çörek

Tsoureki () also known as ''šurēk'' (), ''cöreg'', ''čʿorek'', ''katʿnahuncʿ'' (), ''çyrek'' (Albanian), ''kozunak'' (), ''cozonac'' (Romanian) or ''paskalya çöreği'' ( Turkish) is a sweet holiday bread made with flour, milk, butter, eggs, and sugar and commonly seasoned with orange zest, mastic resin, or ''mahleb''. ''Lampropsomo,'' a variation of tsoureki commonly called "Greek Easter bread," is made by Greek communities during Easter, not only in Greece, but also in other countries with Greek communities. It is also called Armenian Easter bread and gets eaten during Easter in Armenia and the Armenian diaspora.

Etymology

The Greek word ''tsoureki'' is derived from the Turkish word '' çörek,'' meaning "round bread" in Old Turkic''.'' Some dictionaries claim that this is derived from the Old Turkish root ''çevir-'' 'turn' or 'to make it round'. The ancient Armenian name was "bsatir - պսադիր" ("bsag պսակ" - "crown" and "tir դիր", is the root of "tnel դնել" verb: "to put"). This Armenian name is in allusion to Christ’s crown of thorns.

Greek tradition

There are different variations of the Greek ''tsoureki'' holiday breads including a round Christmas loaf with a cross decoration called ''Christopsomo'', a braided Easter bread with whole dyed eggs pressed into the dough called ''lampropsomo'', and a loaf with a coin hidden inside for good luck called ''vasilopita'' that is baked for St. Basil's Day (New Year's Day).

Easter bread

Tsoureki is made for Easter in Greece and among the Greek diaspora. It is made from a sweet yeast dough of flour, sugar, eggs, butter and milk, with dyed red Easter eggs pressed into the dough. The dough is brushed with egg wash before baking, and sometimes flavored with '' mahlep'', mastic resin or orange zest. Other flavorings might include almond extract, cinnamon, sultanas or fennel seed.

This bread is sometimes called "Armenian Easter bread". In Armenian, the common name is ''choreg'' () or ''cheoreg'' (), from the Turkish, with the Armenian name ''gatnahunts'' () being less common. Before baking ''choreg'', the surface is painted with egg yolk, and the heat of the oven browns it until it acquires a reddish-brown tone that represents the blood of Christ. Traditional Armenian ''choreg'' omits the dyed Easter eggs, as they are instead used in the Surb Zatik egg fight, another Armenian easter tradition.

Its Turkish name is ' 'Easter çörek'. It does not include whole eggs pressed into the dough as decoration. Some recipes substitute a neutral-flavored oil, such as sunflower oil, and margarine in place of milk and butter. The dough may be seasoned with orange zest, vanilla, mahlep and slivered almonds.

Sometimes tsoureki is used as a gift for special occasion; for instance, it can be given as an Easter gift from children to their godparents.

Christmas bread

Christopsomo (), which translates as "Christ's bread", is a traditional Greek holiday bread that is sometimes decorated with whole walnuts, sesame seeds and slivered almonds. Also called Christmas fruit bread, the ''tsoureki'' dough may include a combination of raisins, dried apricots, dried figs, orange zest, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, cardamom, Mastic (plant resin) and ''mahleb''. (Some recipes suggest marinating the raisins and dried figs overnight in wines like ''retsina'' or ''mavrodaphne, orange juice, and slivered almonds.

See also

* Brioche
* Cardamom bread
* Challah
* Cozonac, the Romanian and Bulgarian variant
* Kulich (bread)
* List of foods with religious symbolism
* Nut roll
* Pulla
* Vánočka
* Zopf

References

{{Cuisine of Greece

Sweet breads
Easter bread
Greek breads
Braided egg breads
Cypriot cuisine
Cuisine of Northern Cyprus
Armenian cuisine
Azerbaijani cuisine
Turkish breads
Armenian breads
Christmas food