Talk:Tsoureki

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I do not think you can have the entry on Vasilopita without noting that a "kings bread" -- whihc is what Vasilopita also literally means -- complete with token for luck or debt is a pre Christian phenomena. The name, while atrributed to the St. Basil, obviously harkens back to quite ancient Kings bread. Basil comes from Vasileos, meaning King and Pita means cake.

This is a pre-Christian tradition marking the end passing of the apogee of winter. We know for a fact the kings cake was part of the rebirth of the sun festival mentioned complete with a bean or figurine as a token some three centuries before Christ. It probably originates much ealier in Mediterannean antiquity.

To simply say it is named after the St. Basil ingores its true origins 71.252.84.249 19:46, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

Yes you can not mention it since the two are completely separate and not connected, one is based on Western European folkore while the other is based on Anatolian and Eastern European folkore. Any connection they might have does not happen until France turns to Christianity in 496 A.D. when Chlodovocar (Clovis, or Louis), converted most of the Frankland to Christians...that is a century after St. Basil and the story of the Vasilopita. So basically the Vasilopita and what you call the 'pre-christian' "kings bread" have absolutely nothing in common and are not related. The American cajun king cake dates back to France and to the Carnival Season which have some similarities with the Vasilopita but not really, and the king cake might have some origins to some pre-Christian tradition of French-Gaul since they come from the same region but the Christian Vasilopita that is talked about in this article and which is named after St. Basil and originates in Asia Minor has absolutely nothing in common with the origins of what you call "kings bread". Placing tokens or money in Greek sweet breads are not only found in Vasilopita; Christmas Bread and Easter Bread also have tokens put in them. And yes, we know very well that the etymology of vasili is Greek and means king. As well as the fact that any other languages who use the term are derived from the Greek meaning.BeNNoulA 29 June 2006

PS:What I meant by "we know very well what the etymology means" is that anyone of Greek origins knows very well what the names Basil, Vasilis, Vassiliki, Basiliki, etc. etc. mean and from where they are derived from.BeNNoulA 29 June 2006

[edit] the story of vasilopita

I also agree, that the vasilopita has nothing to do with the "king's bread". Its name derives from Vasileios and pita (i.e. kind of bread). As for the story of vasilopita, when i was in school i was told the follow story for the vasilopita: Caesaria was besieged (maybe by Persians) and was strong need for soldiers and, of course, for money for having and paying them. So Vasileios asked the people of Caesaria to contribute with everything valuable one could give. And so it was done. After the success repulse of the enemy, many gold things, jewellry and the similar were left and it was necessary to return them to their proprietors. As it was extremely difficult to return what one were given, Vasileios got the idea of the pita and inserted one of the remainings in the little breads he had ordered. Thus everyone would receive something valuable. And this became the custom of vasilopita. Thank you Yannis

(as my english's quite bad, you may correct it, if this comment is to appear as part of the article).