http://www.nwitimes.com/articles/2006/01/23/features/food/b29d2c442fccdc74862570f800828516.prt
Northwest Indiana News
This story ran on nwitimes.com on Wednesday, January 18, 2006 1:06 AM CST
Food:
The foods of Slava
BY BARBARA ROLEK[EMAIL PROTECTED]
219.933.3256
Friday is St. John the Baptist day and for hundreds of families in the region that means Krsna Slava.
Of all Orthodox Christians, only Serbians have a Slava -- the custom of celebrating a family's patron saint.
The tradition dates back to the ninth century when Serbs gave up their pagan beliefs and accepted Christianity.
One theory is that each village or tribe adopted a collective saint as its protector; another is that the saint on whose day a man was baptized became his family's patron.
In commemoration of their conversion or spiritual birthday, each family began a yearly celebration to honor their saint, passing the tradition down from generation to generation.
The most common Slavas are St. John the Baptist on Jan. 20, St. George on May 6, St. Michael the Archangel on Nov. 21 and St. Nicholas on Dec. 19, but there are many others.
The Rev. Jovan Todorovich, pastor of St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church in Merrillville, will visit at least 25 homes from Crown Point to Valparaiso after 9 a.m. services Friday to bless slavski kolac (Slava bread), zhito (boiled wheat with honey and walnuts) and red wine, and light a special beeswax candle, the most important components of a Slava.
Kolac represents Christ as the bread of life; zhito is symbolic of Christ's resurrection and commemorates departed family members; red wine is symbolic of Christ's blood; and the candle proclaims Christ as the light of the world.
The kolac is a round 6-inch-high yeast bread with braided dough around its perimeter, a cross on the top and a pecat or seal with the letters IC, XC, NI and KA, which stand for "Jesus Christ the conqueror." A Cyrillic "C" in each quadrant of the cross stands for samo, sloga, Srbina, spasava, which mean "Only unity will save Serbs."
While Slava is about faith and family, it's also a festive occasion and food figures prominently.
"I'll have soup at one person's home, sarma (stuffed cabbage) at another, dessert at another, and so on, depending on the persistence of the family and my schedule," says Todorovich whose patron is Saint Petka, celebrated on Oct. 27.
Violet Kosica, a Hobart resident and the author of "Baba's Recipes: Our South Slavic Legacy" and "Violet's Kitchen," says that her knees would be in better shape today if it hadn't been for so many Slavas.
"I had hot food on the table for every guest from 1 p.m. to late at night. The tables were in the basement family room and the kitchen was upstairs. Up and down those steps so many times was exhausting," the 72-year-old says with a laugh.
The preparation began weeks before. Her menu consisted of chicken noodle soup, sarma, spit-roasted lamb and pork, breads and pastries that ran the gamut of strudels and nut rolls to tortes and cookies, wine, slivovic (plum brandy), and good, strong coffee.
"The family never sits. We serve our company all day long. It's quite an affair keeping the food hot, the dishes and glasses clean and a smile on our faces, but it's a revered tradition among Serbian families," Kosica says.
Lou Mladenovic, the owner of Taste of Europe in Crown Point, was born in Bela Voda, Serbia, and immigrated to the United States in 1973, but the traditions and foods of his homeland have stayed with him.
"In this busy world of ours, Serbs want to maintain the old ways but many don't have the time to prepare the delicacies associated with Slava, so I do it for them," Mladenovic says.
Many feast days he has orders for 30 Slava breads and zhito.
"The key factor in slavski kolac is presentation and taste. There is a lot of pride involved in kolac."
He makes his sarma with kiseli kupus (imported sour cabbage heads) and says no Slava feast would be complete without appetizers of smoked meats, sausages, feta cheeses, kajmak (a cream cheese spread), pogacha (a yeast bread) and other breads he bakes at his specialty shop.
"Slava to a Serbian family is like the Constitution is to the United States of America. It is the backbone of our families and something we abide by," Mladenovic says.
If you go
Taste of Europe
When: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays.
Where: 518 N. Main St., Crown Point
FYI: (219) 226-9000
Slavski Kolac (Slava Bread)
2 packages active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup warm water
1-1/2 cups warm water
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
3 eggs, slightly beaten
Grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
4 tablespoons sugar
6 to 7 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour
1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water
* Dissolve yeast, sugar and 3 tablespoons flour in 1/2 cup warm water. Set aside.
* In large bowl, combine 1-1/2 cups warm water, salt, butter, eggs, lemon rind and juice, and sugar. Add about 4 cups flour and beat well. Add remaining flour gradually, beating well, until dough is stiff. Knead as for bread and put in a greased bowl to rise.
* When about double in size, knead again briefly. Reserving enough dough to decorate top, make a round loaf. Put in a well-greased round, deep pan.
* Decorate the edge of the loaf with a braid and a cross in the center with 4 backward "C"s in each quadrant. Let rise until doubled.
* Heat oven to 350 degrees. Brush bread lightly with egg wash (egg beaten with water). Bake for 1 hour or until nicely brown. When cool enough to handle, remove from pan and cool on wire rack.
Makes 1 slava bread.
SOURCE: Violet Kosica
Sarma (Stuffed Cabbage)
1 large head cabbage
1 pound ground chuck
1/2 ground pork
6 smoked ribs or ham hock or other smoked meat
1 cup raw rice
1 (1.4-ounce) package of dehydrated onion soup
1 (32-ounce) large jar sauerkraut (do not drain or rinse)
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (10-3/4-ounce) can tomato soup
* Steam cabbage until outer leaves are limp, remove leaves, and continue.
* Remove ribs from leaves without damaging leaves. Reserve tougher outer leaves but don't use for rolling.
* Mix meats, rice, onion soup and adding a little water will make mixture easier to handle. Heap a tablespoon on leaf, in rib area, fold top over, then sides, fold completely.
* Use large roasting pan, discarding core, coarsely cut up remaining cabbage, spread this on bottom of pan and sauerkraut (do not drain or rinse), layer in cabbage rolls with seam side down. Cut smoked ribs and space between rolls.
* Cover rolls with reserved outer leaves and mix tomato soup and sauce with water until liquidy. Pour over rolls until mixture level with rolls but not over the top. Cover and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake 1 hour. Then reduce temperature to 325 degrees and bake for 2 hours. Let sit 20 to 30 minutes before serving. Freezes well.
Makes 12 cabbage rolls.
SOURCE: Violet Kosica
Potica (Sweet Nut Bread)
1 package active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 egg yolks, beaten
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Filling:
1 to 1-1/2 cups finely ground walnuts
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup honey
3 egg whites
3/4 cup sugar
* Dissolve yeast in water and set aside. Heat butter, 1/2 cup milk, 2 tablespoons sugar and salt until lukewarm and butter has melted.
* In large bowl, combine yeast mixture, butter mixture and beaten egg yolks.
* Add flour gradually, beating well.
* Divide into 2 equal portions, wrap and refrigerate overnight. Next day, make the filling.
* Combine walnuts, sugar, cinnamon, 1/4 cup milk and honey in a saucepan. Place over low heat, stirring constantly until hot. Remove from heat and cool.
* Beat egg whites until frothy. Gradually add 3/4 cup sugar, beating until stiff. Mix together with cooled walnut mixture. Set aside.
* On floured surface, roll 1 portion of dough into a 24-inch square. Spread with 1/2 the filling and roll as for a jellyroll. Coil in a well-greased, 10-inch tube pan. Repeat process with remaining dough and place second roll on top of first. With sharp knife, cut to bottom of pan in several places. Let rise until doubled.
* Heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake 1 hour or until nicely browned. Cool in pan 20 minutes and invert onto a wire rack.
Makes 1 potica.
SOURCE: Violet Kosica
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