The days are still hot, but the nights are already cold... It's hard to believe that summer is ending, but August is steadily approaching its middle. This means that a series of Saviors is coming. The first of these holidays will be Honey Savior, which is celebrated on August 14. Its name itself testifies to the church origin of the celebration - "Savior" is formed from "Savior", as Jesus Christ is called in Christianity. Honey Savior has many names, including the First Savior, Savior on Water, Spasovka, Lakomka, Honey Savior, Bee Savior and Maccabee.
History, meaning and features of the holiday
This holiday coincides with the beginning of the Assumption Fast, which will last two weeks, but despite this, in its severity it is similar to Great Lent. Believers can eat exclusively plant-based food without oil, which is allowed only on Saturdays and Sundays. Despite such severity, the Assumption Fast is considered light and pleasant due to the abundance of seasonal fruits, vegetables and herbs.
On August 14, a small water blessing is performed, which is why the first Savior is also called the Savior on the Water. According to tradition, on this day, wells have been blessed and processions to reservoirs and springs have been held. After that, people bathe in the blessed water and wash their livestock with it. It is believed that this washes away sins and helps strengthen the body. But after August 14, people did not bathe before, it was believed that the Summer Farewells began.
Another name for the Honey Savior is Maccabees. The fact is that August 14 is also the Day of Remembrance of the seven Old Testament martyrs of the Maccabees, who died in 166 BC. As a sign of remembrance, various poppy seed dishes are considered traditional dishes on this day. Why so, no one can say now. Researchers are inclined to two reasons: the first is because of the sound analogy of "mac-Maccabees", the second is that the poppy ripens in mid-August. Be that as it may, it is on August 14 that all kinds of macaques, pancakes, pies, rolls, buns, etc. with honey and poppy seed filling are served to the table.
Spasiv traditions
On Honey Savior, believers traditionally go to church and bless water, poppy seeds, summer herbs, honey, and flowers. In such bouquets, you can find asters, periwinkles, marigolds, dahlias, lovage, and an integral attribute of the holiday - ripe poppy heads on stems.
With such bouquets, coming from church, they decorated the house, the penitential room with icons and kept them until spring, using them as a talisman. In the spring, poppies from these bouquets were sown in the garden, and the girls wove the flowers into wreaths for the Annunciation.
Despite the many variations, the most common name is still considered to be the Honey Savior. It owes this name to the fact that by this time the bees completely fill the honeycombs in the hives with honey and beekeepers can begin to collect it. This collected honey was carried by believers to the church for consecration and only after that it could be eaten.
How to make sure the honey is "correct"?
Before consecrating purchased honey, it would be a good idea to make sure of its quality. There are three ways to do this. The first is by pouring. If the honey flows from the spoon in a thin, even and continuous stream-“thread”, then it is well prepared. You can also turn the spoon over several times - high-quality honey “winds” onto the spoon.
The second method is to dip a simple soft pencil (marked "M" or "2M") into the honey. If the graphite pencil darkens the honey, it means it is of poor quality.
You can also use a third method. By rubbing a drop of honey between your fingers, a good product will be absorbed into the skin, while a fake one will leave lumps on the skin.
Of course, many different dishes for the holiday table were made with honey – they baked honey gingerbread and pies, made honey drinks, kvass, and liqueurs.
The "most delicious" part of the article :-)
We have collected 9 of the most interesting recipes with honey and poppy seeds for you. We hope you will appreciate them and your holiday table will be bursting with delicious treats.
Lean honey cake
Ingredients: 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 cup water, 2 tablespoons honey, 1.5 teaspoons baking powder, 2 tablespoons cocoa or coffee, 0.5 cups raisins, 0.5 cups chopped nuts, 0.5 cups oil, 1.5-2 cups flour, a pinch each of cinnamon and coriander.
Preparation: pour sugar into a container, pour water and vegetable oil, heat slightly, add honey. Stir to dissolve sugar and honey. Mix soda, cocoa or coffee, spices in a separate container, then add it to the mixture of oil, water and honey and knead thoroughly so that there are no lumps.
Add nuts, raisins and flour with baking powder. You need enough flour to make the dough resemble thick sour cream. Bake in a baking pan lined with parchment paper or greased with butter and sprinkled with flour for 30-35 minutes at 200 degrees.
The cake can be eaten as is or cut into layers and spread with any jam or preserve.
Honey meringue
Ingredients: 2 cups wheat flour, 1 cup powdered sugar, zest of 1 lemon, cloves, cinnamon, salt, honey to taste.
Preparation: mix wheat flour well with powdered sugar, add grated zest of 1 lemon, crushed cinnamon and cloves to taste, a little soda and honey (enough so that the dough is not too stiff, but not too liquid).
Roll out the dough into 5 mm thick cakes, cut out circles and bake on a greased baking sheet. When the cookies have cooled, sprinkle with white sugar icing.
Honey kvass
Ingredients: 800 g honey, 2 lemons, 25 g yeast, 5 l water.
Preparation: Add honey to boiling water and stir well. When the liquid cools to 20 °C, add yeast, lemon juice or citric acid and leave to stand for 10-12 hours.
Cool, pour into bottles and cork them.
Dumplings with poppy seeds
Ingredients: flour 2 cups, water 1 cup, poppy seeds 250 g, salt 0.5 tsp, sugar 0.5 cup, vegetable oil 2-3 tbsp. spoons, honey (can be candied) 2 tbsp. spoons, jam 3 tbsp. spoons.
Preparation: Rinse the poppy seeds thoroughly and pour boiling water over them. Then drain the water almost immediately and place the poppy seeds on a napkin to dry. Crush the poppy seeds in a mortar, then add honey and one teaspoon of sugar. Continue kneading until the mixture becomes smooth.
Knead the dough from flour, warm water, salt and oil. Let the dough rest for about an hour. When the dough is ready, fill the pieces of dough with poppy seed filling. Cook the dumplings in boiling water and serve hot - with sugar and butter or sour cream.
Honey salad
Ingredients: 2 carrots, 2 apples, 8-10 walnuts, juice of 0.5 lemon, 2 tablespoons of honey.
Preparation : grate carrots and apples on a coarse grater, add chopped nuts and season with honey and lemon juice.
Pancakes with poppy seeds and honey
Ingredients for the dough: 500 ml of milk, 5 eggs, 2-3 tbsp. sour cream, 3-4 tbsp. vegetable oil, 1-1.5 cups of flour, salt, sugar - to taste.
Ingredients for the filling: 1 cup of poppy seeds, sugar - to taste, vanillin - on the tip of a knife, 50 g of butter, honey - for pouring.
Preparation: combine eggs, salt, sugar and beat with a whisk. Gradually add milk, sour cream and vegetable oil. Add flour and beat thoroughly so that there are no lumps. Bake pancakes on a hot frying pan on both sides.
Rinse the poppy seeds and pass them through a meat grinder 2-3 times, or better yet, grind them in a mortar. Add sugar and vanilla. Spread the filling on the finished pancakes, roll them up and cut them diagonally into two parts.
Spread butter evenly on the bottom of the pan, place the pancakes, alternating them with butter. Place in a hot oven for 7-10 minutes.
Place the finished pancakes on a plate and drizzle with honey. Serve hot.
Vegetable salad with honey dressing
Ingredients: 100 g arugula, 2 cucumbers, 10-12 cherry tomatoes, 2-3 tsp honey, 3 tsp each soy sauce and olive oil, 1 tsp lime juice.
Preparation: Wash the vegetables and arugula. Combine the honey, soy sauce, olive oil, lime juice and whisk with a fork. Cut the cucumbers into slices, and the cherry tomatoes in half. Place the arugula, tomatoes and cucumbers on a plate. Pour the dressing over and serve immediately.
For those who do not observe the fast, we suggest preparing a meat dish with honey sauce and a delicate cake made of honey cakes with a filling of prunes and nuts.
Chicken in honey sauce
Ingredients: 1.5 kg chicken, salt, ground black pepper, bay leaf, ground nutmeg – to taste, 3-4 cloves of garlic, 2 tbsp. honey, lettuce leaves – for decoration.
Preparation: Wash the chicken. Rub the top and inside with salt, ground pepper and nutmeg. Place a bay leaf inside and leave to marinate for 1 hour.
Peel the garlic and press it through a garlic press. Combine the honey and garlic and rub the chicken with this mixture. Place it in a baking sleeve, place on a baking sheet and cook in the oven for 1.5 hours at a temperature of 170 ˚C.
Place washed lettuce leaves, cooked chicken on a plate and serve.
Honey cake with nuts and prunes
Ingredients for the dough: butter 100 g, sugar 100 g, honey 1 cup, flour 2.5 cups, eggs 3 pcs, soda 1 tsp.
Ingredients for the cream: 500 g of heavy sour cream, 300 ml of 35% cream, 0.5 cups of sugar, 300 g of prunes, 200 g of walnut kernels.
Preparation of the dough: combine honey, sugar, eggs, butter, soda and put on a steam bath. It is important to constantly stir the mixture so that the eggs do not cook. Stir until the sugar and butter are completely dissolved, it is necessary that a homogeneous mass is formed. Add the sifted flour to this mass and mix well with a spoon.
Let the dough cool. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for 12 hours, preferably overnight. After removing the dough from the fridge, let it sit at room temperature for a few hours. The dough should be quite runny.
Line a 23-28 cm baking tin with parchment paper, which can be lightly greased with butter. Pour about 2 heaping tablespoons of batter into the tin and spread it evenly over the paper.
Bake the cake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 7-10 minutes, until golden brown.
Remove the finished cake along with the baking paper and leave it to cool.
Repeat these steps with the other cakes, you should get 5 cakes. One cake can be baked a little harder, until dark brown. We will make crumbs from it to decorate the cake.
Preparation of the cream: beat the sour cream with sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved. Beat the cream separately until a thick consistency is formed. Carefully combine everything.
Cut the prunes into thin strips. Finely chop the walnuts. Assemble the cake. Grease the cakes with cream and sprinkle with prunes, alternating with nuts. Grease the last cake and the sides of the cake with cream and sprinkle with crumbs from the cake mixed with nuts.
The cake needs to soak for at least 3-4 hours.
Delicious! :-)
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