Russian Mennonite zwieback, called Tweebak in
Plautdietsch, is a yeast
bread roll
Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made food ...
formed from two pieces of dough that are pulled apart when eaten. Placing the two balls of dough one on top of the other so that the top one does not fall off during the baking process is part of the art and challenge that must be mastered by the baker. Traditionally, this type of
zwieback is baked Saturday and eaten Sunday morning and for afternoon ''Faspa'' (Standard German: "Vesper"),
[Voth, Norma Jost, "Mennonite Foods & Folkways from South Russia, Volumes I", pp. 35-55. Good Books, 1990. ] a light meal.
This zwieback originated in the port cities of the Netherlands or
Danzig, where
toasted, dried buns were used to provision ships.
Mennonite
Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the R ...
immigrants from the Netherlands, who settled in around Danzig in
West Prussia
The Province of West Prussia (german: Provinz Westpreußen; csb, Zôpadné Prësë; pl, Prusy Zachodnie) was a Provinces of Prussia, province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and 1878 to 1920. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kin ...
continued this practice and brought it to Russia, when they migrated to new colonies in what is today Ukraine.
Recipe
Traditionally, zwieback are made using lard instead of butter or a mixture of the two. As such, zwieback is very rich and does not need butter when being eaten, although jelly or jam both go quite well. Many zwieback recipes do not use modern units of measurement, instead relying on anecdotal measurements handed down through the generations. The following recipe is a translation of a traditional recipe using modern measurements:
"Scald 2 cups of milk and 3/4 cup shortening (butter or lard, or 1/2 each) in a small saucepan. Cool to body temperature then add 2 tbsp. yeast. In separate mixing bowl, sift 3 cups of flour, then add 2 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. sugar. Add milk mixture to flour. Mix well, then add additional flour and kneed. The dough should be slightly softer than bread dough, and not sticky (approx. 5 cups of flour). Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size or more, about an hour. Form dough into small balls the size of a walnut, placing one dough ball on top of another to form a snowman shape; the ball on the top should be slightly smaller than the one on the bottom. Let them rise again, around 30 min.. Bake in a hot oven at 410ºF for 20-25 min or until bottoms are golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature."
See also
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Russian Mennonite
The Russian Mennonites (german: Russlandmennoniten it. "Russia Mennonites", i.e., Mennonites of or from the Russian Empire occasionally Ukrainian Mennonites) are a group of Mennonites who are descendants of Dutch Anabaptists who settled for abo ...
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Rusk
A rusk is a hard, dry biscuit or a twice-baked bread. It is sometimes used as a teether for babies. In some cultures, rusk is made of cake, rather than bread: this is sometimes referred to as cake rusk. In the UK, the name also refers to a whea ...
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Mennonite cuisine
Mennonite cuisine is food that is unique to and/or commonly associated with Mennonites, a Christian denomination that came out of sixteenth century Protestant Reformation in Switzerland and The Netherlands. Because of persecution, they lived in co ...
References
Dutch cuisine
German cuisine
Mennonite cuisine
Plautdietsch language
Polish cuisine
Ukrainian cuisine
Russian cuisine
Yeast breads
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