On Lazarus Saturday, housewives bake “lazarakia” bread in the shape of a swaddled baby.
It is customary for there to be as many buns as there are children in the family (this, of course, was when families were large, sometimes more than 10 children). On the island of Kos, tradition once required that engaged girls make a “lazaraki” the size of a small child from dough, fill the makeshift cake with an array of edibles, and send it to their future husband.
Housewives filled “lazarudia,” as they are called in some places, with ground walnuts, almonds, figs, raisins, honey and added a lot of herbs. And the children, having already smelled the dizzying aromas of baked goods from early morning, were eagerly awaiting the hour when they would be allowed to taste them.
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