MM> So, what -is- babka?
I'm glad you asked. Some folks at the office were wondering as well, and as other folks here had thought, we too had thought that it migth be Greek or Jewish, but nope, it is Ukrainian. Having asked a Ukranian friend, read on:
Baba or Babka: This is one of the most distinctive of all Ukrainian breads.
It is a rich yeast-raised cake bread of a superlative quality, traditionally
served at Easter. However, no one waits for Easter to enjoy this delicacy,
and it is baked at any time of the year that suits one's fancy.
The name "baba" is the colloquial Ukranian word for woman or grandma,
while "babka" is a diminutive of the same word. The name "babka" is more
commonly used, as the modern loaves are smaller and the name sounds daintier.
Why this particular cake bread is called bab or babka, meaning woman,
is not known. Some thing that the shape of the loaf, suggesting a statuesque
matron, gave the cake bread its name. This bread is always baked in a tall
cylindrical pan or in a fluted tube pan. The latter resembles the skirt of a
peasant woman.
Some of the Ukranian students of folklore suggest a different
explaination. They say that the bab-bread may have originated in the
prehistoric times when the Ukranian communities were ruled by women, for it is
an established historic fact that the matriarchal system once existed in the
life of Ukranians. Many traces of this matriarchy are still evident in some
of the ancient traditions, common law, ritual songs, status of women, and
family relationship. Ukranian women have always enjoyed freedom which, too,
has its roots inmatriarchy. The new findings of the archeological excavations
in Ukraine also throw some light on the subject. In the excavated ancient
settlements of the so called Trypillyan Culture (3000 to 2000 B.C.), the
archeologists have found a constant recurrence of numerous clay, female
figurines. What these figurines mean, is still an unsolved puzzle, but
authorities assume that they are definetly linked in some way to matriarchy.
It is generally believed that, in the matriarchal system, the women
priestesses performed various religious rituals some of which may have been
connected with the fertility of the soil; hence a special type of bread, the
baba-bread, may have been an essential feature of the ritual. Probably this
event was held in the spring as a part of the traditional spring festival.
With the coming of Christianity, the old tradition blended with Easter
festivity, and the ritual baba-bread became known as Easter baba or babka.
This is merely a theory, but it is an interesting one.
--------------------------- cut here -------------------------He also gave me eight different Babka recipes if anyone would like to attempt to bake a babka at home.
Steve.