Polish Easter traditions on show
Events
An Adelaide Fringe event with Easter at its heart will put Polish traditions front and centre.
‘Polish Easter Feasting’, run through not-for-profit, community-based education provider WEA, will be held at the WEA Centre in Angas Street on March 29.
As in any Catholic country, Easter is an important event in Poland. After six weeks of Lenten fasting people make the most of the Easter Sunday feast.
The event, hosted by Lusia Guthrie and Basia Samcewicz, includes tastings from a traditional Easter buffet of smoked meats and accompaniments, Polish salads and bigos (hunter’s stew). Baked Polish delicacies including Easter cakes (babka, mazurka and sernik – cheesecake) will also be enjoyed.
“Basia and I are part of an informal Polish friendship group that meets semi-regularly to keep our Polish family recipes alive,” Lusia said.
“All the recipes have been passed down by word of mouth or by watching our mothers cook. Basia and I test the recipes several times before we bring them to the class.”
Recipe demonstrations will form part of the three-hour event.
“We have a lot of fun researching the recipes and discussing what is the “right” recipe because Poland has a diverse and regionally influenced cuisine,” Lusia said.
“Basia’s mother came from a part of Poland near Germany and my mother’s place of birth was near Belarus. Needless to say, there is no correct answer. In addition to recipe handouts, we will have a display of Polish cookbooks. There will also be a display of typical Polish ingredients and we advise on where to find them in Adelaide.”
Polish traditions will also be explained.
“We will talk about how the Easter traditions were celebrated while we were growing up in Adelaide and how we have passed these on to our children and now grandchildren,” Lusia said.
“We will talk about painting Easter eggs (pisanki) and preparing a blessing basket. Our husbands are Australians but have learned the art of flavouring vodka (a necessary skill for matrimonial harmony).
“They will demonstrate how they flavour plain vodka (nalewki) to make cucumber and mint vodka, and spiced honey vodka. These are just several of the wide range of Polish vodka flavourings you can find online.”
Lusia, who attended Loreto College, and Basia who went to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (OLSH), hope their event will help traditions burn bright.
“Easter is a sacred Christian tradition,” Lusia said.
“Approximately 90 per cent of Poles are Catholic and still celebrate Easter in time-honoured ways. The weeks of Lent are serious. Easter Sunday marks the end of Lent and is the time for renewal and celebrating family and friendship.”
For Lusia, it’s a time to acknowledge her Polish heritage and pay respect to parents who underwent the hardships of being displaced from Poland and arriving in a strange and foreign Australia in 1949.
“Their faith sustained them and provided a community to replace what they had left behind after World War II. They taught me about gratitude and resilience – and made going to church a key ritual.”
While not a regular Mass-goer, Luisa always goes at Easter and Christmas.
“There is a happy and bright side to Easter for our children and grandchildren that involves painting eggs, preparing food to share, having egg fights and hiding on Smingus-Dingus (Wet Easter Monday),” she said.
More information and tickets at wea-sa.com.au/57099
What is an Easter basket?
The basket of simple food is presented at church on Easter Saturday to be blessed by the priest. It is shared on Easter Sunday morning after mass. The basket is decorated with leaves and flowers. The small portions of different foods all have a specific meaning:
– Bread – symbol of the body and life of Christ
– Eggs, brightly decorated– a symbol of fertility, birth and resurrection
– A Pascal Lamb – which symbolises Jesus Christ and his self-sacrifice; made of sugar or sweet cake
– Salt – symbol of purification and durability
– Ham or sausage – representation of health and prosperity
– Horseradish – a symbol of strength and vigour, providing strength and energy
– Easter cake
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