Celebrating Christ through Tradition and Food ~Blog Post #2~ April 12, 2015 by: Simone Guio

Since we just celebrated Easter, I was interested in learning about how Poland celebrates Easter and what traditional foods they eat for this celebration. Easter is actually a huge celebration in Poland lasting from Palm Sunday to Wet Monday. Palm Sunday is celebrated but instead of using palms, they use willow branches or handmaid bouquets of dried flowers. On Easter Saturday, families put their food in baskets for them to be blessed and will be ready to eat on Easter Sunday. Some of these foods include cold meat, babka (a type of cake eaten during the Lenten season), kielbasa (white sausage), chalka, hard–cooked eggs studded with cloves representing the nails of the cross, and others including a cake in the shape of a lamb to represent Christ. The size and contents of a woman’s basket is a matter of pride and standing in a community, which is very different then America. It doesn’t matter what size or the contents of the basket is, but in Poland it does matter and people take it very seriously. Poland is also very enthusiastic about the decoration of eggs for Easter. There are different names for the various types of decorating eggs. The most traditional way to dye eggs is called kraszanki. Kraszanki was a method of using dyes from plants to get colors from nature. Artists would sometimes use herbs, bark, flowers, and vegetables in order to get a wider range of hues. Another popular way of dyeing eggs is called pisanki. Pisanki uses wax to make different designs on eggs. Putting the design with wax will allow the color, when egg is dipped, to stay white on the area and will produce the design. There are many others ways to design an egg but these two ways are the most popular ways to decorate eggs. I have learned so much about the culture and how much holidays are important to people in Poland. I can’t wait to learn more about the country and it’s culture. 

SOURCES:

Kubilius, Kerry. "Easter in Poland - Polish Easter Traditions." About: Travel. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2015.

Rolek, Barbara. "Polish Easter Celebrations and Traditions." About: Food. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2015.