We Collect The Easter Basket

The main traditional attribute of Easter is the Easter basket . Many consider the preparation and consecration of the Easter basket to be the most important holiday ritual.

In ancient times, only butter bread (paska), eggs, cheese and milk, meat were consecrated. This food was usually available to both the poor and the rich. Today, many people try to put everything they can afford and think is necessary into the Easter basket . However, it should be remembered that the consecration of food in the church is the process of the priest's blessing on the consumption of those products that were prohibited during Great Lent. Therefore, it is necessary to sanctify only what was not eaten during the last 7 weeks.

In order to know which products will be appropriate in the Easter basket , you should inquire about the text of the prayers that are read on Easter night. There is a blessing for the consecration of bread (Pascha), dairy products (cheese, butter, milk, eggs), as well as the Easter lamb (which is more traditional for Greece, and here we put ham, sausage, etc. in the basket ). For many centuries, this set of products remains unchanged.

So, the following products should be put in the Easter basket : pasta, eggs, dairy, meat.

Easter cake

Easter bread is a symbol of the heavenly kingdom and resurrection. The recipes and features of baking paska can vary depending on the country and region, but basically it is a round shape that symbolizes the sun, and the top of the paska is decorated with either symbolic patterns made of dough or smeared with beaten eggs.

As for the recipe for the bread itself, there are as many recipes as there are families, some bake sweet pascha with raisins, some make the dough more like matzoh, but most people try to make it with their own hands, and only those who do not have time at all buy pascha in the store.

Some sources report that leaven, which is a symbol of the word of God, was once the most important part of the pasa. He said, as leaven increases the dough, so the word of God, if a person accepts it in his heart and lives with it, grows spiritually. And the fact that the bread is sweet is a symbol of the joy of life with God.

Eggs

Eggs are a symbol of the beginning of life and at the same time a reminder that God sacrificed himself to give us all new life. Easter eggs and Easter eggs are traditionally prepared. In the past, krapanka and drapanka were also prepared, but you will hardly find them in the modern Easter basket . The color of eggs and drawings on Easter eggs also have their own meanings. For example, the red color of the eggs equates to the blood shed by the Savior and the joy of life, it can be achieved thanks to a decoction of onion. Previously, there had to be 13 eggs - as a reminder of Christ and his 12 apostles.

The ornament of Easter eggs differs significantly in different regions of the country. For example, in Podilly Easter eggs were often decorated with twisted lines, the so-called "infinity", in which the evil force was supposed to get entangled. And in the Hutsul region, eggs were painted with deer and horses, which, according to ancient beliefs, carried the sun.

Pysanka were not eaten, but were made as charms, and they were eaten with krashanka and drapanka during the festive meal.

Dairy

Milk is a symbol of God's love for people, homemade cheese and butter are identified with sacrifice and tenderness towards God, to whom one must strive, like a child to its mother's milk. Also, homemade cheese is one of the favorite ingredients of traditional dishes, without which no holiday and most traditional dishes (dumplings, flatbreads, pies, mandriks) are complete.

Before Easter , cheese paska is prepared: baking it or cooking it in a "cold" way (under a press - it has the shape of a hill and symbolizes Calvary, where Jesus Christ was crucified).

meaty

The symbolism of meat dishes takes its roots from the Old Testament Passover, on which it was customary to eat them, either in memory of how the Lord ordered to kill a lamb and anoint the doors with its blood, so that the Angel of God's wrath would bypass the homes of the chosen people, or as a symbol of the lamb that was slain by the father, when the prodigal son returned to him, so we also get rid of our sins and return to our Father, and he receives us always.

Among the meat dishes in our Easter basket , you can often find ham, sausages, baked meat and lard.

In addition to the 4 main components of the Easter basket , you can often find such additional components as horseradish, salt, and sometimes - mainly in western Ukraine - a baked rooster (as a symbol of the first roosters that announced the resurrection of Jesus Christ).

Horseradish

Horseradish root also refers to the Old Testament - on Passover, the Jewish people prepared dishes with bitter spices in memory of the bitterness of slavery in Egypt.

In our country, the tradition of putting horseradish in the Easter basket has taken root more in the west of the country - as a symbol of the indomitability of the human spirit. Also, there is a legend that they wanted to poison Christ with horseradish roots, which were considered deadly because of its bitterness, however, the plant, on the contrary, is useful and has antiseptic properties.