Grittibänz, the Swiss Christmas bread man
Grittibänz is a Swiss slightly sweet bread man, traditionally made on December 6th for the celebration of St. Nicholas Day.
The taste is very similar to challah, or zopf, the traditional Swiss bread, but with a hint of lemon.
In the weeks leading up to St. Nicholas Day, you can find it in bakeries and grocery stores, and it’s fun to go around town to look at all the different versions of it.
It varies from very simple to a much more elaborate kind.
The eyes are usually made of raisins or chocolate chips.
Some have a hat, a coat, and a scarf made of braided dough, and you can also find some with a pipe and stick made of chocolate or real wood.
Some are also decorated with nuts and Hagelzucker (pearl sugar).
The name Grittibanz is a combination of two words: Gritti means “splayed,” describing the legs, and “bänz” is a short name for Benedict, a very popular name for men in the past, that was used to generally describe a man.
Some people think it represents St. Nicholas, but no one really knows for sure.
You can find a lot of different names for it throughout Switzerland, Germany, and Austria.
Sometimes St. Nicholas gives children a Grittibänz when he visits them at school or at home. Often, families go to visit him in the forest and he gives them a Grittibänz.
Sometimes kids find a Grittibänz in the morning of December 6th with a traditional bag of nuts, chocolate, and mandarins.
Some people have Grittibänz for dinner on December 6th, and others have a family activity to bake it together.
The St. Nicholas tradition
The culture of the saint spread from Italy to Switzerland, Austria, Germany, and some other central European countries in the 11th century.
He was known to be really kind and generous to kids, that is why he is associated with the giving of gifts.
Swiss St. Nicholas is dressed more like a bishop than Santa Claus, but he still wears red and white. He doesn’t move around with reindeer and a sleigh, but he usually comes out from a forest with one or two donkeys. His helpers are not elves, but he has a strange helper called “Schmutzli.” The tradition is that he carries a broom of twigs to punish children whose behavior wasn’t good that year. Sometimes he is a clerical figure with his face covered in black, and at other times he looks like a demon.
That figure comes from an ancient Swiss festival in which people would hold a parade with noise and lanterns to cast out evil spirits, and somehow, over time, Schmutzli became St. Nicholas’ companion and it makes the whole tradition even more mysterious.
However, over the years, his figure has become a little nicer and he helps hand out gifts, even if his face can still be scary.
St Nicholas usually gives a burlap sack of peanuts, chocolates, gingerbread, mandarins, and sometimes a Grittibänz to kids, but he doesn’t just give it to them. They usually recite a traditional poem or play some music to entertain him and show that they can work hard. (These St. Nicholas sacks are very popular and you can find pre-packaged ones in the stores).
Parents ask specifically to have St Nicholas come to visit them at home and, before his arrival, the parents tell St.Nicholas some things that the kids have done wrong during the year. That way, when he comes he can chastise them and tell them what they shoulddo to be better next year. If the kids were good that year, he gives them the sack.
Sometimes, before going to sleep on December 5th, kids put their shoes in front of the fireplace, on the windowsill, or outside their bedroom door so that St. Nicholas can fill their shoes with fruits, candies, and other small treats and gifts.
St Nicholas doesn’t give gifts only to kids; he can also be seen in office buildings and in nursing homes.
This was a very fun tradition to learn about, and we are going to make Grittibänz and the St. Nicholas bag every year from now on.
Funny note:
When my 4-year-old son saw the Grittibänz for the first time, he asked me if he could kiss him. I guess he looked soft and cute to him! And then he asked me if we could make the whole family and also a baby.
Also, I often visited Switzerland growing up every year but I’d never noticed this tradition.
I found the bread man and the St. Nicholas tradition purely by mistake one day by spelling a word wrong on the internet. I’m so glad I found it!
Grittibänz recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups flour (500 g)
- 2¼ teaspoon yeast (7 g )
- ⅓ cup sugar (70 g)
- ⅓ cup softened butter (80g)
- ¾ cup luckewarm milk (180 ml)
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk To use as egg wash
- Almonds, raisins, pearl sugar for decorating (if you don't find it in stores, you can find it on Amazon)
- lemon zest from 1 full lemon
Instructions
- In a cup, mix the yeast with 1/4 cup of water and a teaspoon of sugar. Let the yeast and the water sit in the cup for abut 10 min until bubbles form.
- Put the flour in a bowl and add the salt and sugar.
- Add the warm milk, egg, yeast and the lemon zest.Knead for 1 or 2 min, then add the softened butter. Keep kneading until the butter gets all absorbed.
- Knead the dough until it becomes smooth. If the dough is too liquidy add some flour, if it's too hard add some milk.
- Cover the dough and let it rise for about 2 hrs in a warm place until the dough doubles in size.
- This is how the dough should look like when it is ready.
- When the dough is ready, cut it into 4 pieces. Three pieces will be used for the men and one will be used to add decorations (like scarves and hats).
- Take one of the four pieces of dough and make an oval shape.
- Make the head by pressing the dough together at the top of the oval.
- Cut the arms and legs.
- Move the legs and the arms up.
- With the emaining dough ceate a scarf, hat, and coat.
- Decorate the figure with chocolate chips, raisins, and almonds.Brush with egg yolk and sprinkle with pearl sugar.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes at 350° F.
- Enjoy!