The holidays are a special time when we can celebrate meetings with loved ones at a lavishly laid table and feast on delicacies without any major remorse. However, it is worth knowing that the most traditional Easter dishes have symbolic meaning and are associated with specific customs. In this article, we will talk about the most important of them.

The history of Easter blessings

Preparing a basket of food for blessing on Holy Saturday is one of the main holiday traditions and is practiced in almost every family in Poland. However, many of us probably do not realize the significance of this ritual and the symbolism of individual products in the blessing.

The custom of blessing food itself comes from early Christian rituals of offering sacrifices from the first fruits of the earth, which was also a form of thanksgiving for the harvest. Over time, this ritual was incorporated into the Easter celebration ceremony, and the foods were expanded to include other types of food that had beneficial properties and were not eaten during Lent. Initially, all the food intended for Easter breakfast was brought in large baskets for blessing. It even happened that priests came to wealthier homes to bless tables filled with holiday dishes. Only with the passage of time did the size of the blessed basket decrease to a small basket, in which only a little of the most important products for the ceremonial breakfast are now put. 

What do the individual foods in the blessed sacrament symbolize?

Despite the significant reduction in the amount of food prepared for the Easter basket, we still choose non-random products that have a symbolic dimension. The basic ones include:

• egg – is the most important symbol of Easter. It means the beginning of a new life and its victory over death. During Easter breakfast, household members share an egg, which is intended to strengthen family ties;
• bread – in Christianity it symbolizes the Body of Christ and is widely considered to be the basic food. Bread placed in the basket is supposed to guarantee prosperity and well-being;
• meat, cold cuts, butter – symbolize abundance and wealth. In ancient times they were festive and highly valued food;
• Easter baba – is also a sign of prosperity, and once also of the culinary skills of the housewife;
• salt – a symbol of purification, it is supposed to protect against corruption. In a religious context, Christians are the “salt of the earth”;
• horseradish – in folk tradition, it is a symbol of strength and physical prowess. It was supposed to ensure health and durability of dishes;
• lamb – made of cake, icing or chocolate is a sign of the Risen Christ.

Żur, mazurek and babka – traditional Easter dishes

In addition to the obligatory Easter egg, the Easter table must also include żurek, mazurek and babka. These are the most traditional dishes, and their preparation on the occasion of Easter had a deeper meaning.

Żurek used to be a dish eaten primarily during Lent. It was prepared as a lean soup without meat. Its sour taste symbolized the penance and renunciation associated with this 40-day period. On the other hand, during the celebration of Easter, żurek changed from a fasting soup into a richer, more exquisite dish served with egg and sausage, which had a symbolic dimension - the end of Lent and the arrival of joyful, abundant holiday days. 

Mazurek is, next to babka, the main sweet Easter delicacy. Its appearance on the holiday table was a reward for perseverance in refraining from eating meat and desserts during Lent. This pastry, like the Easter żurek, was a symbol of the end of Lent and the arrival of joyful celebration. That is why decorating mazurek was such an important ritual, which is still cultivated in many homes today.

The Easter babka, on the other hand, is a traditional food placed in a basket with Easter food, but in the past it was always prepared by the housewives themselves. A successful babka testified to their culinary talent. For this reason, so much care was taken to ensure the good looks and careful execution of this baked product, which symbolizes wealth and skill.

Easter delicacies at Jacek Placek Confectionery

We cordially invite you to take advantage of our Christmas offer of sweet pastries. => Easter assortment you will find traditional ribbed babkas: yeast and yoghurt and our new product – limoncello babka with the flavour of lemon, Italian liqueur. We also have beautifully decorated mazurek cakes in four delicious variants: with caramel, chocolate, with pistachio cream and with white chocolate and raspberries. Each of them delights with its taste and aesthetics of execution! In addition to these typical Easter pastries, we also recommend traditional Polish cakes for the holiday table: => homemade cheesecake, apple pie or poppy seed cake, without which it is hard to imagine a formal meeting. We prepare all these products according to the family recipes of the founders of Cukiernia Jacek Placek and using only natural ingredients.

We encourage you to shop! There is still time to place an order in our stationary and online stores.