The locals from Sibiu prefer the sweet, richly tasting potatoes bread which can be kept for days. To bake a Transylvanian loaf of bread you need: potatoes, about 2 teaspoons of sugar, flour (as much as possible, for bakers bake big breads, to have enough for everybody), 100 g of yeast, 1.5 l hot water and 1 full teaspoon of salt.
Mix the yeast with the sugar in the hot water. Boil and peel the potatoes and knead them into a paste. In a mixing bowl mix the potatoes paste with the flour and the yeast mixture then pour hot water. Knead the dough very well and leave it one hour to rest.
The housewives from Sibiu wake up before dawn to knead the dough, and then they make breads “as big as a cart wheel”. When they take the bread out of the oven, its crust is coal black so you don’t really feel like eating it. But while still hot, the women beat it on all sides and… what a wonder: the burnt crust falls off and the bread remains nice and brown, just perfect for breakfast.
Did you know...?
Bread is believed to be a sacred element and people show a mystical respect towards it. It is considered a sin to throw away any leftover bread or breadcrumbs. The customs of drawing an imaginary cross on the bread before cutting it and putting it into a white towel are symbols of purity and are believed to keep the evil away.