Easter in Poland

Easter in Poland is a major holiday spent with extended family. Many of our neighbors seemed surprised that we weren’t flying home to Tucson (almost 6,000 miles and a full travel day both ways) to spend the weekend with family.

I’ve traveled for Easter, not as far as going home: Easter in Paris attending the international mass at Notre Dame. I’ve also spent Easter in Poland, watching neighbors carry their baskets of food to church on the Saturday before Easter for blessing and visiting my friend Elzbieta on the Tuesday after Easter to sample the many cakes and pastries she had prepared for her family. 

In Poznań, there was a special market set up in the Stary Rynek on Palm Sunday weekend. The spice tent was one of my favorites to visit. I love these festivals with vendors and entertainment. They are one of the highlights of life in Poland. 

From my observations, Easter in Poland is a two-day food fest. Polish friends confirm this, so let’s talk about this food. What’s in the basket that is blessed on Saturday?

Święconka Blessing of the Easter Baskets on Holy Saturday

The baskets are usually lined with white linen that may be embroidered or embellished with lace. They are decorated with flowers, ribbons, and greenery. Taking the baskets to church seemed to be something for mothers and daughters to do. My partner, Polana Polish Foods, has everything you need for traditional Polish Easter foods. The basket is filled with small samples of things that will be served for Easter breakfast after mass, the first of many family meals over the next two days. Each item has some symbolic meaning. 

• hard-boiled eggs – new life, resurrection 
• butter lamb – the goodwill of Christ
• cake of bread topped with a cross or fish – Jesus
• salt – for purificaiton
• horseradish – Passion of Christ
• ham and/or sausages – joy and abundance
• cheese – moderation
• candle – Light of the World

Saturday is a day of fasting, maybe soup will be consumed, so there is a lot of temptation in the basket!

Wielkanoc Easter

On Easter, everyone will taste everything from the basket. Many of these ingredients will become soup, white barszcz which is an Easter classic. There is a lot of discussion about the difference between żurek and white barszcz. I finally have the answer. żurek is soured rye often with smoked sausage, and white barszcz is soured wheat often with fresh sausage. I have a popular recipe for żurek which you can adapt if you have time (several days) to make the zakwas. Polana has imported a Polish instant broth for white barszcz to get you started in a more timely fashion. 

In addition to barszcz, a variety of meats, there will be many kinds of sweets. So many that I have a blog post on 11 Polish Easter desserts. The possibilities seem endless: cheesecake, makowiec, kolaczki, mazurek, babkas. Each of these offers multiple variations! Dessert is the best part of any meal. 

Smingus Dyngus Easter Monday

The Monday after Easter is an official holiday,  it’s also known as Smingus Dyngus.  On this day, boys roam the neighborhood, sprinkling girls with water.  This ancient tradition is supposed to be a symbol of purification, asperges, so to speak.  More recently, it has become boys throwing water balloons into an open tram or bus doors and running away.  We were warned to exercise caution and avoid going out on Smingus Dyngus. My real-life indoctrination to the tradition was much milder. A little girl got me with her water pistol while I was out on my bike! 

Pozdrawiam,

Lois

PS- Polana’s 2023 deadline for Easter deliver is April 2nd.