Pryanik (Russian: пряник [ˈprʲænʲɪk] , Ukrainian: пряник, Belarusian: пернік; Czech and Slovak: perník; Polish: piernik [ˈpjɛrɲik] ; Croatian: paprenjak) refers to a range of traditional sweet-baked goods in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and some neighboring countries such as in Poland (Polish: piernik) and Lithuania (Lithuanian: meduolis). It is also a popular Czech and Slovak sweet.
Traditionally, pryaniks are made from flour and honey. While some Russian-English dictionaries translate pryanik as gingerbread, ginger is an optional pryanik ingredient, unlike honey.[1][2] Sugar is often used instead of honey in industrial pryaniki production and modern home-cooking. Related to pryanik is kovrizhka (коврижка), sweet bread with similar ingredients.
The word pryanik is from Old East Slavic пьпьрянъ, an adjective from Old East Slavic пьпьрь 'pepper', which makes it etymologically similar or related to German Pfefferkuchen. In Germany, ginger was added[dubious – discuss] to Christmas or Easter cookies – this is how the first gingerbread, or "lebkuchen", appeared[dubious – discuss]. In France, the inventor of gingerbread is considered to be Gregory of Nikopol, who in 992 allegedly moved to this country from Armenia and taught the local monks this recipe.[3]
- ^ "Тульский пряник: рецепт приготовления". SYL.ru. 2015-02-12. Retrieved 2017-12-23.
- ^ Drey, Victoria (15 September 2017). "Tula pryanik: How simple honey bread became a Russian gastronomic brand". Russia Beyond.
- ^ Buryko, O. M. (2020-04-22). "НОВІ ЧАСИ – НОВІ МОЖЛИВОСТІ, АБО НАВЧАННЯ В СМАРТФОНІ". Медсестринство (1): 42–43. doi:10.11603/2411-1597.2020.1.11039. ISSN 2415-3028. S2CID 225910892.