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Collection: Soups & Breads
Recipe By: Mina Mikail
Holy Bread
Ingredients
- Deacon Kyrillos's 37 steps of preparation of the Quorban through the Grace of The Holy Spirit that works mightily in us all.
- 1.Wash hands
- 2.Heat water
- 3.Set oven to 475
- 4.Clean counter with soap then clean soap off counter with clean cloth.
- 5.Clean baking pan then wipe off stove top
- 6. Put a drop of oil on baking pan and spread evenly over whole pan.
- 7. Put 2 spoonfuls of flour on pan and spread evenly over whole pan.
- 8.Shake flour off pan onto the counter.
- 9.Get equipment from cabinet.(big bowl,small bowl,teaspoon, 2 measuring cups, 1 big towel and 2 small linen towels, chopstick, glass of water and triangular spatula)
- 10. Use 5 cups of flour and pour into big bowl. Put 2 cups of flour into 5" bowl on the side to add to wet mixture.
- 11. Add boiled water to measuring cup and cool with tap water to Luke warm at 2cups in measuring cup
- 12. Add 1 level teaspoon of yeast to big bowl
- 13. Mix yeast into flour with hand.
- 14. Add water until all flour and yeast is at a soaking wet mixture all needed in.
- 15. Add flour on side in small bowl to big bowl until consistency becomes like doe and flour has been removed from big bowl surface.
- 16. Put bowl in sink with water in it.
- 17. Need doe on counter with dry flour until it feels like bubble gum. Make sure no ends are wet by dabbing with dry flour.
- 18. Cut doe into uneven portions ie..3,5,7,9 and need into a circular shape and roll on counter into shape of a ball.
- 19. Flatten ball into a circular shape like Quorban with a mound in the center. Dont make too thin.
- 20. Place circular Quorbons on baking sheet.
- 21. Put flour on counter into a mound and put stamp on flour.
- 22. Stamp Quorban then put stamp back into flour so Quorban doesn't stick into stamp.
- 22. Pierce Quorban with 5 holes 3 on one side and 2 on the opposite corners. Dont pierce all the way through.
- 23. Lay towel on stove then put baking sheet on top of towel.
- 24. Then put 2 thin linen sheets over Quorban. And finally cover with overhanging portion of towel. (This method of placing on stove to help with rising process especially during winter months.)
- 25. Clean up while Quorban is rising and put bowls and equipment into cupboard.
- 26. You can use audio agpeya from start to finish of rising process step 24. It takes roughly 40 mins to reach phase of setting to rise step 24.
- 27. Close kitchen door while Quorban rises
- 28. Start reading Psalms from 1 to 150.
- 29.Take 1hr to rise.
- 30. Pierce holes again use water on chopstick and dont pierce right through.
- 31. Place baking sheet in oven on bottom rack to bake underside of Quorban.
- 32. Oven at temperature 475. Press cooking time then plus sign 7 times to get 7mins of baking for the underside. Bake for 7mins
- 33. Check bottom of Quorban around 4mins make sure bottom isn't burning then place back in oven.
- 34. Check bottom once more after 1min until light tan color put back in oven until time expires.
- 35. Take out of oven and Pierce 5 holes again.
- 36. Press broil on oven set to hi and put Quorban on top shelf 3 racks from top to brown tops light tan color.
- 37. Watch carefully for 1 min and keep checking top every 1min. Takes roughly 3 minutes until tan brown. Clean baking sheet.
- Glory Be To God now and forever until the ages of ages. Amen.
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Directions
- 1. Dissolve the yeast in the amount of water according to the quantity required and add the flour. Knead thoroughly and consciously and add the water in stages until the dough is not stiff but soft, average softness is required.
- 2. Cut the dough into the required sizes to form the holy bread, each size has its own stamp, for example small holy bread has a different stamp than that of a large size.
- The bread is then placed in large trays and is covered with a piece of cloth; preferably the cloth should be one of the church curtains – dedicating it only for the process of making holy bread. The cover should be tight so as not to dry the doughs crust, which would in turn make it unfitting to be the lamb.
- 3. In the order that each piece of dough was cut, it becomes stamped with the stamp that is suitably sized according to the size of the dough. For example a small dough should not be stamped with a large stamp, and the large dough for the Lamb should not be stamped with a small stamp. The reason being is that it needs to be clear for the priest as he divides during the prayer of the fraction. The letters, words and crosses of the stamp should be notable and clear.
- The stamped bread is then placed in a large tray in the order that it was stamped and then it is left to rise.
- 4. After fermentation, holes are made in each bread, never make the holes before the dough rises, since this affects the yeast and its efficiency.
- The holes made should be suitable to the size of the holy bread, neither large nor small that it might disappear after baking. The numbers of holes are five, three holes on the right and two on the left.
- 5. Good baking of the holy bread should be in a moderately heated oven; a high oven ruins the bread, and makes it unsuitable to be presented as the lamb, because the lamb must have no faults.
- A high temperature oven makes the holy bread dry and crusty from the outside, and small pieces end up dropping onto the tray.
Reasons for the pieces that fall from the Holy bread are:
- a. Exposure of the dough to air for a long time before baking.
- b. Baking before completion of the fermentation period.
- c. Not kneading the dough well
- d. Baking over high heat.
- Jesus promised His pure disciples to give them the Holy Communion, and He has prepared their minds for this event when He said to them, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven.Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” (John 6:51)
According to the teachings of the church, the following Conditions should be followed when making the Holy Bread:
- 1. To be made from pure wheat flour.
- 2. To be well leavened.
- 3. To be considered special bread
- 4. To be free of salt.
The Shape of the holy bread:
- 1. Should be made round shaped as the sun, which emits heat, warmth, and light, as when we take Holy Communion we are filled with the grace emitted from the sun of righteous- Jesus Christ as the light of Christ shines within us, and expels the darkness of sin from our lives. The circle also refers to the eternal Lord Jesus Christ and to eternity (unlimited) as the circle has no beginning and no end.
- So is our Lord Jesus Christ – He has no beginning nor end, and is existing since eternity and remains forever, He described himself saying “I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end”.
- 2. The five holes: The five holes in the holy bread refer to Christ’s wounds, the two holes in his hands, the hole in his feet, the stabbing of the spear on his side, and the thorn crown.
- Three holes on the right and two holes on the left are made on the holy bread, and are then left for fermentation. This is an indication that after Christ was hanged on the cross he carried our sins with him; it’s then backed in the oven where the fire is a sign of the pain that Christ has suffered.
- Also the five holes are made to avoid any crackles during baking, so that the holy bread has no faults as Jesus Christ is perfect.
- These holes also remind us about God’s deep love for us, even though we are full of many sins, He gave us his torn body holed with nails, to eat, and gave us His blood, which shed from His wounds to drink, and to live by them eternal life.
- 3. A middle cross surrounded by twelve crosses: cut the dough to form the bread and stamp the middle with a large cross and then stamp twelve small crosses around the large cross. These represent the twelve disciples – the nucleus of the first church, and Jesus Christ himself the cornerstone.
- The large centered cross refers to Jesus Christ, therefore the part of the holy bread that holds this cross in the middle is called "Alasbadikon", and this part is the piece which the priest puts in the goblet. He uses it to make the sign of the cross on the body three times during the last part of the Divine Liturgy, then he returns this section back into the goblet until the time of Holy Communion.
- While the twelve crosses surrounding the middle cross refers to the twelve Disciples of Christ, this indicates the existence of Jesus Christ always amidst His disciples. While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” (Lk 24: 36)
- 4. The three sanctifications: Around the large cross surrounded by the twelve crosses is a circle with the words "Holy God" written on it. This means Holy God (three times) as if Christ is surrounding His church in the world, being in the middle so that it will never be shaken.
- The three sanctifications "Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy immortal who does not die” is written in a circular motion around the holy bread.
- This is the prayer we say in each hour of the Psalms (Agpeya), and before reading the Bible in the Divine Liturgy. So what we eat is actually the body of Christ, the Son of God.
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