When a Culture Disappears: A Holiday Recipe

What happens when an estimated 90 percent of a population is lost to genocide? In the case of the pre-war Czech Roma and Sinti, the survivors and their descendants have become nearly invisible to outsiders, despite the fact that most have visibly darker complexions than ethnic Czechs. Similarly to surviving Czech Jews who remained in the country, many Roma and Sinti have kept a low profile and/or intermarried with persons from other (Romani and non-Romani) communities.

The dialect of pre-war Czech Roma has been completely lost as a fluent language; it survives only as a para-Romani, with Romani words and limited grammatical structures mixed into Czech speech. Gone, too, is most of the oral literature and song poetry this language carried.

Reviving the fluent dialect of the Holomeks, Daniels, and other pre-war Roma families in the Czech lands would be difficult indeed. FORSHV honors their memory and their survivors by sharing songs and family histories that have been passed down through generations. Today, we would like to pass on a truly unique holiday recipe that was very nearly lost to mass murder and subsequent assimilation efforts.

Holiday Logs

Ingredients:

Plum sauce:

Lekvar (prune butter)

Raisins

Rum or rum extract

Spices used in pumpkin pie or gingerbread

Optional: butter and grated gingerbread

Logs:

Approximately 2 ½ cups (400-500 grams) of coarse flour (e.g., Wondra)

2 large eggs

Water

Pinch of salt

Melted butter

Poppy seed filling

Begin by cooking the sauce that will be poured over the logs. Soak at least ½ cup of raisins in rum or rum extract for 2 hours; drain. Add to a cup or two of lekvar (prune butter, not to be confused with prune jam; we recommend the Simon Fischer brand), which may be mixed with diced prunes, especially if your lekvar is on the thin side. Add ground spices to taste: cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, anise seed, etc. Butter may be used to smooth the texture and bring out the flavors. Cook in a saucepan on low heat for one hour. Optional: finish by grating dry gingerbread into and/or on top of the plum sauce.

Meanwhile, mix the flour, eggs, salt, and a small amount of water (just enough to make a firm but stretchable dough). Knead for about ten minutes until fully integrated. Form a ball, cover well and let rest in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours.

Boil water in a large pot. Form smaller balls from the dough and roll into 2mm-thick circles (or rectangles) the size of a small dinner plate. Brush with butter and spread with poppy seed filling, making sure to leave up to an inch (2-3 cm) of dry dough at the edges. This will keep the logs from falling apart. Roll up each sheet of dough and filling into a tight log, about 1 ½ inches (3-5 cm) in thickness. Using a moistened fork, press the dough at both ends and along the long edge to secure the filling inside the log. Carefully place in boiling water and cook on medium heat for 15 minutes. For the next step, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit/180 Celsius.

Drain the boiled logs, place in a well-greased oven pan, and cover on the tops and sides of the logs with a coat of melted butter. Bake for 20 minutes. Cut into pieces if desired, and spoon a generous helping of plum sauce on each serving. Eat with forks and knives, dusting with powdered sugar just beforehand if you’d like.

Please be in touch and let us know how you keep alive the traditions of Romani, Sinti, Jewish, or other families lost in the Holocaust.