Masopus in the Czech Republic
Description:
Shrovetide begins after the festival of the Three Kings, that is, after January 6, and lasts until the beginning of the Easter fast. It is celebrated in the last week before the "ash Wednesday" (popelecni streda), that is, before the beginning of the forty-day fast.
The custom of having fun and feasting at the end of winter came to the Czech Republic in the 13th century from Germany (for example, in Moravia instead of "masopust" say "fasching" from the German Fasching). The tradition has been preserved primarily in the villages, but has recently been renewed in the cities. In Prague, for example, the carnival in the Žižkov quarter has been held since 1993.
A week full of fun begins with a “fat Thursday” (“tucny ctvrtek”). On that day, they eat and drink a lot, so that the whole year will be strong. The main dish on "fat Thursday" was pork with "dumplings", steamed dumplings, and cabbage. I washed down with hot beer and plumbery.
During the period of carnival in large quantities prepare classic, very nutritious dishes. Baked ducks, piglets, jelly, kalachi and doughnuts, chilito and yitrnitsa. Elito is prepared from pork and pork blood and served to the table along with lozenge, and yitrnitsa is a sausage of chopped pork and livery. Tlachenka with onions, fragrant ovary, butt soup, dried ham, baked sausages, fried hermeline cheese, appetizing sweets, and this is not the entire oilseed range. The symbol of Russian Maslenitsa is pancakes, and masopust is famous for donuts.
At the Masleniki masquerades (in the last days of “masopust”), Czechs usually dress up as hunters, grooms and brides, butchers, shopkeepers and other folk characters. Among them there is a mask of a bear - a man who leads a bear on a chain. The bear was supposed to scare the little children. You can see the mask of a horse and a Jew with a bag. Every man knows well how to behave: for example, a Jew with a bag cried loudly about the gifts and treats offered to the cloth, gifts to him should seem small, and treats scant.
On the last Sunday, a ball is held (especially picturesque village balls). Everyone dances and has fun until morning. In some villages, the ball is also held on Monday, called “male”, which means that only those who are married or married can dance.
Masopust is a time when all laws and customs are inactive (except, of course, criminal ones), a time when you can do and say everything that a normal person would not even think of on ordinary days.
The masopust ends on Tuesday with a large masquerade procession. In many places, double bass funerals are held - so the balls and fun are over, it's time to start observing the Easter fast.
And finally a couple of recipes to try to celebrate carnival in Czech.
ellito
150 grams of fatty pork weld in salt water and finely cut. 100 grams of lean pork, 50 grams of squarks will pass through the meat grinder, add 120 grams of boiled barley, roasted in butter cut in cubes bun, pour a glass of pork blood and leave to brew. Then we add sliced fatty pork, roasted onions and grated garlic. The resulting mince, if necessary, a little diluted with meat broth and do not forget about spices. We fill the resulting mass of pig intestines and, like sausages, bandage on both sides. Cook in boiling water for 20 - 30 minutes, until the sausages, when they are pierced with a fork, will not leak blood, and transparent juice. Ready sausages still need to be roasted in a pan and can be served.
The garnish [I ] "Lepenitsa" is prepared very simply. It is enough to mix 400 grams of boiled potatoes with 200 grams of boiled sour cabbage, add 70 grams of lard, 50 grams of quarks and salt.
Do not forget about the tradition and pour a glass of beer for lunch.