Húsvéti kalács

The story

Kalács is the braided milk bread that goes into the Hungarian Easter basket with ham, eggs, horseradish and salt. Pénzcentrum writes that the braided loaf recalls the Last Supper, while noting that the bread of that supper was unleavened, so the soft, enriched kalács is better seen as a festive bread for the end of the fast. Early kalács were round, and their shaping was what set them apart from everyday bread. In Catholic communities the basket is taken to church to be blessed and the family eats the blessed food together afterward; the Budapest site 444 lists kalács, ham, eggs and horseradish among the foods on most Easter tables. Easter Sunday falls on March 28 in 2027. Xpatloop, a Budapest guide, says country households have baked the loaf for special days for some 600 years, and that it also appears at Christmas and at village weddings. Its slight sweetness sits well against salty ham and sharp horseradish. In 2023, 444 found the braids of the big supermarket chains in Budapest weighing under half a kilo, while handmade loaves at a market cost 2,300 to 2,800 forints a kilo. Bake it on Saturday morning so it is completely cool before slicing.