An old custom is reviving in the village of Soroni on Rhodes on Saturday 29 November 2008, on the eve of the feast of Saint Andrew, at 18.00 p.m, under the auspices of the Soroni-based Cultural and Folklore Club “Ampernalli”.

A short look at the custom of making honey puffs

Making honey puffs (“loukoumades”) or pancakes is a custom that warms our senses in the cold winder days. It revives every year all over Greece on the occasion of the feast of Saint Andrew. In the past it delighted the hungry children and was considered absolutely necessary, as the saint was believed to punish all those who breached this customary obligation. He made a hole in the frying pans of housewives, if they did not use them to make honey puffs on the occasion of his feast. This is why people called him “Trypotiganas” [Pan Hole-Maker], as if they were afraid of his punishments.

Saint Andrew is considered to be the first to be elected on the Patriarchal Throne in Constantinople. In Constantinople (Istanbul), this historical event is celebrated with the distribution of well-fried honey puffs to the congregation after the end of the Mass in the Ecumenical Patriarchate. It is worth noting that the villagers all around Europe make crepes (double pancakes) during this period so as to prevent their crops against worms and to expel evil spirits.
It is possible that the Greek custom of making honey puffs hide a sort of magical-religious-propitiatory motive. In other words, it may stem from the will to placate Saint Andrew, the saint whose feast coincides with the end of autumn, so that he protects seeding.

(Extract from the publication The customs of autumn by the folklorist Demetris Loukatos, a supplement to the newspaper “Paron”, October 2007).