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cypezokyli · Joined: 20 Dec 2005 Posts: 2344

i ve just finished sengül books and i have a question concerning new years.
i mean i am not surprised that in the north some people also have cristmass trees - thats importet for us as well. santa claus even goes to japan nowadays...

i was surprised that u make a pie on new years and you hide a coin inside! we do that as well, and as far as i know also in the balkans. for us this has a religious meaning, thats why the first pieces go to christ and the saint vasili (then its the turn of the host, and then from the oldest to the youngest ) .
does it have any meaning for Turkish Cypriots ? is there a special sequence on who gets a piece of the pie first ? is the one who finds the coin the lucky person for the year ?

thanks

(great book btw)

Dhavlos · Joined: 13 Aug 2005 Posts: 4697 Location: Birmingham

They do the coin thing in france too, but they it is a coin with a crown on it, for allsaints day and the person who gets the crown becomes 'king or queen' for the day

thebrix · Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2006 1:10 pm Post subject: Re: common customs

cypezokyli wrote: i ve just finished sengül books and i have a question concerning new years.
i mean i am not surprised that in the north some people also have cristmass trees - thats importet for us as well. santa claus even goes to japan nowadays...

i was surprised that u make a pie on new years and you hide a coin inside! we do that as well, and as far as i know also in the balkans. for us this has a religious meaning, thats why the first pieces go to christ and the saint vasili (then its the turn of the host, and then from the oldest to the youngest ) .
does it have any meaning for Turkish Cypriots ? is there a special sequence on who gets a piece of the pie first ? is the one who finds the coin the lucky person for the year ?

thanks

(great book btw)

This must be a common custom, because it is known in the United Kingdom too. The variant I have experienced in Scotland is:

1. During baking a number of silver coins are hidden in the Christmas cake (massive fruit cake, about 12 inches by 6 by 3 deep and covered with white icing);

2. Said cake is cut up and distributed at random to friends and relatives;

3. The people who get a piece with the silver coin can make one wish which will be fulfilled.

The coin must be real silver, which is a bit tricky - all UK circulating silver coins were replaced by base metal in 1947. One of my coin companies actually sells bags of old 3d silver coins (the smallest denomination pre-decimalisation) specifically for the purpose described!