[Sca-cooks] Wedding bread

[Terry Decker]

Wedding bread of one sort or another was common in Medieval Europe.  In 
Britian and the United States, it has been replaced by the wedding cake. 
Wedding breads can be anything from small buns to large ornately decorated 
loaves depending on the culture and use.

My opinion is that the general European custom derives from the Greek 
worship of Demeter as the goddess of fertility with ripe grain and small 
breads shaped like genitalia and breasts.  The shape changed for a Chrisitan 
world, but the connection to fertility remained.

While I haven't read it; Charsley, Simon R., Wedding Cakes and Cultural 
History, London; Routledge, 1992, is considered an exellent reference on the 
subject.

Bear


>I have been looking for examples of wedding  bread.  It seems  that it is
> common for those of Greek descent, and some Jewish ceremonies.   Most of 
> what I
> have found is central European concentrating on the Balkan  communities. 
> Is
> there evidence of this in period?
>
> I have pictures of what is listed as traditional Hungarian from The 
> History
> of Bread by Dupaiagne.
>
> Aldyth