If it’s the first day of January and you are Greek, it’s time for a most important ritual: the cutting of the vasilopita. Grab your plate and your
fork and get in line. Perhaps this is
the year you will be lucky. Perhaps this
year you’ll get the coin! Because, as
all Greeks know, inside every vasilopita there’s a coin that's hidden. Come on, dad, slice that vasilopita
and pass around those pieces. First, you’ll
pretend that you are interested in eating your piece. Then you’ll do what everyone else does and
dig around your slice for the coin. Crumbs on the
tablecloth, on your lovely new outfit, on the floor. Who cares? Where is that coin?
“Ohhh, it’s
me! I have it!!!” shouts Veronica, who just happens to be your least favourite cousin. She's the
lucky one this year. So there is nothing
left for you to do but to gather up your crumbs one by one, and if they are
still eatable, to eat them. Meanwhile, that cousin of yours (Veronica ...) who just happens to have really hairy forearms and a big nose and how come you never noticed it before, well, Veronica is smiling from ear to ear while recounting the
play-by-play of how she found the coin:
“I cut into my piece, and felt something that I thought was the coin, but it turned out to be a raisin. I
put a bite of vasilopita in my mouth and started chewing it. But it wasn't as moist as in other years. How come? Anyway, I forged ahead in looking for that coin. I knew in my heart that this was
going to be my year! I cut into my piece again, and yes, I could see something shining.”
“What was it, another raisin?” you have the temerity to
ask.
Impervious to my
sarcasm, Veronica clarified that it was definitely not another raisin.
“It was definitely not another raisin!"
You continue, trying to sound perplexed: "Oh, a piece of walnut, then!"
"It was the coin!" she gasps. “It was mine! My goodness, this will be such a great
year for me!”
Your little brother, whom you
love dearly (most of the time), eyes the lucky coin sitting on the side of Veronica's plate and, in one slick
move, removes it and deposits it into his pocket. Then he leaves the table and heads for his
room.
A few minutes later, as you’re washing dishes, you
know why your cousin with the hairy arms and big crooked nose who snores as indelicately as a hibernating bear and could use a CPAP, has started to
scream: “Where is my coin???” Yup, clever girl, she figured out it's missing.
"Wasn't the Vasilopita moist enough this year?" asks my mother as a way of a reply.
"Auntie, what's important is that my coin is missing!"
"It's got to be around here somewhere." My mother gets up from her chair and devotes all of thirty seconds to her search." She sits back down. "Maybe we'll call Sherlock Holmes ..."
And so rolls another New Year’s Day at chez Grecque
Maison.
For Greeks, the first of January is a day when secular and religious
traditions are combined to celebrate the coming of the New Year. Along with New Year’s Day, there is celebrated the feast day of Saint Basil the Great, one of the most important saints in the
Greek ecclesiastical calendar.
Saint
Basil was born into a wealthy family but gave away his money to the poor. Because he was a pious individual and
champion of the underprivileged, myths and traditions slowly developed to
commemorate his memory. It’s interesting
to note that another saint of the same period, Saint Nicholas, was also known
for his generosity. Over the centuries, the legends of Saint Nicholas and Saint Basil blended together to form one
“big” legend associated with none other than Santa Claus. However, Saint Nicholas is associated with
the Santa of the Western churches, and the Eastern Santa is Saint Basil.
Yes, Saint Basil is the Greek Santa Claus. On January 1, his feast day, children receive
gifts brought by the saint, New Year’s carols are sung, and families gather
around the vasilopita, which is a cake made in Saint Basil’s honour. Recipes for vasilopita vary with regions and family traditions. In some places it takes the
form of a fillo pie, in others it is a cake, and yet in others, it is a yeasted
sweetened bread. That which makes vasilopita
a vasilopita is that it's round in shape and has a coin hidden inside. The head of every Greek family makes the sign of the cross over the vasilopita and then slices it. The slices are distributed to family members and guests, starting with the eldest and ending with the youngest. Whoever gets the slice with the coin is
blessed by Saint Basil, and has good fortune for the year to come. The round shape of the vasilopita symbolizes the unity of the church and the concept that God is without beginning or end.
Many cultures have the custom of hiding trinkets into celebratory cakes. This custom most certainly predates Christianity and was probably associated with the pagan festival of Saturnalia, which celebrated the renewal of light and the coming of the New Year. As the Roman Empire came under Christian rule, some of its customs were incorporated into the seasonal celebrations of the church.
For Greeks, the celebratory cake became the vasilopita, so named after Saint Basil. Inclusion of an actual coin is unique to Greece, and that's because Saint Basil is associated with the giving away of money for the protection of the poor.
Beyond the myth, who was Saint Basil? He was born around 330 CE in Asia Minor,
which at the time was under the control of the Roman Empire. He studied philosophy and rhetoric in Constantinople
and Athens and then settled in Caesarea of Cappadocia, Asia Minor. He was baptized as a Christian in 358 and
joined the priesthood, eventually being appointed bishop. He wrote important ecclesiastical works, some
of which concern monastic life. These were pivotal to the development of the monastic tradition.
Saint Basil gained prominence for successfully defending
the Nicene Creed against the Arian theology supported by the Roman emperor
Valens, who denied the relationship of the Holy Trinity. St. Basil was also a humanitarian and a philanthropist. He built a sprawling complex, unique for its
time, which included a hospice, a poorhouse and a hospital, and which was open free of charge to
all. This became a model
for other institutions of similar nature. He was a famous preacher, noted for his sermons on ethics and
morality. Saint Basil died on January 1,
379. It is for that reason that January
1 is celebrated as his feast day. All I
can say is, we need a few individuals like him today.
I love Saint Basil, not only because I admire him for his intellect, piety, and goodness, but also because I have wonderful associations with his name itself. My most beloved uncle was named Basil, and I remember how we visited him on New Year's day, his name day. We would arrive at his home and find it filled with flowers, gifts, and boxes upon boxes of confections, all of them brought by well-wishers. I would sit and listen to the grown-ups talk: family stories, political discussions, gossip, jokes ... There were many conversations I remember to this day, and there are memories which envelop me in joy and warmth!
VASILOPITA for NEW YEAR’S DAY (makes 16 servings)
Ingredients:
2 cups powdered sugar (480 grams)
3 cups almond flour (320 grams)
1 ½ cups flour (200 grams)
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
16 egg whites (just protein here, it's the yolks that contain the cholesterol. I threw my egg yolks away. Some markets sell containers that contain egg whites only. In that case, you will need to weigh 560 grams of egg whites)
18 tablespoons melted butter (520 grams)
Rind from 2 medium oranges
Directions:
- In a large bowl add all the dry ingredients and mix them well.
- Add the egg whites and mix gently.
- Add the butter and mix gently.
- Place into a greased 10-inch springform pan that's resting on a baking sheet.
- Take a clean coin such as a quarter and wrap it in aluminium foil. Drop the coin into the batter.
- Bake at preheated 350º F for ½ hour, lower to 325º F and bake for another ½ hour to 45 minutes depending on the oven. Don’t open the oven door for at least the first half-hour.
- Let cool and remove from the pan. Decorate the top with powdered sugar, and tie a pretty ribbon around it until it's time to cut it. I added some melted white chocolate and chocolate chips on top just to make it fancier.
- This vasilopita is very easy and quick to make, and it tastes really good too. The recipe is from chef Parliaros, who is a Greek master pastry chef. I don't understand how he can work with all that sugar and butter and stay so thin. But, he says that if you have small portions of everything the calories are less significant. Below I include the YouTube video in which he and his sous chef make this recipe. The video is in Greek, but even if you don't understand Greek you can get a general idea of how he makes the vasilopita. The amounts for the ingredients are given in the metric system, and chef weighs everything. I weighed everything also, and then I converted the amounts to cups. Do you see that tiny crack on the chef's vasilopita? Mine had a crack also, only it was much larger and deeper. Truth to tell, that's why I covered the top with both powdered sugar and melted white chocolate. The melted chocolate covered the crack beautifully and made the vasilopita look pretty fantastic too. What can I say? My vasilopita may get a crack, but my cheesecakes never do! How about that???
- Signing off now, and once again I wish you a happy and healthy 2013!
