The secrets of white halva and how a dessert preserves old Bulgarian customs

published on 11/27/24 3:25 PM

Photo: "Iskra 1898" Cultural Community center in Borovo

Halva, this sweet temptation with an oriental twist, is a welcome delicacy on the Bulgarian table, especially on holidays. Judging by the descriptions of Western travellers, halva was a common dessert in Bulgarian lands as early as the 16th century. The local version in Bulgaria is usually made from sesame or sunflower tahini and sweetened with sugar or honey. Nuga halva, based on egg whites, sugar and flour, is also popular here. But it is the white halva, which is eaten on one of Bulgaria's biggest Christian festivals, Sirni Zagovzni, that seems to be most deeply rooted in Bulgarian traditions.

In the town of Borovo (Ruse region) there are still women who cook white halva at home, just as their grandmothers used to do. It is no coincidence that their recipe was selected for this year's national selection 'Living Human Treasures' by the Ministry of Culture. However, the preparation of the delicacy is quite laborious, we learn from Atanaska Ivanova - secretary of the community centre "Iskra 1898" in Borovo. And here is the recipe.

"To make the halva we need the herb "chuven"(editor's note "chenopodium bonus-henricus"), explains Atanaska Ivanova. "It used to be grown in gardens, and today it is found in herbal pharmacies. 50 g of the herb is boiled for a few days, a little at a time, until from 2 liters of water remain about two lemonade bottles /about 500 ml/ of concentrated decoction for two doses of halva. The decoction is whipped to a froth in a so-called "chuvenova" bucket with a small chuven whisk. In the meantime, a sugar syrup is prepared from 2 kg of sugar, water and citric acid and mixed with the chuven froth. The resulting mixture is stirred on a wood-burning stove for about four hours until it reaches the right consistency - check by making sure that when it cools a drop of it is so firm that it crumbles rather than stretches. Finally, walnuts are added, and the halva is poured into a baking dish and decorated with whole walnut kernels, called 'roosters'."

In today's town of Byala (formerly the village of Gorazd), this tradition dates back to 1880, when five shepherd families settled in the settlement from other parts of Bulgaria and brought the recipe with them.

"When we decided to apply (for the Living Human Treasures - ed.) with the brewing of white halva for Sirni Zagovezni (Cheesefare Sunday), we started doing research in our village. We talked to 92-year-old Penka Velikova to find out how long she remembered making such halva.

And when I came as a young bride to Borovo, in the spring of 1986, my mother-in-law invited a local halva master, grandmother Yana, to lead the process of making it, and the younger ones in the house helped her. This was my first participation in the preparation of halva," recalls Atanaska Ivanova.

Nowadays, white halva is eaten with and without occasion throughout the year and is widely available in our commercial network. But in the past, our ancestors tasted the white delicacy only on the feast of Cheesefare Sunday (Forgiveness Sunday). "People used to prepare large quantities of white halva for this festival," says Atanaska Ivanova, adding:

"After Cheesefare Sunday, the Easter fasting begins, when you are not supposed to eat meat and dairy and this is the dessert on Cheesefare Sunday. The other thing I remember is that on that day we used to tie a piece of white halvah with a string and the oldest woman in the house would go around the kids squatting around her. As she held the halva by the thread, they struggled to catch a piece of it in their mouths.

This ritual is called "hamkane". And the child who managed to bite the piece of halva was said to be healthy for the whole year. The thread was then lit and if it burned with a nice flame, it was believed that the year would be fruitful. There are still elderly women in our village who prepare this halva at home, but they are isolated cases. That is why we want to revive this tradition," Atanaska Ivanova concluded.