Tsoureki

Etymology

The Greek word tsoureki is borrowed from Turkish çörek. Some dictionaries claim that this is derived from the Old Turkish root çevir- 'turn'; others say it is Persian or Armenian.

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 a Greek holiday bread that is made by Greeks during Easter, not only in Greece, but also in other countries with Greek communities. It is made from a sweet yeast dough of flour, sugar, 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". Traditional Armenian cheoreg omits the dyed Easter eggs and may be made in smaller sizes, dividing the dough into 10 or 12 portions rather than baking as one whole braided loaf. In Armenian tradition, a big batch of choreg is baked for Easter, with one of the choregs containing a coin, bead or button for good luck to whomever gets it.

The Turkish language name for this bread is paskalya çöreği (paskalya is the Turkish word for Easter). Turkish recipes include egg in the dough, rather than 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.

Sometime 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 (Χριστόψωμο), 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 resin and mahleb. (Some recipes suggest marinating the raisins and dried figs overnight in wines like retsina or mavrodaphne). Some of the dough is set aside for the loaf's cross-shaped decoration.

The bread may be glazed with a syrup made from honey, orange juice and slivered almonds.