Udmurt Federal Research Center of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Izhevsk, Russian Federation, denkornilove@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
Introduction: the article is devoted to the description of the ritual dish chekchegey (baking in the form of small balls of dough), recorded in the tradition of the Zavyat Udmurts, the varieties of the name of which have Turkic borrowings. The main focus is on identifying the local features of preparation and ritual nature of the dish, timed to coincide with the calendar spring rite of Akashka (in the local tradition coincides with Easter). This is confirmed by local traditions and memories of informants. Nowadays, in many villages, this dish is losing its sacredness.
Objective: to identify the ritual character of the dish chekchegey and its local recipe features.
Research materials: materials of field research conducted by the author in places of compact residence of Udmurts in the Republic of Tatarstan, linguistic dictionaries, publications on the ethnography of nutrition.
Results and novelty of the research: information about the dish chekchegey of the Zavyat Udmurts is being introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. Before that, there were only rare mentions of it in the context of information about other ritual dishes. As the analysis showed, this term is not recorded in early written sources. The article presents unique local traditions about the connection of the dish chekchegey with the rite Akashka. In addition, the author provides his childhood memories related to this treat on Easter, as well as information from informants about the specifics of baking and its microlocal differences. The description of the dish is given in comparison with similar dishes of neighboring peoples (Tatars, Kryashens).
Key words: Zavyat Udmurts, Udmurts of Tatarstan, traditional culture, calendar rites, Easter (Akashka), ritual dish chekchegey, legends
For citation: Kornilov D. L. Chekchegey: a ritual dish of Zavyat Udmurt people // Vestnik ugrovedenia = Bulletin of Ugric Studies. 2025; 15 (2/61): 366–376.