslas took food and fuel to the poor man according to the famous carol - another case of non-reciprocal gifting so there does seem to be a theme here.
The other thing Wenceslas and Stephen have in common is martyrdom. Wenceslas, or Václav, was brought up as a Christian (his grandfather had been converted by the ‘Apostles to the Slavs,’ St Cyril and St Methodius). After Wenceslas’ father Vratislav was killed in battle, he succeeded him as Duke (not King) of Bohemia (Czech Republic), under the regency of his grandmother, Ludmila. His mother Drahomíra, a pagan tribal princess, enlisted the support of some pagan nobles to have Ludmila (subsequently St Ludmila) killed. Despite pressure, Wenceslas continued to practice Christianity and eventually exiled his mother and ruled in his own right. He was killed in c935 by his pagan brother Boleslaus (Boleslav), styled ‘the Cruel’.
In reality the assassination was probably more political than religious, as under Boleslav the growth of Christianity in Bohemia continued unabated. His children were Christian, his son and successor Boleslav II being dubbed ‘the Pious’.
Nevertheless, Wenceslas was considered a martyr and was canonised. He certainly did much to increase the popularity of Christianity, founding many churches, including St Vitus Cathedral in Prague. He is the patron saint of the Czech people, Prague and the Czech Repulic, also of Czech brewers as he made the export of cuttings of the national treasure, Bohemian hops, punishable by death.
The Czech Christmas feast is held on the 24th as Christmas Day is spent quietly at church and home, visiting and revelry resuming on St Stephen’s Day.
The premier Czech Christmas food is carp, which can be found live at fishmongers all over the republic. Some people choose to buy them and release them as a Christmas gesture. Other traditional dishes include kuba, a mushroom and barley casserole and vánočka, a braided fruit bread.
Here’s a recipe from Radio Praha that I might try this year:
Vánočka
6 cups medium flour
9 tbsp sugar
4 oz butter
1 tablespoon of yeast
1 cup milk
1 egg yolk
Pinch of salt
Vanilla sugar
Lemon rind, grated
1 nutmeg nut, grated
1 star anise, grated
3 tablespoons of raisins
3 tablespoons of almonds
1 egg beaten for egg wash
Crumble the yeast into the room-temperature milk, add in 1 tablespoon of sugar,
sprinkle evenly with flour, and then leave it in a warm place to rise.
Put the rest of the flour, 8 tablespoons of sugar, the vanilla sugar, salt, lemon rind, nutmeg, star anise and egg yolk into a bowl with the previous mixture when well-risen and mix well.
Add in the softened butter and continue to mix well. When the dough no longer sticks to the side of the bowl, stir in the washed raisins and the cleaned, sliced almonds.
Shape the dough in the bowl into a smooth loaf, dust it with flour, and leave it covered in a warm place to rise (with a larger amount of dough you may even leave it overnight.)
When the dough has risen completely, divide it into 9 parts on a pastry-board to make the vánočka. The bottom layer is woven from four long strands, the second from three, and the third layer twisted from two strands. Lay greased parchment paper on a baking sheet and gradually layer the strands of the vánočka on it. Leave it for a while on the sheet to finish rising, and then, before putting it in the oven, brush it with egg wash and sprinkle with chopped almonds.
Finally, puncture the vánočka at both ends and in the middle with skewers to prevent warping of the dough during baking.
Bake slowly for about 45 minutes.
Veselé vánoce a šťastný nový rok!