A certain type of sweet bread has risen on the menu of New West’s Kozak Ukrainian Eatery in time for the Easter long weekend. It’s tall, cylindrical and goes by the name paska.
Made with milk, eggs and butter, and dotted with raisins and dried apricots, a paska is just like the Italian Christmas sweet bread panettone — “It’s super rich, and is made with butter and raisins, and with decoration on top,” said Sergey Kuznetsov, founder of Kozak Ukrainian Eatery.
The calorie-dense bread is a staple among Ukrainians during Easter. And with Ukrainians ranking among the top 10 ethnic origins in New West (according to the 2021 Census), the bakery naturally sees a ton of demand for this buttery goodness during this time of the year, confirmed Kuznetsov.
About 50 to 500 pasky (the plural) are made in a day at the bakery. However, they "cannot be" made fresh at the bakery everyday as baking a batch of pasky is an arduous process that can take up to 72 hours, said Kuznetsov.
The bakery uses the same starter that it uses to make its sourdough bread, with minimal use of yeast. This year, they have come up with two flavours: one with different types of dried fruits, and the other with chocolate (for both dough and icing). The former is traditional, the latter is a twist to the classic.
The Easter bread, just like the Easter bunny, only appears during this time of the year.
“It’s made only for Easter," said Kuznetsov.
"We make it for both the Catholic and Orthodox Christian Easter,” he added. Since the Orthodox Easter is on April 18, the paska will be available from now until then.
And for those who want a taste of the soft and airy crumb, Kuznetsov recommended pre-ordering them on their website.
“They normally sell out pretty fast,” he warned.
Pre-order at Kozak Ukrainian Bakery website.
