tsouréki

Sweet holiday yeast bread, with a fluffy texture similar to a brioche, and often flavoured with mahlepi or mastica, which gives it its special Greek je ne sais quoi. Here is an excellent bilingual video so you can practice making tsouréki at home and learning the Greek words at the same time.

The Easter version, made into a twist, has red dyed eggs pressed on top, often three, to symbolize the Trinity. On Sífnos and some of the other Cycladic islands, this Easter tsouréki is called a πουλιά(pouliá) and made into the shape of a bird.

The same dough recipe, braided and filled with chocolate, is used to make Eastern European bábka (μπάμπκα).