Czech Christmas tradition takes the biscuit

It’s a common scene during advent in the Czech Republic. Dough is made, rolled and cut into shapes or pressed into molds. Walnuts are crushed for filling and melted chocolate is drizzled on top. As one tray is removed from the oven and set out to cool, another is slid into its place.

When done, the sweets are arranged on trays for guests. They are as much a part of the decorations as the tree. Chocolate topped baskets filled with nuts, gingerbread fish and dusted vanilla rolls huddled together, doughy wasp-nests oozing egg-liqueur and crisp jam filled butter cookies are some of the dozen types usually made. All the while, not a single sweet is sampled until the 24th of December (when Czechs traditionally celebrate Christmas) — unless, according to legend, the person wants to bring misfortune upon his or her shoulders.

But how popular is the tradition of baking Christmas sweets, really? An entry on Czech Wikipedia claims that 87 percent of Czechs bake festive biscuits, but the entry provides no support for the figure. Friends, colleagues and family members all attest to baking, so maybe there is some truth in this number.

The major supermarket chains certainly see a marked increase in the sales of flour. Tesco said sales rose by a factor of 30 percent. For Albert, purchases of flour were “roughly seven times greater than during the ordinary times.” Kaufland also reported that the amount of flour sold was many times more than in the rest of the year. It can’t all be going into breading the carp.

The origin for the baking tradition apparently goes back to the pagan winter solstice festivals. Protective and ceremonial foods were prepared for the occasion to shield the house from “dark forces.” Overtime these “magical” foods became the sweets we know today.

Of course, it could be said that if you go back far enough, you’ll find a pagan root for anything. It doesn’t explain the continuing popularity.

Jana Florentna Zatloukalov, author of Vnon kuchaky pro dceru (A Christmas Cookbook for my Daughter) offered a personal explanation as to why the tradition is upheld.“I can't speak categorically for all 10 million Czechs. For myself, I'm pleased to say that the tradition of Christmas sweets is is one of the things that makes a family a family and a home a home. Christmas sweets cement us together in a refined way, and at the same time connect the present with the past,” she said.

Going back a few generations, sweets were not so common among ordinary people. Before the use of sugar beet in nineteenth century, sugar was quite expensive. Vnoka — the traditional Czech Christmas loaf with raisins — was more common in the past than rich biscuits.

The boom period was the first republic. Manuals of this time were “bursting” with many types of sweets and tea cakes. “I think the demand for considerable diversity and quality craftsmanship took root in this time,” Zatloukalov said.