|
Every
December, the kitchens of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, make their
wonderful Christmas cookies prepared from traditional Moravian
recipes. Christmas in Bethlehem means not only the birth of the
Christ-child but it is also Bethlehem's birthday. On a snowy
Christmas Eve over two hundred and fifty years ago, Count Zinzendorf,
the leader of the Moravians, took shelter in the little town's one
log dwelling. Noting that humans and beasts shared the same roof, as
they had on that first Christmas in Bethlehem in Judea, the Count
snatched up his candle and led the way to the stable, singing
“Not Jerusalem,
Only Bethlehem.”
As the strains of the Moravian hymn died
away, he turned to his followers and said, “The name of this place
is Bethlehem.” It has been ever since.
Moravians have always been devout, and
through many years and troubled times their faith has expressed
itself in kindly hospitality in the name of Christ as well as in
worship of Him. From their earliest days in the wilderness the
Moravians have offered food and shelter to all comers, whether they
were Indians, Revolutionary soldiers, or the Marquis de Lafayette.
And because Christmas is the climax of their year, generations of
Bethlehem housewives have toiled long and lovingly to make the
Christmas holidays memorable. There is much visiting around at
Christmas time in Bethlehem, and Bethlehem still is hospitable. Thus
cakes and wine are frequently brought forth and the Moravians have
developed Christmas cookies to superlative perfection.
Recipes for the famous Moravian cakes and
cookies are passed from family to family, just as the same cookie
cutters have been preserved from days and are still in
use. The shape of a Moravian cookie is a reasonably indication of
its content, since probably it has been made in the same shape with
the same ingredients for a century or two. It is true that some
modern innovations may have made their way into the Christmas cookie
field, but it would be considered a shabby household in Bethlehem
that must resort to brownies or hermits for Christmas, when there
are so many traditional recipes that are intricate and delicious.
There used to be a saying in Bethlehem that you could estimate not
only the housewife's culinary skill but the family's financial
status from the quantity and variety of its Christmas cookies!
Bethlehem is also the home of the Putz. Every
family has a crèche, as elaborate and detailed as can be contrived,
to place under the Christmas tree. This Nativity scene, deriving
from the German word putzen, to decorate, has been shortened
in Pennsylvania Dutch to Putz and has come to mean
whatever-decorates-the-space-under-the-Christmas-tree. It is
particularly a crèche, but the term may include a toy village or an
electric train, if the family wishes to elaborate. Putzing-visiting
around to see the Putzes-is a Bethlehem holiday custom.
It is also the occasion for the appearance of the holiday cookies
and for general good will.
Bethlehem's loveliest Christmas custom by
far is its candle-lighting service. This is beautiful and deeply
religious. Anyone who has ever seen how myriads of twinkling candles
can light a darkened church, who has whiffed the mingled odors· of
beeswax and balsam, who has followed antiphonally a small girl's
singing of “Morning Star, O cheering sight ...” has experienced
one of the most moving Christmas services in the world. Then, when
he has passed through the shining, candlelit gantlet of his singing
neighbors and gone forth into the snowy evening, he has been truly
in Bethlehem at Christmas.
|
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation
License.
Best-Loved
Penn. Dutch Cookie
Recipes