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Blog
Traditional Christmas desserts 2.
2022. 12. 13.
Meringue
In the case of the bajgli, especially by researching its filling, we were able to discover folk symbols and old traditions. After all, in the old peasant world, the ubiquitous superstitions weaved through the series of everyday life and holidays. Abundance and wealth, health and the avoidance of deterioration were the most important goals of these smaller and larger spells. In this way, most Christmas cakes, but also the entire menu, were shaped by a lot of superstitions into what we know today.
However, meringue is exceptionally not such a sweet! According to its origin story, it comes from the French royal court. This dessert was born during the reign of Louis XIV. , because the cookbook of one of the chefs of the royal kitchen, François Massialot, is the first official written source about meringue.
The Christmas tree itself comes from Alsace, and at the end of the 18th century, golden nuts, aniseed cookies, and meringue appeared among the pine decorations. We may have adopted this custom, perhaps at the same time as the Christmas tree itself, i.e. in the 1820s (Terez Brunszvik and Erzsébet Károlyné Podmaniczky Nostitz). It is very likely that it became a symbolic Christmas candy because the appearance of the dried or fried egg white is reminiscent of snow.
Fortunately, making homemade meringue is very, very easy. It is important to be able to separate the eggs thoroughly, because a little shell or egg yolk can make it impossible for the protein to harden. We recommend an egg separator for this. You can whisk the sugary egg whites perfectly with a hand mixer. With a set of piping bags, you can give small meringues a nice shape.
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Gingerbread
Gingerbread is no longer the sweet of bourgeois cuisine, which is why quite a few folk customs are associated with it. Honey itself was a natural sweetener before the appearance and spread of sugar. After all, imported cane sugar spread slowly in peasant households, already due to its price.
In popular belief, honey mainly plays a role as a symbol of health, or as a food that creates it. In addition, associated with the sweet taste, it was also considered a source of happiness. There were places where it directly represented future happiness. For example, at a wedding, the new couple ate honey in some form to have a sweet, happy life together. Honey is so closely associated with the Christmas season for two reasons. On the one hand, because it was possible to base our happy life with honey as the sweetness of New Year's predictions and beliefs. On the other hand, because honey was more of a sweetener for festive cakes.
So if you want a happy year next year, start baking gingerbread!
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Christmas candy
Similar to meringue, christmas candy is not a sweet that can be linked to folk beliefs and symbolism, as it is of bourgeois origin and is, in fact, a relatively modern delicacy. However, it is interesting that christmas candy , as such, can only be associated with Hungary. A real Hungarian.
Although fondant, the basis of the first christmas candy, spread worldwide from medieval France, Christmas tree decorations wrapped in the form of sugar can only be associated with Hungary. According to historians, the fondant itself was brought to Hungary by craftsmen who immigrated from the territory of the German-Roman Empire. And this was most likely the result of the immigration and settlements that started at the end of the 18th century. When was this candy packaged? It seems to have spread in the 19th century, as it was already a sought-after sweet in the second half of the century. At that time, it was specifically tied to the Christmas holiday circuit.
It is interesting that, in parallel with modernization, the manual production of christmas candy was constantly replaced by mechanized technology. The first machines were used by the Stühmer chocolate factory and the Gerbeaud confectionary for the production of christmas candy.
If you would like to return to artisanal, homemade candy, you don't have such a difficult task today. You can find many different recipes on the internet, from the fruity or paleo version to the original fondant.
For the latter, you will need a smaller pan and a larger pot. In the first one, the sugar is made from glucose syrup and sugar, while in the large pot there must be cold water, into which you drip the hot mass with a spoon. You have to mix the fondant cooled in cold water with a food processor.
If you are not making the original version, you will have an easy time with such a dispenser.
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Source:
https://mult-kor.hu/20031211_szaloncukor__echte_hungarikum
https://mult-kor.hu/20091223_a_karacsonyi_hagyomanyok_elzaszi_tortenete
https://mult-kor.hu/20131224_a_karacsonyfa_tortenete