Groundhog Day Foods

Groundhog Day contains one wonderful little surprise after another for Heathens, and it has emerged (pun intended) as one of Urglaawe's major observances.

Within the realm of foodstuffs, there are various traditions that serve as symbols of hope, reflections of the Groundhog's actions, and the essence of the season.

Groundhog Day is actually the first day of an observance that we know by a few names: Entschtanning, Uffdredde, or Uffdredding (all of which mean "emergence") in Urglaawe parlance. Our observace shares some roots with the more well known Fasching or Faschtnacht, which is the Christian celebration prior to the beginning of Lent.

The evolution of this within Urglaawe has stretched the Entschanning through twelve days, but we typically are only able to gather as a group for one jam-packed observance of the Groundhog's return as the otherworldly messenger, the celebration of the Idise and of feminine creative energies, the celebration of the hearth goddess (Friggsege), and, although She was not known to us earlier, we also observe the blessings of the goddess Gewwern (Gefion).

More details of this observance will be shared on the other guild groups and on Urglaawe.net. In this post, we will cover the more common food traditions.

Green and White Vegetables

The roots of this tradition are in the crossover between winter (white) and the thawing of the land (green). Most common seem to be cauliflower and broccoli, partially because of their later harvest and also because they tend to keep pretty well. However, other vegetables can be used, too.

"Emergent" Foods

Meat pies, dumplings (including Schnitz un Gnepp), pierogies, stuffed cabbage, etc., are common foods that represent the groundhog within the burrow. Sausages can also fall into this category, so Knockwurst, Bratwurst, etc. are also appropriate, as would stuffed hog's maw.

Scrapple

Many folks eat scrapple on Groundhog Day. While Urglaawe tend now to observe Ewicher Yeeger as a deity associated with scrapple, scrapple was originally made with rabbit, and sometime folks replaced the rabbit with groundhog. However, as is the case with groundhog stew, I am not sure that consuming the otherworldly messenger on the day we honor him is appropriate, so pork-based scrapple would be a better choice.

Birch Beer

Birch beer is widely produced and consumed among the Deitsch communities, and, the fact that it comes from birch is most appropriate for a celebration associated with Frigg.

Corn and Other Seeds

Corn dishes, sunflower seeds, poppy seeds, and others are also appropriate to an observance of forthcoming fertility and potential life.

Soups

Pretzel Soup, Riwwel Soup

Preparation

There is no designated method of preparation for these foods, so be creative!

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SEIMAAGE RECIPE

Let's talk about hog's maw... or, as we call it, Seimaage:

This recipe comes from William Woys Weaver's Pennsylvania Dutch Country Cooking, pp. 142-143.

Yield 10 Servings:

1 cleaned pig's stomach
1.5 cups (8 oz./250 g) diced lean slab bacon
3 cups (350 g) chopped onion
1.3 cups(12 oz/375 g) ground beef, pork, or venison
1.5 teaspoons coarsely grated pepper
.25 teaspoon ground cayenne
1 tablespoon ground marjoram
.5 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon dried savory
2 teaspoons sea salt
.5 cup (50 g) rye breadcrumbs or spelt breadcrumbs
3 large eggs
6 cups (2.5 lbs/1.5 kg) diced cooked red potatoes, peeled or unpeeled
clarified butter

Soak the pig's stomach 2-5 hours in salted water then rinse and drain. Put the slab bacon in a large skillet and fry over medium heat until it begins to brown. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and pour off the fat. Do not clean the skillet.

Put the skillet back on the stove and add the onion. Fry over medium heat until soft, then add the ground meat. Cook until the meat changes color, then transfer the meat and onion mixture to a deep mixing bowl.

Add the reserved bacon, pepper, cayenne, marjoram, cardamom, savory, salt, and breadcrumbs. Beat the eggs until lemon colored, then add to the meat mixture. Fold in the cooked potatoes.

Turn the stomach inside out. Using a needle and thread, sew up the two smallest holes in the stomach so that they are absolutely tight and will not leak. Turn the stomach right side out and there is no room for air pockets. Sew up the large opening as tightly as possible, leaving only a small space inside for the expansion of the filling.

Bring 2 gallons (8 liters) of salted water to a hard boil. Reduce the heat and add the stomach. Simmer, uncovered, for 3 hours. At the end of 3 hours, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Remove the stomach from the water and set it in a a baking dish, seam side down. Bake for 20-25 minutes, basting often with the clarified butter only until the surface of the Seimawe [Seimaage] achieves a golden brown color.

Serve immediately on a hot platter.

Der Grundsaudaag

Well folks, it’s that time of year again! Time for Punxsutawney Phil to stick his nose out (and hopefully not to get blasted by kinsman Rocky to become part of a Grundsaudaag Schmaus!). Unfortunately, the events in Punxsy are barely even a shadow of the various traditions on this observance, which is one of the largest Urglaawe holidays. Grundsaudaag is far beyond what most folks know Groundhog Day to be. In Urglaawe, there are (at least!) five major themes all coming together on that day.

1). The groundhog is similar to Ratatask, the squirrel that runs up and down Yggdrasil bringing news of the nine worlds. Thus, the groundhog is the otherworldly messenger. Anyone who is familiar with groundhog burrows knows that they are intricately designed with multiple openings. Our ancestors saw an analogy between the burrow and the Nine Worlds. The groundhog brings news and prognostication. For an agricultural people, the short-term weather is naturally something that the people would like to know, which is probably why that particular feature was passed on to the wider American culture.

2). The day of the celebration of feminine creative energies. Braucherei reports the day as being sacred to the “Hearth Goddess,” who naturally would be Frigg. The choice of this time for this observance is that we’re starting to see the first signs of the return of the fertility of the soil.

3). Akin to the second item is the creation of the Butzemann. The Butzemann is a scarecrow who is spiritually activated via a Braucherei ceremony called the Ceremony of the Corn. In Urglaawe, our ceremonies typically consist of Sege (blot), Schmaus (feast), and Sammel (sumble), but for Grundsaudaag, we add the Ceremony of the Corn in as well. Butzemenner are still widely used (beyond the typical scarecrow concept) in the Deitscherei (Pennsylvania Dutch Country). There are numerous superstitions surrounding the Butzemann, particularly that he must be burned by Allelieweziel (Halloween). It is considered the height of bad luck to leave a Butzemann after Allelieweziel. The results of doing so are the things that are used to frighten small children into staying in bed on Christmas Eve lest they be kidnapped by the Butzemann.

4). Also akin to Frigg is the cleaning of the hearth. On this day, we are to clean out our hearths, fireplaces, candleholders, or anything else that fire burns in (most particularly for heat, but since many folks don’t have fireplaces anymore, adjusting with candles keeps with the spirit of the tradition). The fire is to be rekindled with birch (also sacred to Frigg). The rune Berkano is featured in conjunction with the birch.

5). Tradition holds that the first travelers with Holle and Wodan on the Furious Host (Wild Hunt) begin to return to the land at this time, if the groundhog predicts an early end to winter. The belief in Braucherei is that this is the time in which the veil between the physical and spiritual realms is almost as thin as it is on Allelieweziel, so it’s considered an advantageous time to interact with ancestors and to help trapped or lost souls to cross over. Most Urglaawer believe in a life-death-rebirth cycle rather than the Valhalla lore to the north. My sense is that Braucherei, as an Elder tradition, brought forth the rebirth concepts from a time prior to the Valhalla/Folkvang/Ragnarok concepts development to the north (or perhaps the lore did not reach our ancestors in the south or our ancestors did not retain it). Also, as a primarily agricultural people, the life-death-rebirth cycle is so engrained in both the collective conscious and the collective unconscious that it is culturally relevant. While we do believe in the Doom of the Gods, most Urglaawer do not believe that the souls of those who died in battle go to Valhalla to await Ragnarok. Instead, the cosmic day and cosmic night cycles will run and the universe will end with the battle between the deities and their foes. Urglaawe is not centralized, so beliefs do vary from person to person, so your beliefs certainly may vary. Heck, none of us will know till we die anyway... Heh... Though my work using Braucherei’s journeying method (time-cord work) has supported the Urglaawe view, but I guess cultural context does matter and different practitioners using different methods can find results that support their path’s beliefs. There’s room for us all. :)

All this is jam-packed into one day...

Macht’s immer besser!

Rob