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Bread and salt are offered to guests in a ceremony of welcome in cultures around the world. This pair of foods is particularly significant in Slavic countries, but is also notable in Nordic, Baltic, Balkan and other European cultures as well as in Middle Eastern cultures. [1] Bread and salt as a traditional greeting remains common in Albania, Armenia, and among the Jewish diaspora. This tradition has been extended to spaceflight. [2] [3]
Salt is an essential nutrient, and has long held an important place in religion and culture. For example, it is mentioned in the Bible dozens of times, including as a covenant of salt. Bread is a staple food, leavened or unleavened. It is usually made of wheat, but other grains can be used. In many cultures, bread is a metaphor for basic necessities and living conditions in general.
The tradition is known locally by its Slavic names, all literal variants of "bread and salt": Belarusian : Хлеб і соль, Bulgarian : Хляб и сол, Czech : Chléb a sůl, Macedonian : Леб и сол, Polish : Chleb i Sól, Russian : Хлеб-соль, Serbo-Croatian : Хлеб и со, Hlȅb i so, Slovak : Chlieb a soľ, Slovene : Kruh in sol, Ukrainian : Хліб і сіль. It is shared with some of the neighbouring non-Slavic peoples—the Latvians and Lithuanians (both Baltic nations), Romanians (Romance) as well as some Finno-Ugric peoples like the Karelians—all of whom are culturally and historically close to their Slavic neighbours: Karelian : leipä-šuola, Estonian : soolaleivapidu, Latvian : Sālsmaize, Lithuanian : Duona ir druska, Romanian : Pâine și sare. It is also common in Albania (Albanian : bukë, kripë e zemër), Armenia (Armenian : աղ ու հաց, agh u hats), among the Jewish diaspora, and within parts of the Middle East under different names.
Bread and salt as a traditional greeting is shared with some non-Slavic nations—Lithuanians, Latvians (both Baltic), Romanians (Romance) as well as some Finno-Ugric peoples like the Karelians—all of which are culturally and historically close to their Slavic neighbours.
Bread, salt, and heart (Albanian : bukë, kripë e zemër) is a traditional Albanian way of honoring guests, it dates back from the Kanun of Lekë Dukagjini, chapter 18 - para. 608: "The Guest shall be welcomed with Bread, salt and heart". Heart in the context is related with hospitality, the concept is based on giving the most expensive thing of that time which was salt to the awaited guest. Nowadays it is not commonly practiced in daily life.
When important, respected, or admired guests arrive, they are presented with a loaf of bread (usually a korovai) placed on a rushnyk (embroidered ritual cloth). A salt holder or a salt cellar is placed on top of the bread loaf or secured in a hole on the top of the loaf. On official occasions, the "bread and salt" is usually presented by young women dressed in national costumes (e.g., sarafan and kokoshnik).
The tradition gave rise to the Russian word that expresses a person's hospitality: khlebosolny (literally: "bready-salty"). In general, the word "bread" is associated in Russian culture with hospitality, with bread being the most respected food, whereas salt is associated with long friendship, as expressed in a Russian saying "to eat a pood of salt (together with someone)". Also historically the Russian Empire had a high salt tax that made salt a very expensive and prized commodity (see also the Moscow uprising of 1648).
There also is a traditional Russian greeting "Khleb da sol!" (Хлеб да соль!, 'Bread and salt!'). The phrase is to be uttered by an arriving guest as an expression of good wish towards the host's household. It was often used by beggars as an implicit hint to be fed, therefore a mocking rhymed response is known: "Khleb da sol!" — "Yem da svoy!" (Хлеб да соль — ем да свой! "Bread and salt!" — "I am eating and it is my own!").
In Russian weddings, it is a traditional custom for the bride and groom to be greeted after the ceremony by family, usually the matriarch, with bread and salt in an embroidered cloth. This confers good health and fortune unto the newlyweds. In the Russian Orthodox Church, it is customary to greet the bishop at the steps of the church when he arrives for a pastoral visit to a church or monastery with bread and salt. [4]
Bread and salt (Bulgarian : хляб и сол, romanized: hlyab i sol) is a traditional Bulgarian custom expressing hospitality, showing that the guest is welcomed. The bread and salt is commonly presented to guests by a woman. Bulgarians usually make a certain type of bread for this occasion called pogacha , which is flat, fancy, and decorated. Regular bread is not usually used, although it may have been historically, but pogacha is much more common in this custom.
Usually, guests are presented with the pogacha, and the guest is supposed to take a small piece, dip into the salt and eat it. This custom is common for official visits regardless of whether the guest is foreign or Bulgarian. One notable example of this custom is when the Russians came to liberate Bulgaria from the Ottomans at the end of the 19th century. A common scene from that period was of a Bulgarian village woman welcoming Russian soldiers with bread and salt as a sign of gratitude.
In Poland, welcoming with bread and salt ("chlebem i solą") is often associated with the traditional hospitality ("staropolska gościnność") of the Polish nobility ( szlachta ), who prided themselves on their hospitality. A 17th-century Polish poet, Wespazjan Kochowski, wrote in 1674: "O good bread, when it is given to guests with salt and good will!" Another poet who mentioned the custom was Wacław Potocki. [5] The custom was, however, not limited to the nobility, as Polish people of all classes observed this tradition, reflected in old Polish proverbs. [6] Nowadays, the tradition is mainly observed on wedding days, when newlyweds are greeted with bread and salt by their parents on returning from the church wedding.
In the North Macedonia, this tradition still is practiced occasionally as a custom expressing hospitality. A certain type of bread, similar to that in Bulgaria and also by the same name— pogača (from Latin : panis focacius) is prepared.
The notable Macedonian and ex-Yugoslav ethno-jazz-rock group of the world music guitarist Vlatko Stefanovski had the name "Leb i Sol", which means "bread and salt" and speaks itself about this term of hospitality as something basic and traditional.
As in the neighbouring Slavic countries, bread and salt is a traditional Romanian custom expressing hospitality, showing that the guest is welcomed.[ citation needed ] In Transylvania bread and salt are served to protect against weather demons.
Bread and salt (Serbian : хлеб и со) is a traditional welcoming of guests, [7] being customary to offer it before anything else, [8] with bread having an important place in Serbian tradition, used in rituals. [9] [10] The traditional bread, pogača , is a symbol of family unity and goodness, and salt prosperity and security for the guest. It is part of the state protocol, in use since the Principality of Serbia, often used when welcoming foreign representatives. [11]
The long-tradition of the Slovakia and the Czech Republic as Slavic countries is to welcome important visits with bread and salt. An example is the welcome of Pope Francis in Bratislava 2021 by president Zuzana Čaputová. [12]
In Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, bread and salt were traditionally given as a symbol of blessing for a new home. This tradition continues today and instead of white bread, dark fiber-rich rye bread is often used. The tradition is still kept alive in Eastern Karelia and in Ingria by the minor Baltic Finnic peoples.[ citation needed ]
Bread and salt are given away for different reasons:
In northern Germany and Bohemia (Czech Republic) bread and salt are traditionally put into the diaper of a newborn. [15]
According to some Turkic legends, the bread and salt were discovered by grandsons of Japheth, the Islamic ancestor of the Turks. In Turkish language sometimes salt is used as a synonym to the word sugar and flavor. Saying "they added salt to their words" had the meaning of "they say sweet words." Newborns were bathed in salt water so they wouldn't smell, salt was believed to remove bad eye and there is a salt saint in Turkish folklore called Tuz Baba. Bread is considered to be holy and is strongly respected. Together salt and bread create the concept of "tuz-ekmek hakkı" meaning "salt-bread right" in which if two people (or more) eat bread and salt together they become friends, there is an alliance between them. The concept was widely popular in Ottoman literature and Turkish folk literature. [16]
There are various folkloric beliefs related to salt and bread, most often affecting children; to make the birth easier, bread, salt and a knife are placed next to the mother. In Samsun, it is believed that if two mothers who have given birth 40 days ago meet on the street, their children will not be able to walk. To prevent this, one of the mothers must give salt and bread to another mother who has a daughter. In Turkish folklore, there is a demon called Albastı, which harms the mothers. In Adana mothers walk around with a bag containing salt, bread and a nail until the 40th day of giving a birth.
Bread and salt are used for rain magic as well. When it rains heavily, parents give to their firstborn child bread in one hand and salt in the other hand. Then the child says "until this salt melts, let the rain stop". In Muş it is believed that a girl who eats salted bread during Hıdrellez and does not drink water before going to bed will dream of her soulmate. Salt and bread are used in love magic too. [17]
Arab culture also has a concept of "bread and salt" (خبز وملح or عيش وملح), not in the context of welcoming, but as an expression of alliance by eating together, symbolizing the rapprochement between two persons. Eating bread and salt with a friend is considered to create a moral obligation which requires gratitude. This attitude is also expressed by Arab phrases such as "there are bread and salt between us" (بيننا خبز وملح or بيننا عيش وملح), and "salt between them" (بينهما ملح) which are terms of alliance.[ citation needed ]
A similar practice also exists among Jews in the Diaspora and in Israel. After the ceremony of kiddush, a piece of challah is dipped in salt and eaten. The challah is a staple food eaten on special occasions, like holidays and weddings, as well as every shabbat. Bread and salt were also used in the past at welcoming ceremonies, given to respected persons. [18]
In the Iranian culture when a guest is welcomed into the home, it is said that they have eaten bread and salt, and this leads to loyalty of the guest. [19]
With the advent of the Soviet space program, this tradition has spread into space, where appropriately small packages of bread and salt are used nowadays. [2] [3] It was observed at the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project and the Salyut programme, when crackers and salt tablets were used in the spaceship. Bread chunks and salt were used as a welcome at the Mir space station, [2] [3] a tradition that was extended on the International Space Station. [3] [20] Bread and salt are also used to welcome cosmonauts returning to Earth. [21]
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The custom of serving bread and salt to guests is a recurring reference in George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels, where the welcome ritual serves not only as a Westerosi tradition of hospitality, but also a formal assurance of "guest right", a sacred bond of trust and honor guaranteeing that nobody in attendance, hosts and guests alike, shall be harmed. Violating the guest right is widely considered among the highest moral crimes, an affront worthy of the worst damnation, rivaled only by kinslaying. Game of Thrones , the associated television series, prominently features the tradition in season three, episode 9, "The Rains of Castamere".
In Season 2, Episode 4 of Peaky Blinders , Alfie Solomons offers Charles Sabini bread and salt as Sabini offers a white flag of truce.
Rudyard Kipling referenced bread and salt in a number of works. In The Ballad of East and West , leavened bread and salt is mentioned as binding an oath of blood brother ship. At the beginning of Puck of Pook's Hill Puck establishes his credentials with the child protagonists by asking them to sprinkle plenty of salt on their shared meal. ""That'll show you the sort of person I am."
In Rosemary Sutcliff's historical novel Outcast , bread and salt is referred to as a sign of belonging to a tribe: "You are my people, my own people, by hearth fire and bread and salt".
In The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, Chapter 72 is titled "Bread and Salt". The character Mercedes attempts to coax the main character into eating fruit, as part of an Arabian custom to ensure that those who have shared food and drink together under one roof would be eternal friends.
Bread and salt are given as a housewarming gift in one scene of the 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life .
In The Solar War, the first book belonging to Black Library's The Siege of Terra series, the character Malcador the Sigillite offers bread and salt to a weary Emperor of Mankind.
Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian holiday of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are commonly used during the season of Eastertide. The oldest tradition, which continues to be used in Central and Eastern Europe, is to dye and paint chicken eggs.
Albanian cuisine is a representative of the cuisine of the Mediterranean. It is also an example of the Mediterranean diet based on the importance of olive oil, fruits, vegetables and fish. The cooking traditions of the Albanian people are diverse in consequence of the environmental factors that are more importantly suitable for the cultivation of nearly every kind of herbs, vegetables and fruits. Olive oil is the most ancient and commonly used vegetable fat in Albanian cooking, produced since antiquity throughout the country particularly along the coasts.
Polish cuisine is a style of food preparation originating in and widely popular in Poland. Due to Poland's history, Polish cuisine has evolved over the centuries to be very eclectic, and shares many similarities with other national cuisines. Polish cooking in other cultures is often referred to as à la polonaise.
In the Slavic religious tradition, Domovoy (Russian: Домовой, literally "[the one] of the household"; also spelled Domovoi, Domovoj, and known as Polish: Domowik, Serbian: Домовик, Ukrainian: Домовик and Belarusian: Дамавік is the household spirit of a given kin. They are deified progenitors, that is to say the fountainhead ancestors of the kin. According to the Russian folklorist E. G. Kagarov, the Domovoy is a personification of the supreme Rod in the microcosm of kinship. Sometimes he has a female counterpart, Domania, the goddess of the household, though he is most often a single god. The Domovoy expresses himself as a number of other spirits of the household in its different functions.
Challah is a special bread of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, usually braided and typically eaten on ceremonial occasions such as Shabbat and major Jewish holidays. Ritually acceptable challah is made of dough from which a small portion has been set aside as an offering. Challah may also refer to the dough offering. The word is biblical in origin, meaning "loaf". Similar braided breads such as kalach and vánočka are found across Central and Eastern Europe.
Leb i sol is a Macedonian and former Yugoslav rock group founded in the 1970s by Vlatko Stefanovski (guitar), Bodan Arsovski, Nikola Kokan Dimuševski (keyboards) and Garabet Tavitjan (drums). Tavitjan ceded the drumwork to Dragoljub Đuričić for some of the albums, while Kiril Džajkovski replaced Kokan on Kao Kakao and Putujemo. Beside being the most eminent Macedonian band, they were also one of the most important acts of the Yugoslav rock scene.
Kolach or kalach is a traditional bread found in Central and Eastern European cuisines, commonly served during various special occasions – particularly wedding celebrations, Christmas, Easter, and Dożynki. The name originates from the Old Slavonic word kolo (коло) meaning "circle" or "wheel". Korovai is sometimes categorised as a type of kolach.
A housewarming party is a party traditionally held soon after moving into a new residence. It is an occasion for the hosts to present their new home to their friends, post-moving, and for friends to give gifts to furnish the new home. House-warming parties are generally informal.
Paska is a Ukrainian Easter bread. It is particularly spread in Central and Eastern Europe, and countries with cultural connections to the ancient Byzantine Empire, Eastern Orthodoxy or Eastern Catholicism. Easter breads are a traditional element in the Easter holidays of Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine. It is also a common tradition amongst the Assyrian-Chaldean-Syriac diaspora. It is also eaten in countries with large immigrant populations from Central and Eastern Europe such as the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
Vasilopita is a New Year's Day bread, cake or pie in Greece and many other areas in eastern Europe and the Balkans which contains a hidden coin or trinket which gives good luck to the receiver, like the Western European King Cake. It is associated with Saint Basil's day, January 1, in most of Greece, but in some regions, the traditions surrounding a cake or pita with a hidden coin are attached to Epiphany or to Christmas. It is made of a variety of dough, depending on regional and family tradition, including tsoureki. In some families, instead of dough, it is made from a custard base called galatopita. In the Thessaly region a pork filled phyllo pie is made with a hidden coin. The pie is also known as Chronópita, meaning "New Year's pie".
The korovai, karavai, or kravai is a traditional Bulgarian, Ukrainian, and Russian bread, most often served at weddings, where it has great symbolic meaning. It has remained part of the wedding tradition in Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, as well as in the Russian and Ukrainian diasporas. Its use in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine dates back to hospitality and holiday customs in ancient Rus. A similar bread is made in parts of eastern Poland. A round korovai is a common element of the bread-and-salt ceremony of welcome.
The Albanians in Ukraine are an ethnic minority group located mainly in Zaporizhzhia Oblast and Budjak. They descend from Albanian warriors who fought against the Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish wars and were allowed to settle in the Russian Empire in the 18th century.
Borodinsky bread or borodino bread is a dark brown sourdough rye bread of Russian origin, traditionally sweetened with molasses and flavored with coriander and caraway seeds.
The holiday of Easter is associated with various Easter customs and foodways. Preparing, coloring, and decorating Easter eggs is one such popular tradition. Lamb is eaten in many countries, mirroring the Jewish Passover meal.
Pogača is a type of bread baked in the ashes of the fireplace, and later in modern ovens. Found in the cuisines of the Balkans, Levant, and Hungary it can be leavened or unleavened, though the latter is considered more challenging to make. It is generally made from wheat flour, but barley and sometimes rye may be added. It can be stuffed with potatoes, ground beef, olive, or cheese, and have grains and herbs like sesame, black nigella seed, or dried dill in the dough or sprinkled on top.
Bread has a significance beyond mere nutrition in many cultures in the Western world and Asia because of its history and contemporary importance. Bread is also significant in Christianity as one of the elements of the Eucharist; see sacramental bread. The word companion comes from Latin com- "with" + panis "bread".
Slavic carnivals are known under different names in various Slavic countries: Bulgarian: Сирни заговезни, Прошка, Поклади, romanized: Sirni zagovezni, Proshka, Pokladi; Macedonian: Прочка, romanized: Pročka; Russian: Масленица, Мясопуст, romanized: Maslenitsa, Myasopust; Polish: Ostatki, Mięsopust, Zapusty; Czech: Masopust, Šibřinky, Ostatky; Slovak: Fašiangy; Slovene: Mesopȗst, Pust, Pustni teden, Fašnk; Serbian: Покладе, Проћка / Poklade, Proćka; Croatian: Pust, Poklade, Mesopust, Fašnik. They are traditional Slavic festivals related to the period of carnival.
The Traditions of Albania refers to the traditions, beliefs, values and customs that belong within the culture of the Albanian people. Those traditions have influenced daily life in Albania for centuries and are still practiced throughout Albania, Balkans, and Diaspora. The Albanians have a unique culture, which progressed over the centuries through its strategic geography and its distinct historical evolution.
Palyanytsya is a type of Ukrainian hearth-baked bread, made mostly of wheat flour in a home oven. The yeast hearth bread has a semi-circular cut across the top third of the loaf.