Koukkourka, Avkotes, Koullourka millomena
«Ζυμώματα και αβκωτές» Πηγή: Υπoυργείο Γεωργίας
Recipe for kneading koullouria (bread) and rusks, using animal or vegetable fat. The same dough was used to make avkotes, Easter bread or pastries of various shapes with a red egg in the middle.
Name - Recipe
Avkotes are koulouria in the shape of an egg case. According to George Loukas (Kypri 1979 [20022], entry κουκκούρκα,τα, 240), koukkourká is a type of rusk that was prepared in Karpasia (Giangoullis 2014, entry κουκκουρκά,η, 244) and in Mesaoria in general (Kypri 1979 [20022], entry κουκκούρκα,τα, 240). Koullourka millomena are a bread type that contains animal fat (not suitable for fasting).
5 kg of flour
1 kg of fine semolina
some sourdough
1 kg anari, lightly salted, 2-3 days old
300g butter
2 cups of sugar
2 tbsp of cinnamon, cloves, coarsely ground aniseed
1 tsp ground mastic
lukewarm milk (as much as needed)
sesame seeds
Dissolve the sourdough with lukewarm milk. Add the sugar and anari (myzithra), and dissolve them together with the sourdough. Mix the flour with the melted butter. Add the spices and knead until the dough is medium, neither too firm nor too soft. Roll the dough into a 3-4 cm diameter, sprinkle with sesame seeds and then shape the koullouria. Use the same dough to make the avkotes. After sprinkling a piece of about 30 cm with sesame seeds, shape it into a horseshoe shape and place a red egg in the middle. Then place two more pieces in the shape of a cross on top (having the egg in the middle). You can use your imagination to make various other designs besides the traditional one mentioned above. Leave them for about 3 hours to proof and then bake them in the oven. Then, if you want, when they cool down, put them back in the oven until they are completely dry and become koukkourkes, i.e. rusks (Rizokarpaso recipes 2010).
Baking in the oven.
We assume that in the "traditional" version of the recipe another type of fat would have been used: olive oil or pork fat (note: Stalo Lazarou). Eggs need to be boiled and dyed before using them to prepare avkotes.
Additional information and bibliography
Kypri T. D. (ed.) (1979 [20022]), Materials for the compilation of a historical dictionary of the Cypriot dialect, Part A, Glossary of George Loukas, Publications of the Centre for Scientific Research, XLI, Nicosia.
Web source: Rizokarpaso recipes (2010), Rizokarpason Publications, http://www.rizokarpason.com/sintages1.htm.
Stalo Lazarou, Argyro Xenophontos.
Αυκωτές Άδεια δημοσίευσης από: http://www.rizokarpason.com/sintages1.htm
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