Recipe:

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Zaduszki or Polish Soul Bread

Today I am going to tell you about a beautiful, though almost forgotten, tradition. What is this Soul Bread and why was it baked? 

The turn of October and November is not only Halloween costumes, scares and pumpkin lanterns. It is a time of reflection on passing, reflection, visiting the graves of loved ones, but also recalling the sweetest and happiest memories related to those who have passed away ... And if not the customs of the west, then what? We have Polish Traditions, but probably not many people know what the "forefathers" were?

Why is All Soul bread baked? 

Formerly, in many cultures it was believed that the dead take care of us from the beyond. They were also supposed to take care of crops, especially grains that were the basis of food, because after their death they lived in the land, so their home is there. In many places around the world there was, and in many still is, the custom of bringing food to cemeteries on the Day of the Dead to share it with the dead, thanking them for their protection. On that day, the poor also knocked on the door of townspeople houses and they had to be given something. Today, this practice is being replaced by giving out sweets to children.

In Polish culture, even in the mid-twentieth century, there was also a custom of sharing bread with the souls of the dead. Small breads or rolls were baked. First, they were taken to the church for the priest to bless the bread and then taken to the cemetery. But they were not put on the graves, but handed out to "sepos", that is, beggars who gathered at the entrances to the cemeteries. In this way, not so much the souls as the poor were fed, asking them to pray for our loved ones. It was believed that these people, so experienced by life, will pass it symbolically to souls while eating bread because they have some extraordinary contact with them, and that in their fervent and frequent prayers they are closer to God so they will be better heard in heaven.

When is All Soul bread baked?

Such All Souls 'Breads were baked on the eve of All Souls' Day and they were brought to cemeteries on All Souls 'Day, All Souls' Day, that is on November 2. They were baked at home, in a domestic oven, because a soul gifted with the bread bought could be offended and teased. Why were they baked on the last day of October and not on November 1? Well, because it was believed that on the Feast of the Dead, souls descended to earth and could hide in warm corners of households, i.e. also in the furnace. If someone would like to bake something that day, the toasted soul would look for a quick escape and could damage the stove and, consequently, even set fire to the house.

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What should soul bread look like? 

According to the literature and memoirs of older people, such breads were of different sizes depending on the wealth of the household, because gesture counted, so even poor people baked some small breads or small rolls. It was also possible to cut a large loaf into chunks and use them. Loaves of soulful bread were usually oblong and had the sign of the cross imprinted on the top, so that no unclean forces would reach it and that it was known that they were alms, so you do not have to pay for them. Sometimes they were additionally decorated with some patterns associated with a specific deceased person. In the old, pagan times, such breads were baked in the shape of animals because it was believed that the souls of our loved ones were reborn in the bodies of other creatures. 

All soulful bread from the Lublin region called powałki because after baking they were put to cool on a special beam under the ceiling, i.e. under the ceiling. In the vicinity of Ciechanów, perettas were baked.

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Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups luke warm water (110'F)

• 1/2 Tbsp salt

• 1 1/2 Tbsp sugar

• 2 tsp active dry yeast

• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour

• 3/4 cup rye flour

• 3/4 cup better for bread flour

• plus 2 1/2 cups better for bread flour

• 2 Tbsp canola oil plus more to grease counter and pan
   

Directions

1. In a large kitchen aid mixer bowl, combine 2 1/4 cups warm water (about 100˚F), 1 1/2 Tbsp sugar and 1/2 Tbsp salt; stir to dissolve.

2. Sift the 3/4 cup wheat flour, 3/4 cup rye flour, and 3/4 cup better for bread flour with 2 tsp yeast into the salted water. Do not discard anything left in the sifter; toss it into the batter. Whisk together until well blended. Let it rise on the counter uncovered for 3 hours, stirring the batter about once every hour. It will be bubbly.

3. Using the dough hook attachment add 1/2 cup better for bread flour until well blended, scraping down the bowl if needed. Blend in the rest of your bread flour (2 cups) a heaping Tbsp at a time, letting the dough dissolve the flour in between each spoon (this takes about 20 min).

4. Once all the flour is incorporated, add 2 Tbsp canola oil. Let mix for an additional 20 more minutes with the dough hook on speed 2 or until dough is no longer sticking to your bowl. Note: after you add the oil it will look like it's coming off the walls and then it will appear to get stickier, then towards the end of your 20 minutes, it will actually stop sticking to the walls as it mixes. Just let it do it's thing and everything will work out ;). Remove dough hook and let it rise in the bowl, uncovered, until double in volume (45 min).

5. Grease your bread pans, counter and fingers a little with the canola oil. Punch down the dough and transfer it onto the oiled counter.

6. Pinch the dough in the center to form two sections with your hands. Grease your pan lightly with oil.

7. Divided dough into 10 or less equal parts and formed a small, oblong loaf (long bones).

8. Put them aside to rise on lined sheet pans, covering again with a cloth. 

9. Once proofed make a cross and put it on a baking sheet sprinkled with flour. 

10. Baked for about 30 minutes in an oven preheated to 360˚F.

11. After baking, place the bread on a wire rack.

12. When done, brush the tops with butter as soon as the bread comes out of the oven.