Easter is the oldest and most important holiday in the Christian liturgical calendar, commemorating the resurrection of Christ.
Easter is a movable feast. Its date, established at the Council of Nicaea in 325, was set for the first Sunday after the first Spring full moon, which occurs after March 21—so between March 22 and April 25. The date of Easter is linked to the dates of many movable Christian and Catholic holidays, including Ash Wednesday, Lent, Ascension, Pentecost, Corpus Christi, and others.
This holiday, which comes from Jewish tradition, developed from a holiday celebrated within the Jewish rituals of Pesach, or Passover. Incorporated in place of the old pagan spring rituals, it retained much of their joyful character, but dressed it in new Christian symbolism.
Lent and Holy Week
The period of Lent precedes Easter — forty days of reflection, renunciation and spiritual transformation. The last seven days of this period are the Holy Week, when there are feverish preparations in the homes, and in churches, it is a time of commemoration of the most important events for the Christian faith.
Baranek wielkanocny (Źródło: amazon.uk)
The tradition of the "funeral of żurek and herring" — described by Jędrzej Kitowicz in "Opis obyczajów za panowania Augusta III" (Customs during the reign of Augustus III) — was a symbolic farewell to a long and arduous fast. Żur [traditional Polish soup - ed.] and herring are fasting dishes that could become boring after forty days. Wooden or cardboard herrings were hung on a tree. Sometimes, a joker hanging a pot of żurek on a tree would pour its contents on an unsuspecting helper, and in this way, to general hilarity, goodbye was being said to Lent.
Easter Eggs
The egg, a symbol of life for centuries, has become a symbol of resurrection in Christian tradition. In Poland, its decoration dates back to at least the 13th century, as mentioned by Wincenty Kadłubek. Colorful Easter eggs and painted eggs fill the baskets of Easter eggs that are brought to churches on Holy Saturday.
Decorated eggs are called pisanki in Polish, a word that comes from the verb to write (pisać), and they are inextricably linked to Easter traditions. The traditional method of making these holiday decorations involves using a special “pen” to apply liquid wax, giving the impression that something is being written on the eggshell.
Easter eggs can be very different, from very simple and uniformly colored, to real, multi-colored works of art that find a place in museums and private collections. Easter eggs are made from chicken eggs, but also duck and goose eggs. Eggs can be blown out (carefully emptied of the contents, leaving the shell intact except for two small holes) or hard-boiled. There are also other artificial Easter eggs that can be made, for example, from decorated wood.
Easter eggs (Source: Author)
The origins of Easter eggs date back to very ancient times. Even in the pre-Christian era, people dyed eggs at the beginning of spring to celebrate the awakening of nature after a long winter sleep.
The creation of Easter eggs was once the exclusive domain of women. To avoid misfortune, men were not even allowed to enter the room where the eggs were prepared. However, when a girl found a particular gentleman worthy of her attention, she would let him know by presenting him with a beautifully painted egg on Easter Monday.
The colourful Polish tradition of making pisanki, or Easter eggs, is around a thousand years old. The oldest known pisanki in Poland is said to date back to the 10th century and was found in Opole during archaeological excavations. It was made from a goose egg, decorated with wax patterns and naturally dyed. This shows that the custom of decorating eggs predates Christianity in Poland.
Other Symbols
The Easter table must also include a sugar lamb with a pennant, symbolizing the victory of life over death. Next to it are horseradish, white sausage, ham, eggs, cakes and other delicacies that have been previously blessed.
In some regions of Poland, it was popular to carve an Easter lamb from butter. This required considerable culinary and artistic skill. Often, the lamb's eyes were made from peppercorns or cloves, and the pennant was made from a toothpick and a piece of paper.
Holy Saturday
The Polish tradition of blessing baskets on Holy Saturday, known as the blessing of food, is one of the most recognizable and cultivated Easter customs.
It involves bringing specially prepared baskets of food to church, which the priest blesses with holy water. The set of dishes blessed by the priest on Holy Saturday includes mainly cold dishes: various types of meat, sausages, hard-boiled eggs (peeled, or Easter eggs in shells) and baked goods: bread and cakes.
Easter basket (Source: Pixabay)
The basket should be aesthetically decorated – most often with a white napkin and boxwood branches – and its contents are not random. Each ingredient has its own meaning:
- Egg – a symbol of life and resurrection.
- Bread – a symbol of the Body of Christ and daily food.
- Sausages and cold cuts – a sign of abundance and the end of fasting.
- Horseradish – a symbol of the strength and suffering of Christ.
- Salt – a sign of purification and permanence.
- Lamb – (often made of sugar or butter) a symbol of Jesus – the Lamb of God.
- Cake – usually babka or mazurek, as an expression of joy and festive character.
Usually the youngest member of the family, although already grown enough to be able to hold the basket with blessed goods, has the honor of carrying it to church. Hence, it is not uncommon to see scenes when the contents of the baskets partially spill out along the way…
The blessing of food is not only a religious ritual, but also an important element of the cultural identity of Poles. For many families, it is an opportunity to go to church together, a moment of reflection and preparation for the holidays. This custom is passed down from generation to generation and practiced both in Poland and among the Polish diaspora around the world.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, Polish emigrants brought the tradition of blessing food to countries where Christian customs were completely different. In the United States, Canada, and Brazil, blessing baskets at Polish parishes is still a lively and spectacular custom.
Easter Table
The description of blessed tables, from the Baroque splendor of Mikołaj Pszonka, through the manor traditions of Zdzisław Morawski, to the moving memories of Maria Dąbrowska and Maria Iwaszkiewicz, allows us to see the extraordinary regional and class diversity in the celebration of Easter. From giant cakes, through roasted piglets, to mazurek and babka — each blessed table was both a work of culinary art and a symbol of prosperity.
Kolacz with cheese (Source: Pixabay)
In addition to meats and sausages, the holiday table could not be complete without a specialty watered with wine sung about by the poet Adam Mickiewicz:
…it is difficult to express in words
the taste, colour and wonderful smell of Bigos…
Chopped sauerkraut is taken,
which, according to the proverb, goes into the mouth by itself…
Selected pieces of the best meat
are roasted until the fire squeezes all the lively juices out of it,
until the stew bursts from the edges of the vessel
and the air around it exudes its aroma…«Pan Tadeusz» (Mr. Thaddeus)
Among the cakes, Easter babkas reigned supreme. Zygmunt Gloger distinguished many varieties: from petynet, through almond, to tricolor. Each family had its favorite recipe, and sometimes special forms, reaching two feet (60 cm) in height.
The Christmas cake couldn’t be missing from the table:
This cake was about eight cubits in circumference, if not more, two spans thick, and as soon as we entered the room, it already smelled of its spices. On the edges around it stood various figurines: holy apostles, as lifelike as real, and all of this made of dough.
Mikołaj Pszonka, courtier of Hetman Tarnowski, "Blessed food at a Kraków burgher's", from a letter to his wife, 16th century [in:] Łukasz Gołębiowski, "The Polish people, their customs, superstitions", 1830
Horseradish – the Spicy Spirit of Easter
It is hard to imagine Polish Easter without horseradish. This inconspicuous, white root is not only a mandatory element of the Easter basket, but also a distinct symbol of strength, purification and vitality. For centuries, it has held a special place both on the Easter table and in folk symbolism.
In the Easter basket, horseradish – alongside eggs, bread and sausage – has a special meaning. According to tradition, its sharp taste is meant to remind us of the bitterness of the Passion of Christ, but also to ward off evil and illness. Some people put not only the root in the basket, but also a bit of grated horseradish, believing that “only this really works”.
On the holiday table, horseradish is usually served in two versions: grated — as an addition to cold cuts, sausages and roasts — and in the form of horseradish soup, popular especially in Małopolska and Podkarpacie. This soup, called krzonówka, is prepared on the basis of meat broth or whey, with the addition of eggs, sausage and, of course, a large amount of freshly grated horseradish.
Poppy — a Symbol of Abundance
In Polish culinary tradition, poppy seeds hold a special place – they are one of the oldest and most symbolic ingredients used during both Christmas and Easter. In folk culture, poppy seeds had magical power: they symbolized fertility, abundance, sleep, and eternal life. In the past, it was believed that poppy seeds could protect against evil spirits and spells, and their numerous seeds were supposed to ensure abundance.
Although poppy seeds are most often associated with Christmas Eve kutia or a poppy seed cake, they also made their way onto holiday tables at Easter, primarily in the form of exquisite cakes. In many regions, especially in the Borderlands, poppy seed mazurek was a must-have on the holiday menu. The thin base of shortcrust pastry was covered with a thick layer of poppy seed mass with dried fruit, decorated with icing and colorful additions. The poppy seed mazurek, alongside the caramel and dried fruit mazurek, was considered one of the noblest versions of this cake.
Traditional poppy seed cake – a strudel with a rolled poppy seed filling – was also often baked for Easter, especially in homes where old Polish recipes were cultivated. Preparing this pastry took time and precision: the poppy seeds had to be first scalded, ground several times in a poppy seed mill or grinder, and then combined with honey, sugar, butter, dried fruit and orange peel. The resulting mass had to be thick, aromatic and sweet, and rolling it into a delicate yeast dough was a difficult and almost ritualistic task.
Poppyseed cake (Source: Instagram)
In the eastern areas, especially in Podlasie and Lesser Poland, so-called jajeczniki (eggcakes) or makowniki (poppyseeders) also appeared, i.e. cakes with a layer of poppy seeds, often interspersed with layers of sponge cake or shortbread pastry. In some homes, "poppy pâté" was also made — a type of cake baked in a cake tin, full of poppy seeds, nuts and candied fruit.
Today, poppy seed cake is no longer as common on Easter tables as it once was, but it still remains a symbol of holiday baking. For many families, it is not only a taste of childhood, but also part of a culinary heritage passed down from generation to generation. Family recipes are still repeated, often written down by hand in old notebooks.
Easter Sunday
In Polish tradition, Easter Sunday begins with a solemn mass of the resurrection, after which the entire family gathers at the festive table. However, before the feast begins, the household members exchange wishes and share a previously blessed egg — a symbol of life, love and reconciliation. The tables are filled with cold cuts, colorful Easter eggs, fragrant babkas and sweet mazurkas, and the whole is complemented by bouquets of catkins and the first spring flowers: tulips, daffodils and jonquils.
Easter table (Source: Pinterest/Jadzia Bogdanowicz)
In many homes, especially in Silesia, the joyful custom of searching for gifts from the Easter Bunny is also cultivated. In the morning, before breakfast, children set off in search of hidden baskets around the house or garden filled with sweets, small gifts and chocolate eggs — rewards from the bunny, who quietly visited the house during the silence of the night.
Wet Monday and Emmaus
The second day of Easter is associated with Śmigus-Dyngus, also known as Wet Monday. Although today it is primarily a symbolic game with water, the roots of this custom are ancient and reach both Slavic and Asian rituals. Dousing with water had a cleansing meaning, symbolizing the beginning of a new life.
Jędrzej Kitowicz described that
when the company became unruly, the lords and courtiers, ladies and maidens, not waiting for their day, poured water on each other with all the vessels they could get their hands on; the haiduks and lackeys brought water in buckets, and the distinguished company, drawing from them, chased each other and drenched each other from head to toe, so that everyone was soaked as if they had emerged from a deluge.
In 19th-century manors and town houses, young men of good standing used bottles of scented rose water instead of buckets of water on Wet Monday. It was a way to combine courtship with elegance. Less romantic were pots of water unexpectedly poured on passers-by in villages and city streets. This still happens today.
As early as the 15th century, bishops tried to limit Wet Monday. The Poznań Synod of 1420 banned "dyngowanie" — that is, forcing eggs and other donations from neighbours under threat of being doused with water. Despite this, the custom survived.
Dyngus Day in Wilamowice in southern Poland, where men wander around the city in colorful, handmade costumes looking for a woman to pour over (Source: Wikipedia)
In Krakow, on the other hand, the Emmaus indulgence takes place on this day, commemorating the journey of the resurrected Christ.
According to the Gospel of Luke, the appearance of Jesus on the road to Emmaus is one of his first apparitions after the resurrection and the discovery of the empty tomb. Both, the meeting on the road to Emmaus, and the later supper in Emmaus, depicting the meal that Jesus ate with two disciples after the meeting on the road, were popular subjects in art. An Easter tradition associated with this was the whizzing of girls with willow branches and shouting: "Why aren't you in a hurry to Emmaus?"
Moderation versus Gluttony
Although Easter is a time of joy, old writers did not spare bitter remarks to their close compatriots. Mikołaj Rej, and after him, Melchior Wańkowicz, reminded us of the need for moderation, pointing out the tendency to exaggeration, gluttony and intemperance.
After a general feast, the company would go with a heavy step to the dining room for cups of broth. Then, long into the night, Uncle Sewerutek would roll over in stomach pains, complaining that the broth had certainly done him no good.
Melchior Wańkowicz, "Puppy Years", 1934
Regional Flavors
Polish Easter cuisine is a true mosaic of flavors. In addition to well-known dishes such as white sausage or żurek, it is worth mentioning lesser-known ones:
- Kashubian zylc — aspic (jello) made from meat and pork rinds.
- Krzonówka — horseradish soup with whey from Małopolska.
- Dzionie — pâté from Raków with the addition of matzo dough.
- Murzin — bread from Cieszyn Silesia filled with cold meats.
- Chlebiczek — a sweet version of murzin with apples and rum.
- Kujawiok — a baba from Kujawy resembling challah.
Some Trivia
- The custom of sharing an egg when giving wishes has its equivalent in Orthodox traditions, where the blessing of food (Passover) has an almost liturgical dimension.
- One of the most characteristic elements of the old blessed table was… a pig's head with an egg in its mouth. Although today such a sight would be surprising, it used to be a table decoration – often only purely decorative and not for consumption.
- In the past, on Holy Saturday, it was forbidden to eat blessed food, which was strictly observed. Today, many families cannot resist the temptation to "try" it on Saturday.
- During the (communist) Polish People's Republic, radio announcements about the arrival of citrus fruits in the Gdynia port heralded that the holidays would be prosperous.
Easter Today
Although many old traditions have been forgotten or simplified, Easter remains a time of spiritual reflection, family gatherings, and joyful celebration. For some, it is primarily a religious event, for others — a cultural ritual of community, but for all — a time of hope, rebirth, and an encounter with the deepest values.
The Editorial Board of Kuryer Polski wishes all our Readers a Happy Easter!
