Eastern European Tradition of Blessing of the Easter Food Baskets

[bananas]

This is actually kind of fun.

http://easteuropeanfood.about.com/od/polisheaster/a/blessing-baskets-swieconka.htm

Eastern European Tradition of Blessing of the Easter Food Baskets

By Barbara Rolek, About.com Guide

In many Eastern European countries, it is a tradition to have a basket of food blessed on Holy Saturday or Easter Sunday.

In Poland, blessing of the baskets is known as swiecenie pokarmow wielkanocnych, a practice dating to the 15th century or earlier, and one which is still maintained by most families in Poland on Holy Saturday, as is the sharing of oplatki on Christmas Eve, two customs also observed by many Polish-Americans.

The food items in the swieconka (shvyehn-SOHN-kah), or Easter basket (the term also refers to the Easter Sunday breakfast at which the święcone or blessed food is eaten), have special significance. The white napkin that lines the basket represents the shroud of Christ. The baranek or lamb in butter, sugar (baranek cukrowy wielkanocny), dough, wood or even plastic stands for Jesus, the Paschal lamb. The hard-cooked eggs symbolize new life or Christ rising from his tomb. Bread represents the bread of life given by God. Meat and sausages are symbols of the resurrected Christ, horseradish represents accepting the bitter with the sweet in life, vinegar symbolizes the sour wine given to Jesus on the cross. Salt is to add zest to life and preserve us from corruption, and sweets suggest the promise of eternal life or good things to come.

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Since it was imperative that every member of the family have a bite of all the blessed foods after Mass on Easter Sunday, my mother made sure to include just enough for a taste of the Easter dinner foods, plus some daily staples. That meant not only the little bird's nest cake made with leftover batter from the lamb cake, but hard-cooked eggs studded with cloves, representing the nails of the cross, kielbasa, ham, salt and pepper, ćwikła or chrzan, a butter lamb, or butter stuffed into a shot glass studded with a clove, and a small, round bakery rye bread topped with a purple cross decal. Sometimes greens, vegetables and fruit would be included, and the basket was covered with a fancy linen napkin or embroidered doily.

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