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BELGRADE – Orthodox believers will mark Tucindan tomorrow, a public holiday in which the pechenitsa is massacred and prepared for Christmas.
It was called Tucindan because that day the rotisserie animal was first struck with the ears of an ax on a lump of salt in a linen bag placed on its forehead, and then slaughtered as stunned.
This custom was maintained from pre-Christian, polytheistic times and is associated with the offering of a sacrifice, but the Orthodox Church accepted and blessed it, because after a six-week Christmas fast, the strongest food is useful.
Poultry never on the table
For a pechenitsa that used to be called “božnjićara”, usually a young pig or a lamb is slaughtered, and there are people who also slaughter a turkey, a goose or a chicken. However, in many parts of the world, poultry should never be found on the Christmas table in the belief that it is a symbol of the “backwardness and disintegration of the house” because it “pecks and throws the dirt behind it.”
If they are sacrificing for soup somewhere, the head and legs should be discarded immediately. Pechenitsa prepared for Christmas contributes to the happiness and well-being of the house where they are slaughtered. A pig or sheep is slaughtered until noon, until the day progresses, and straw is placed where it will be killed.
Don’t sue the kids
In the past, “deserving” children were punished and beaten in Tucindan, but not afterwards because, according to belief, ulcers would appear at the site of the blow. In some places north of Banat, this custom was maintained, whereby parents symbolically “beat” their children to make them obedient. Some other sources claim that children cannot fight in Tucindan, precisely because they can develop ulcers.
Cleaning the house
From Tucindan begins the preparation of the house for Christmas. The housewife prepares dough flour, a bowl with wheat grains, exchanges the straw from the nests for birds, acquires plums, figs, walnuts, coins and candies that will be scattered on the straw scattered in the house on Christmas Eve, and that children will pick up while drinking. On that day, according to belief, nothing should be given or taken out of the house, but then it is necessary to pay off all debts, so that the host is not forced until next Christmas.
In some parts of Serbia, in Tucindan, dinner is served on the floor, never on the table, and the head of the house must sit facing east. They are first placed with garlic, then bread, beans, cabbage, fish, and other fasting foods.
Baking the liver
The pechenitsa must be white, without physical or white defects, and is baked on Christmas day and brought home at night. From the pechenitsa for Christmas, the host first cuts off the left shoulder, in some parts the head, part of the ribs and the heart. The heart is cut into as many pieces as there are people in the house, and each member of the family eats a piece of heart first. Somewhere, apples and garlic are put on the pechenitsa and all the housemates drink it before lunch.
How to roast a pig?
The pork is placed on a skewer and tied with wire. The inside of the pig is poured. Up to two tablespoons of salt are placed under each shoulder of a 25-kilogram pig, which is poured and soaked throughout the meat as the pork roasts. Use acacia wood for firewood and avoid slow-burning wood and old boards.
Slice the roast between the shoulders to see if it’s done; if it’s roasted there, it’s all roasted. In three or three and a half hours the pig is ready. Let it drain and chill for about 30 minutes, then slice it.
Popular beliefs
– Wheat will not bear fruit if the forage intended for pechenitsa dies.
– In some places, corn is smeared with the blood of slaughtered animals, so the grain serves as medicine for animals and people.
– They put an apple or a quince in the pechenitsa, which they use at Christmas for good health, or they keep it as medicine. l The muzzle, the healing power of which was believed, as well as the shoulder and jaw, are kept in the attic because it is believed that the soul of the sacrificed animal is tied to them.
– The bones of the pechenitsa do not break until Epiphany, so that the pigs do not break.
(Kurir.rs)
delivery courier
Author: delivery courier
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