Tag #125478 - Interview #78561 (Sofi Eshua Danon-Moshe)

At Pesach we used to buy matzah that was delivered from Sofia. It was ordered by the Jewish community in Pazardzhik. We used to put water in a pot with a sieve. We put the boyo on the sieve covered with a cloth in order to let it become softer. At Pesach we would also buy matzah delivered from Sofia so that my mother could make ‘burmolikos’ [11]: round pieces of fried dough. She put the matzah into water in the evening so that it was soft in the morning. The matzah we were used to was hard, not soft like the one they give nowadays in the synagogue at Pesach. After that the matzah was drained from the water, made into dough, eggs and salt were added and then the doughnuts were fried. And every time, absolutely every time, before Pesach, my mother would fry these so-called doughnuts in the morning before us getting up. They were served in a number of ways, like with salt, but we didn’t like them that way. We preferred them sprayed with sugar powder. That was the best way. Some people preferred them with sugar syrup. In the morning before we washed our eyes there was this smell of ‘burmolikos’ that had pervaded the house. We were motivated to wake up earlier because we were attracted by the scent. That was the tradition. I don’t know whether it should be called a religious or traditional practice.