We get pretty excited about the spring equinox bringing us out of winter and officially starting the season of spring. But what exactly is the spring equinox? The word equinox means “equality of night and day.” So, fun fact: Spring "begins" the moment when the sun crosses the equator, making day and night of equal length on that day. This is the beginning of the astronomical New Year.
In our family, we celebrate the New Year and the coming of Spring with a holiday called Novruz. There are many traditions of Novruz that are seen in other holidays but I will write about the Novruz in Azerbaijan, where my husband is from, because I have experienced this holiday.
There are four festive Tuesdays leading up to the Novruz Holiday. These four Tuesdays symbolize the four elements called "Water Tuesday", "Fire Tuesday", "Wind Tuesday", and "Earth" or "Last Tuesday". After the four Tuesdays, Spring Equinox is celebrated. Here are some things that we do on Novruz, that you may find very similar to your own Holidays - such as Easter or New Years!
Deep Cleaning vs New Year Resolutions
Prior to Novruz, the families will come together to deep clean the house with special focus on washing the rugs and carpets. Azerbaijani rugs and carpets are very decorative (and quite expensive) and have a symbolic meaning in the household. Moreover, these carpets are simply very practical. Washing and dusting the carpet is a sign of a fresh start to the year with clean ground to step on. In some ways, this is similar to starting the New Year with fresh and new resolutions. "New Year, New Me".
Growing Semeni vs Having a Christmas Tree
Semeni is a decorative wheat grass that you will start growing a month prior to Novruz. During the holiday, Semeni is placed on the table just like the Christmas Tree is the center of the room for Christmas. However, unlike the Christmas Tree, Semeni represents the rebirth of nature and welcoming of Spring.
Dyeing Eggs & Sweets
Coloring eggs is not unique to Easter. Boiling eggs with various vegetables to create a colored eggs is common for Novruz. Boiling eggs with onions will make them brown, beetroots will turn the eggs a dark purple, red onions will color them a lighter red color, amongst other spices and vegetables for other colors as well.
The kids play a fun game, each choosing their egg, and smashing the eggs together to see whos egg will crack. The owner of the unbroken egg wins, claiming both eggs they will walk around the neighborhood to see who will own the champion egg. It is all in good fun to watch the littles kiddos challenge each other to an egg battle.
A Hat for A Treat vs May Day
There is another Novruz tradition, somewhat similar to May Day (or perhaps even Trick-or-Treating on Halloween), where kids will walk around the neighborhood putting hats in front of the door, knock, and then run and hide. The homeowner will open the door to find a little hat on the step, fill it with sweets, eggs, nuts, etc. and leave the hat on the door step again for the kids to come back and grab!
Novruz Baba vs Santa Claus
A fictional character called Novruz Baba (Baba translates to grandfather) is a kind, bearded old man, who brings the presents.
Presents & Family Gathering
The final similarity (that I am aware of) is that during the holidays, kids will receive presents and family will gather together behind the table just like you would for Christmas. The focus being on family; everyone should forgive and mend broken relationships with the people around you for the year to come.
There are seven foods that begin with the letter "s" that you will find on the Novruz table. Putting su (water), sud (milk), semeni (wheat grass), sebze (fresh herbs), sumaq (a sour spice), and other foods that begin with "s" is very purposeful and symbolic.
One of the most famous and widespread Azeri food is Plov. It is a classic dish featuring saffron (a turmeric flavored) rice, cooked with meat, onions, prunes, dry fruits, eggs, and fresh herbs. Here are some other sides and dishes that you will find on the table.
Kuku is a traditional dish served on the Novruz table. In this recipe, fresh herbs such as parsley, cilantro, dill, and scallions are mixed with eggs. The mixture is then poured into a frying pan and cooked in butter on both sides to yield a tender, flavorful appetizer.
A main course including safron rice is served with the tere shown below and this fish that is stuffed with lavengi (walnut stuffing), smothered in a thick plum kompot, and roasted to perfection!
Tere (ta-da) is absolutely the most drool worthy side that pairs perfectly with fish and rice! This "dish" is packed with spinach, dill, cilantro lemon juice, and garlic! It's SO GOOD! You can also eat it on its own with freshly made bread.
Olivier Salad made with peas, potatoes, carrots, onions, meat, pickles, and eggs all mixed with mayo. One of the my favorite sides served on the Novruz table.
Finished your meal? Ready for the sweets? Served with freshly brewed black tea you will find the following on our table:
This sweet pastry called partlama looks a little bit like the sun and it will definitely make you feel warm inside! It is a bit harder to explain the contents of this "explosion cookie" but partlama is a sweet that is filled with sugar, wrapped in dough, and cooked until it explodes open - revealing the sweet interior.
Shekerbura, is a sweet pastry in half-moon shape, filled with ground almonds, hazelnuts, or walnuts, and sugar. Shekerbura, shorgoghal, and pakhlava are the iconic foods of Novruz holiday in Azerbaijan. These three sweets are a staple for this holiday table. Do not underestimate the amount of time and effort that is put into the rolled edges of this sweet treat! It is truly a labor of love!
Shorgoghal. A traditional Azerbaijani pastry filled with a variety of spices that make for a savory (or sweet) dessert. Again, it is mainly prepared for Novruz in Azerbaijan along with pakhlava and shekerbura.
Azerbaijani pakhlava is commonly made for the Novruz holiday but it is not baked only for holidays. I have made this sweet treat on several occasions - the main one being simply that I craved it! This sweet is made with several layers of dough and a crushed walnut/sugar cream.
Oreshki is a little walnut shaped cookie filled with crema de leche and ground walnuts. A very simple thing to make as long as you have the walnut shaped cookie pan and some patience! Oreshki is not always placed on the table for Novruz, but can be. This year, it was something that I had simply aspired to make!
There you have it! This is our very own holiday that you will see us celebrating with family each year! It is great fun and very near and dear to our hearts as it reminds our children of their culture and keeps them from forgetting where their roots are. We continue to celebrate Spring as we approach Easter in April as well, but this is just a bit different as we come together with my husband's family for cleaning, cooking, eating, talking, spending great quality time together, and celebrating! All in all, it is a holiday filled with great fun and is a very busy time of year!
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