If you’re lucky enough to be in Poland for Easter, we suggest joining in some of the traditions, whether you are Catholic or not. Two very unique traditions are the dying of Easter eggs and the blessing of Easter baskets. Go to a local farmer’s market to find all the supplies you will need to put together a proper basket or dye your own eggs. Tight on time? Just go to a local supermarket and get what you can. Or better yet! Go to the Easter Market on the Main Square!
What Goes Inside a Polish Easter Basket?
@emilysguidetokrakow To make a perfect Polish Easter basket you’ll need a combination of things. There are two types of branches you need in your basket- one is an Easter evergreen called boxwood or “bukszpan”. The simple green leaves offer a great background for your items to be placed on. The other branch looks like it has tiny little cotton balls attached to it and is a pussy willow or “bazie wierzbow” And the most fun plant of all is a little container of watercress or “rzezucha” that you can add a little chick to. If you have the time you can grow your own, or head to a grocery store or market, and get a little bit of it already grown. Find a little chick- they’re getting really creative these days with them- and give it its new home of watercress. You’ll need a white cloth– whose purpose is also functional. If you’re following tradition, you’ll be walking to your local church on foot- and just in case it rains, need a cover for your basket. So it’s best to get a cloth just a bit larger than your basket’s opening. A lamb is an important symbol, but it’s up to personal preference whether your lamb comes in sugar, butter, or bread form- you could always do all three but make sure your basket is big enough. Now to the rest of the food…. Babka are like teeny little pound cakes. Chzran is horseradish- but it’s the fresh kind so it looks like an ugly parsnip. Kielbasa or sausage of any kind is needed- but it needs to be the kind that you slice and eat cold- not the kind you cook. Szynka or ham can be a small block that you would slice pieces from. Sol or salt in a small container. And lastly eggs!
To make a perfect Polish Easter basket you’ll need a combination of a few things. Let’s start with the non-edible decorative items and then move onto the food!
There are two types of branches you need in your basket- one is an Easter evergreen called boxwood or “bukszpan”. The simple green leaves offer a great background for your items to be placed on.
The other branch looks like it has tiny little cotton balls attached to it and is a pussy willow or “bazie wierzbow”
A more colorful plant-based item is a traditional Polish Easter Palm (these should have been blessed on Palm Sunday). The size of a pencil or as tall as a room, when choosing your palm, think about the size of your basket. A little bit larger than the tiniest size would fit perfect in most baskets- but if you’re short on space the tiniest option is obviously best.
And the most fun plant of all is a little container of watercress or “rzezucha” that you can add a little chick to. If you have the time you can grow your own, or head to a grocery store or market, and get a little bit of it already grown. Find a little chick- they’re getting really creative these days with them- and give it its new home of watercress.
You’ll need a white cloth– whose purpose is also functional. If you’re following tradition, you’ll be walking to your local church on foot- and just in case it rains, need a cover for your basket. So it’s best to get a cloth just a bit larger than your basket’s opening.
A lamb is an important symbol, but it’s up to personal preference whether your lamb comes in sugar, butter, or bread form- you could always do all three but make sure your basket is big enough. It’s a like a puzzle- you need bread and butter in your basket- but you also need a lamb, the sugar lambs are the cutest, but then you’d still need the bread and butter! See- this gets complicated. We’re doing all three this year so we’ll have a little lamb family!
Now to the rest of the food….
Babka are like teeny little pound cakes.
Chzran is horseradish- but it’s the fresh kind so it looks like an ugly parsnip.
Kielbasa or sausage of any kind is needed- but it needs to be the kind that you slice and eat cold- not the kind you cook.
Szynka or ham can be a small block that you would slice pieces from.
Sol or salt in a small container is important.
And lastly eggs, which we will talk more about the preparation of later.
The tradition of the Polish Easter basket is rich with symbolism, each item having a specific purpose in the basket, and no candy in sight (unless there is a small child in the family, then there can be a candy bar or chocolate bunny). The eggs represent Jesus’ life and subsequent resurrection. The bread of course represents his physical being. The lamb, guess what, also represents him? Salt is there for it’s purification purposes. The spiciness of horseradish is meant to resemble sacrifice. And ham of course is about happiness and fruitfulness! (Anyone else not know ham was so symbolic?)
What do I do with my Polish Easter Basket?
Once your basket is complete, you’ll take it to a local church on the Saturday before Easter (blessings are held about every half-hour throughout the city), and holy water is sprinkled on it by a priest. A sight to see even if you don’t have you own basket to be blessed. Some churches have you place your basket on the alter and then the priest, using a broom-like device sprinkles holy water at them. Others have you gather outside, put your basket at your feet and wait for the priest to walk around with his brush sprinkling previously mentioned holy water. You then take your blessed basket to Easter breakfast on Sunday, and divide the blessed food for everyone there. An interesting tradition, as you watch a 2-inch piece of sausage cut into 12 pieces for everyone at breakfast to have a bite.
Polish Easter Eggs: DIY at Home!
This year on Good Friday we hard-boiled our eggs in water with onion-skins. This gives the egg a deep brown color, and allowed us to etch with razor-blades designs into them. I was told to etch my future dreams so that the priest could bless them, because these eggs eventually go into your Easter basket.
We also got a little crafty this year by dying the eggs with imprints of flowers onto them. To do this place petals, leaves, or whole flowers against the egg, wrap the egg in pantyhose, and then boil it with the onion skins.
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