Paprenjaci
Pepper Cookies
Author(s): Zdenka LechnerSubject(s): Customs / Folklore, Ethnohistory, Modern Age, Recent History (1900 till today), Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology, Culture and social structure , Rural and urban sociology
Published by: Hrvatsko etnološko društvo
Keywords: pepper cookies; peasant sweets; Nova Gradiška; cultural anthropology; history of pepper cookies;
Summary/Abstract: Pepper cookies are delicate peasant sweets which are nowadays baked only in the area around Nova Gradiška. Until recently, people considered them an appropriate treat for holidays and weddings, and an appropriate present to young mothers after childbirth. Pepper cookies are of quadrangular shape, embellished by floral, animal or sacral motifs, sweet in taste although containing pepper, and they have a practical quality of staying fresh for several days. The ornaments are created by wooden molds which villagers themselves make, including some women who are skillful in carving wood. According to some older ethnographic and literary sources, pepper cookies were popular among aristocratic and bourgeois families in the 19th century. August Šenoa, a writer from Zagreb, mentions these cookies as a praised treat among urbanites as early as the 16th century.
Journal: Etnološka tribina : Godišnjak Hrvatskog etnološkog društva
- Issue Year: 15/1985
- Issue No: 8
- Page Range: 55-60
- Page Count: 6
- Language: Croatian