Revania (sort of pound cake) is a dish accompanying families in the most important events such as birth, marriage, and death. Among families of the district, it is otherwise known as “lale me kore” (lovely stuff with crust). It is cooked in a pan and baked until a thin crust is formed. Powdered sugar is sprinkled all the way off the top.
Revania is a dessert used in the following cases:
On the occasion of a child’s birth. About 2 weeks after the baby’s birth, its baptism is conferred amidst a communal celebration in church, giving the child its name. The ceremony always follows with a convivial dinner party, with revania as one of the most important must-be elements of cooking.
At weddings. Revania is one of the most ever-present desserts at weddings and can be cooked either by the family hosting the wedding party or by the guests. For example, when relatives and friends are invited to a wedding and one of them wants to bring any of his/her kinsmen, then he is accorded a separate guest parlor, but in turn, has to bring all the foodstuff for himself and his accompanying kinsmen, with revania one of them. In the Muslim families of Mokra province, revania is at the groom’s wedding party the only dessert brought by the bride’s wedding guests, and is served on the table once the homeowner welcomes the invites. This ceremony has remained a custom practiced on Wednesday.
That same Wednesday, after the groom has gone through the last day of bachelor’s life habits and sits in the company of only men to have breakfast, revania of the wedding homeowner is served on the table.
In Christian families, revania is baked and eaten on Sunday evening, after the church wedding ceremony and before the groom and the bride as a couple enters the matrimonial room.
On certain occasions, it is the godmother to bring the revani, as the folk song says:
“Ndrit kandili nënë ferrë/ Pa shikoni kush na vjen?/ Vjen kumbarja me peshqesh/ Me tepsinë sa një lëmë/ Revaninë pesë pëllëmbë.”
(“The candle twinkles, behind the fence / Look, who is coming? /Its godmother carrying gifts / As large the pan as a threshing yard / Yeah, superbly thick the Revani, yeah.”)
On death occasions. Revania is also a dish accompanying death rites. It is cooked during lunch and served in honor of the deceased after the funeral solemnities.