Throughout the millennia the Greek calendar has been full of special festive days that commemorate religious holidays or other social customs, and all them include the preparation and sharing of special foods. The main ingredients of these foods signify abundance, fertility, continuation of life and the sharing of goods. Wheat, barley, honey, nuts, and eggs are typically used to mark and celebrate Greek births, marriages, deaths, and all sorts of other personal, national or local holidays, such as “Name Days.”

Name Days are a big part of Greek Culture; Greek Orthodoxy expects all newborns to be named after a saint of the Church, and this is almost universally observed. So, on any given Saint’s birth day, Greeks across the land and anywhere Greeks might reside pay visits to those named after that saint, carrying, sweets, flowers or a perhaps a bottle of brandy.  The person celebrating is expected to reciprocate by serving a large array of “kaloúdia,” goodies of all sorts as a thanks to the saint they are named after.

These exchanges of food on a regular basis were, on the face of it, offerings to the gods, the departed, or thanks for a good harvest, or commemoration of a miracle that somehow saved the community from a famine. But in reality they were (but not so much any more) a means to share wealth without embarrassing those who received the gifts.

One such Name Day is January 1, also known as Saint Basil’s Day. New Year’s Day for the Greeks is celebrated though a variety of events and special foods, all somehow connected to the folklore of Saint Basil. Religious tradition tells us that in the 4^th century A.D., Saint Basil was the Archbishop of Caesarea, deep in the Cappadocia area of Asia Minor. The local tax collector once went to the citizens of Caesarea and demanded all their valuables. Out of fear, they collected their valuables and were trying to organize them to give them to him. However, the tax collector seeing the worry in Saint Basil’s face, decided not to collect anything after all! 

But when the saint tried to find the rightful owners of the valuables to return them, he had a very difficult time. So, he instructed his parishioners to bake lots of sweet breads. In each of them, Saint Basil placed one of the valuables. The next day, as he passed out a sweetbread to each of his  parishioners, they were astonished to find that it contained the valuable that was theirs!  Everyone rejoiced in the miracle and began an annual celebration to commemorate the event by having all households bake a bread known as Vassilopita, or, Saint Basils’ bread, and the bread included a coin. Some people use real gold coins; the majority simply use a coin for the symbolism and not its actual value. 

On New Year’s Eve groups of children sing carols that tell about Saint Basil coming from a far away land bringing gifts for all.  Later on in the evening most families play cards “for good luck” and nibble on foods.  At the stroke of midnight, after the lights are symbolically turned off, the hostess brings out the Vassilópita (see recipes below), and it is cut in accordance with ritual. 

Usually the oldest person in the household begins to cut pieces that are named for specific deities and persons. For example, the first piece is for Christ, the second for the Virgin, the third for the house that is holding the feast, the next is for the poor and then for the person that is cutting the cake, then the person next in line of age or authority, until all present have received a piece. 

Regardless of the goodness and the taste of the bread/cake, all are searching for the coin that the baker has wrapped in foil, also for “good luck” and to commemorate the original miracle with Saint Basil’s cakes with the valuables.  It is believed that the person who gets the coin will have a very good, happy and prosperous New Year.  The pieces dedicated to Christ or the Virgin are usually given to soup lines of the poor, delivery persons, or visitors to the house.

There are other rituals that Greeks perform around New Year’s Day. They are very picky about who will be the first person to enter their house; if they think a certain person will bring bad luck, they do not open the door; or, if they know a person that they believe will bring them good fortune, they invite this person to step through their door before anyone else! 

In many places, when the “lucky” person is allowed through the door, he or she is given a pomegranate to be thrown on the entry way floor: If it breaks into many  pieces, then the luck will be abundant. New Year’s Day used to be the day that Greeks exchanged gifts – again to commemorate that day in Caesarea – but not any more; gifts are exchanged on Christmas Eve like the rest of Europe and North America.

One of the two recipes below is the traditional one, a bread, and the other is what most Greek women do in the Diaspora, a pound-like cake. I bake the second one for New  Year’s because it is fluffy, light and. . . it never fails! 

Kali Hroniá ke Hrónia Pollá! (Happy New Year and Many Happy Returns!)

Traditional Vassilópita

• 6 cups sifted flour

• 2 packages dry yeast

• 1 tablespoon mahlepi

• grains of mastic, ground with some sugar

• ½ cup whole milk

• ½ cup sugar

• 1 teaspoon salt

• ¼ lukewarm water

• 1 cup butter at room temperature

• 3 eggs at room temperature, beaten

• Melted unsalted butter

• Blanched almonds

Sift the flour into a bowl and add the mahlepi* and mastic*.

Scald the milk; stir in the sugar, salt and butter. Let it cool

In a small bowl add the lukewarm water and 2 tablespoons of sugar; add the yeast and let it stand for 7 to 10 minutes or until the yeast foams. Stir this yeast mixture into the lukewarm milk mixture.  Then stir in the beaten eggs.

Add slowly 3 cups of flour and beat until smooth. Add the mahlepi and mastic and slowly the rest of the flour. Turn the dough on a floured board and knead until smooth.

Place dough in a greased bowl, make the sign of the cross and let it rise, covered with a towel in a warm place, free of drafts, until dough has doubled in size.  Punch down and knead lightly. Add a coin wrapped in foil and place dough in a large size round shaped pan (28-30 cm -- 11 inches) and let rise covered with a towel until it fills the pan; the time will vary.   

When the cake has risen, brush with a beaten egg, sprinkle with silvered almonds and bake at a pre-heated 375 degree F oven for 45 minutes to an hour, or, until it gets a nice deep golden color.  Let cool, remove from pan and put in a tray before serving.

*Mahlepi and mastic can be bought at Greek or Middle Eastern grocery stores.

Vassilópita * Cake

Ingredients:

• 2 sticks of unsalted butter, room temperature

• 2½ cups of sugar

• 6 large eggs, room temperature

• 1 cup self-rising flour

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• ½ teaspoon bicarbonate soda

• 1 cup whole milk

• 2 teaspoons grated lemon rind*

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice*

• ¼ cup each of chopped almonds, pistachios and  walnuts*

• ¼ cup sugar

• 1 coin, wrapped in foil

Grease lightly with butter a 28cm (11-inch) round spring form cake pan; line the bottom with wax paper and set aside. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift together the flours and soda; set aside.

Cream butter until light; add sugar slowly and keep beating; add rind and keep beating until very light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after addition.

In a larger bowl, transfer the butter-egg mixture; then add the flour mixture and the milk, alternating between the two. Stir in the brandy or juice. Add the wrapped coin and pour into baking dish. Bake the cake for 30 minutes then take it out and sprinkle on top the chopped almonds, pistachios, walnuts and sugar. Return to the oven and bake for another 30 to 40 minutes, or until it is golden and when a knife is inserted comes out clean.  Let cool and transfer to a serving tray.

* This recipe was given to me by a friend from Australia and it appeared in the Easy Greek-Style Cookery book, published by The Australian Women’s Weekly Cookbooks, ACP Publishing, 2000.  I have been using this recipe with a slight variation: I use grated orange rind; instead of juice I add 1/4  cup good quality brandy; I use only almonds in the topping, and I bake it in a spring form pan.