A Commemorative RECIPE from ByziMom.com!
Mini-Koliva Breakfast

 

This dish is served all around the world in some fashion, as a way to remember our connection to God and each other.  Because Jesus told us that “unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but when it dies, it produces much fruit,” we have also come to regard this dish as a memorial one to commemorate the fruit of the lives of our departed loved ones!  We solemnly make this dish like a whitewashed tomb by covering it with dry crumbs (graham crackers work best for this) then dusting it with powdered sugar.  Then we decorate the dish with anything we like, and as we make it, decorate it and eat it, we can remember our loved ones who have departed for eternal life, and pray.  

You can use this simple recipe to teach your children about this custom as you prepare your breakfast every Saturday, which is the day of the week that the Church sets aside to remember the departed souls.

 

Ingredients

• Your favorite hot cereal grain, like oatmeal, cream of wheat, quinoa flake porridge, etc, cooked and

•  placed into your favorite cereal bowl.

• Graham crackers, or animal crackers, crushed

• Powdered sugar for dusting

• Toppings for decoration like raisins, almonds, walnuts, fresh fruit, sprinkles, the possibilities

•  are endless!

 

Preparation

Cover your oatmeal, cream of wheat, or whatever cooked breakfast grain YOU like,  with the crumbs

of a crushed graham cracker, then dust it with powdered sugar and decorate with almonds, raisins, etc.  

 

And remember the souls of the departed when you say the blessing!

 

Tips

The addition of different ingredients in this universal dish varies according to the culture of the people

making it.  

 

The Armenian people tell a story about the last days aboard Noah’s Ark.  The food was beginning to run

very low, so he gathered everything left aboard the ark to feed both people and animals.  and threw

them into a big pot together and made a wonderful dish that they still make today called Noah’s Pudding, or Anoush Abour.  

 

The people of Sicily call it Cuccia, and add olive oil and chickpeas or beans, honey or even chocolate, as a memorial of how good God had been to them through the intercession of their dear St Lucy.  They are sure to make this for her feast day, December 13, each year, and no bread or pasta is allowed that day. 

 

Ukrainians call it Kutia and make it on Christmas Eve as well, sometimes with barley or rice, cranberries, and poppy seeds.  The tastier the Kutia, the more successful the coming year will be!

Slavs make kutija with rice instead of wheat, adding honey, vanilla, raisins, ground poppy seeds, and nuts.

 

Polish also make it on Christmas Eve with wheat or barley, poppy seeds, dried fruits, and sometimes even cream.

 

Romanians use wheat berries and add walnuts and raisins, but also orange and lemon zest.

Serbs make it pretty simply with wheat and honey, vanilla, and ground nuts.

 

Arabs add chickpeas, or chickpea flour, to their boiled wheat.  They add spices like cinnamon, anise seeds, licorice, almonds, and candies.  

Greeks add sesame seeds, cinnamon, nutmeg, parsley and candied almonds, raisins, and pomegranate seeds too!