HOW TO PUT TOGETHER A
TRADITIONAL EASTER BASKET
by Fr. Hal Stockert
This coming Sunday morning, at 6 o'clock A.M. I will begin the best-attended service of the entire year. *Everyone* will be there...children, grandparents, parents, visitors from out of town. That and the Midnight Mass (yes, Virginia, it *is* at Midnight!) are the best attended liturgies I have during the year. Which leads me to question seriously the policy of establishing the times and circumstances of liturgies by referring to factors of "ease and convenience." I know that most folks *claim* that they don't attend services because there's something "inconvenient" about it - either the time, or the day, or something. But it has been my experience that when a *real* sacrifice is demanded to attend (as opposed to those imaginary "sacrifices" we are all so enamored of), then is when folks DO, in *fact*, come out. The same is true, I think, of all areas of Christian spirituality. I.E., that we do not do our people any favors by accustoming them to the idea that Christianity is or ought to be a matter of ease and comfort, pleasure and joy - though through the mercy and goodness of God there is surely plenty of each. No, I think accustoming them to the idea that the harder a thing is to do the more likely it is to be *the* thing to do is the best service we can render them.
At any rate, following the Sunrise Service, "Voskresenije Utrenije," "Resurrection Matins," celebrated as the ancient monks of the fourth century and later celebrated them, and at the same time, I will begin to bless Easter baskets. If the weather is good, the blessing will be done outside on the lawn, with all the parish gathered around, and a huge array of brightly-decorated and overflowing baskets awaiting the censer, holy water, and blessings, which are chanted in the ancient tones, and accompanied by the congregation led by a cantor.
There are those here in this conference who plan to be there. It has been brought to my attention that perhaps they might wish to prepare a basket for the service, but don't know how. Here is how it is customarily done. There are traditional foods among every Slavic group; Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Ruthenian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Hungarian, Serb, Croat, Slovenian, Montenegrin, Macedonian. (Yes, Macedonians *are* Slavs - and so was old Philip-One-Eye and his prodigy of a son, Alexander. Macedonians remain Slavs, though most of the Western world considers them "Greek," in its ethnic rather than it's national sense. It is an error).
PASCHA/KULICH: Be careful here and refer to my previous postings on KULICH. Some areas, like Russian "Old Catholics" like my father's family, which has *always* remained in communion with Rome throughout the centuries, despite the various breaks with Rome among Orthodox Russia (and paid the price of that loyalty, I might add), "Pascha" and "Kulich" *normally* refer to the same thing. But there *ARE* groups where "Pascha" and "Kulich" are quite different things. In fact, among those groups, the "Pascha" becomes the bread and the "Kulich" becomes what will appear below as "Sirets" or "Hrutka." Here it will be used to refer to bread: A sweet, yeast bread rich in eggs, butter and other condiments. It is symbolic of Christ Himself, who is our True Bread. Usually it is baked as a round loaf baked with a golden crust decorated with some symbol indicative of Christ, such as a braided cross, a lamb or something like that. Sometimes a cross of dough is placed on tope, and the entire loaf rimmed with a braided plait of dough giving it a crowned effect. Sometimes the abbreviations (in Greek or in Cyrillic - XB does NOT equal "ex bee" but "cha vuh," the initials for "Christos Voskres!" - "Christ is Risen!" much as IHS does NOT stand for "I Have Suffered" or some other "latin" expression, but is the GREEK abbreviation for the name of "Jesus," "IHSOUS" [with the S being represented by Greek Sigma]."
CHEESE: (Slavic "Hrutka" or "Sirets") A custard-type cheese shaped into a ball which has a rather bland but sweet taste, and is intended to be indicative of the moderation that Christians should have in all things. Also, creamed cheese is sometimes placed in a small dish and decorated with initials or patterns by placing peppercorns or cloves in appropriate patterns.
HAM: (Slavic "Shoon'-ka") The flesh meat popular among Slavs as the main dish for several reasons: a) the richness of its meat which is symbolic of the great joy and abundance of Easter and b) of the richness of the joy in Christ we ought to have, and c) our freedom from the Old Law, now that all things have been "made clean in Christ" (as indicated to Peter in the dream on the rooftop at Joppa). Being freed from the Old Law and from the death which is the wage of sin, all things are now permissible to eat - and ham, the most forbidden of all the "unclean" foods is now symbolic of our TOTAL redemption. Many will include meats like roasted veal, roast beef and other foods prepared well ahead of time - foods which can be enjoyed without a lot of last-minute preparation. Those who have been preparing all week are already exhausted, and looking forward to sitting down and doing nothing for a few hours.
BUTTER: (Slavic "Mas'-lo") Usually the butter is shaped into a figure of a Lamb or of a three-barred cross and decorated in much the same fashion as the cheese. Butter is to remind us of the goodness of Christ that we ought to be demonstrating to all men by our lives in Him.
SAUSAGE: (Slavic "Kohl-ba'-ssi") A spicy, garlicky sausage of pork, veal, beef and other products. Indicative of God's favor and generosity.
BACON: (Slavic "Sla-ni'-na") A piece of uncooked bacon cured with spices. Symbolic of the lavishness, the overabundance of God's mercy toward us.
SALT: (Slavic "Sol'") A condiment necessary for flavor reminding Christians of our duties toward others to "flavor" the world.
EGGS: (Slavic "py-san'-ky") Highly decorated eggs withs ymbols and markings made with beeswax. Extremely complicated and intricate designs, some of which have taken me a full week to make in the completion of a single egg. The word "pysanky" derives from the verb "pysat'" - "to write." Hence, "an egg which has been written/drawn upon." Indicative of new life and of resurrection. There are some *fascinating* pious legends concerning the origin of these pysanky. If there is interest, I will recount some of them in THE OPEN RECTORY or THE FORUM.
HORSERADISH: (Slavic "Hrin") Horseradish mixed with grated red beets. Symbolic of the Passion ofChrist which is still in our minds, but which is sweetened with some sugar because of the Resurrection. A bitter-sweet red- colored mixture which reminds us of the Blood and suffering of Christ, at which great price was purchased the astonishing gift of our Redemption.
WINE: In some places it is also customary to include a bottle of wine. Poorer areas of Eastern Europe tended to ignore this element of the basket (i.e., Southern Poland, Northern Czechoslovakia, Northeastern Hungary), but American descendants are beginning to include them once again.
The articles are placed in a WICKER basket, and a ribbon or bow is tied to the handle. A DECORATED CANDLE (usually available from the parish at little or no charge) is placed in the basket and it at the time of blessing. A LINEN COVER, normally quite intricately embroidered with various Resurection themes and symbols of Christ, or simply an intricate multi-colored border and the words "CHRISTOS VOSKRES" OR "CHRIST IS RISEN" (depending which language is more appealing to you), is placed over the food when it is brought to the church.
Following the Resurrection Matins and the Divine Liturgy of the Resurrection, the baskets will be taken outside onto the lawn, where they will be placed into a large circle, in the middle of which will stand the priest, the altar boys with the processional cross, censer and incense, and the holy water, along with the cantor of the parish. It will usually be about 7:30 or 8:00 a.m. by this time. As soon as everyone has their basket prepared, their candles lit and quieted down, the priest will begin the opening chant: "Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit," the cantor will reply, and the foods are blessed, in three different groups with three different blessings. First will be blessed the bread products, then the dairy products, then the meat products.
It is customary to break one's Easter Fast with foods blessed at this time and only *then* proceeding to the foods now ready on groaning tables, foods which have been in process of preparation for the past three days.
For those of you who can NOT be there, may I extend my sincerest wishes for a joyous and a blessed Easter, an Easter which brings nothing but an abundance of all good things from the hand of a merciful and a generous God to you and to all your loved ones.
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It's Easter time again. Next week I'd planned to put up a full menu for a dinner of Russian Zakusky (literally 'tidbits'). But before I do that, just in case a couple of you want to do something seasonal and exotic, I'm going to publish the recipes for two of the most famous Russian Easter foods - Kulich and Pascha. "Kulich" is a kind of bread, and "Pascha" is a kind of butter-cheese dish. Unless you're from the area of Russia where my father was born, in which case they're just reversed. Ironic, I know, but there's no predicting a Russian.
*KULICH* (Easter Sweet Bread with Raisins and Almonds)
INGREDIENTS :
1/4 oz. package of active dry yeast
1/2 cup plus 1 tsp. granulated sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp. dark rum
small pinch crumbled Spanish Saffron threads
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large whole eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 tsp. salt
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/3 cup sliced almonds, lightly toasted
GLAZE
1 cup confectioner's sugar
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1/8 tsp. almond extract
Proof the yeast in a large bowl with 1 tsp. of the granulated sugar in 1/4 cup lukewarm water for 10 minutes, or until it's foamy. While the yeast is proofing, in a small saucepan scald the milk over moderate heat, stir in the rum and the saffron, and let the mixture cool to lukewarm. Add the milk mixture to the yeast mixture with the remaining half cup of granulated and one cup of the flour. Blend the sponge well and let it rise in a warm place, covered with plastic wrap, for at least an hour. Stir in the butter, the whole eggs, the yolks, the salt, the raisins, the almonds and the 2 cups of the remaining flour, or enough flour to form a dough. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it, kneading in enough of the rest of the flour to keep it from sticking, for eight to ten minutes, or until it's smooth and elastic and has developed a sheen.
Put the dough into a buttered bowl, turn it to coat it all over with the butter, and let it rise, covered with plastic wrap, in a warm place for an hour and a half or until it's doubled in bulk.
While the dough is rising, butter the inside of a 2-pound coffee can and line the sides with a sheet of wax paper. Cut a circle of wax paper and place it in the bottom of the can. Cut the wax paper which extends beyond the can into strips and fold the strips over the outside of the can. Punch down the dough and knead it 3 or 4 times, and put it in the can. Let the dough rise, covered with a kitchen towel instead of the plastic wrap, in a warm place, for 45 minutes to an hour. Or until it has risen to the top of the can. Bake the KULICH in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for 15 minutes, reduce the heat to 350 degrees and continue to bake for another 30 to 35 minutes, or until it sounds hollow with a thunk when tapped. Turn the KULICH out *carefully* onto a rack, and let it cool - UPRIGHT, not on its side. The KULICH may be prepared a day in advance and kept tightly wrapped and chilled. Good Friday or Holy Saturday are the traditional days to make it, and it isn't eaten until immediately after the Sunrise Resurrection service when it, along with the PASCHA and other foods are the first eaten from the newly-blessed foods in the baskets folks bring to church specifically to *be* blessed.
MAKE THE GLAZE: Whisk together the confectioner's sugar (sifted) the lemon juice, the almond extract and 2 teaspoons of water (or enough to make a pourable glaze) in a bowl. Set the KULICH on a plate and drizzle the glaze over it, letting the glaze drip down the sides. Let the KULICH stand until the glaze has hardened and then transfer it to a serving plate.
Serve this with freshly-brewed coffee. It's best NOT to butter it...it's quite sweet enough as it is. Enjoy. And say "Thank you, Mom." She's the one who taught me how to make this - as well as how to cook the other stuff you've gotten here.
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*PASCHA* (Russian Easter Cheese Mold)
INGREDIENTS:
2 large whole eggs
1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream
1-1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
2 lbs. packaged farmer cheese, (or small curd cottage cheese, ricotta, or similar cheese), drained between several layers of
paper towels for half an hour (or left to hang in a well-washed muslin pillowcase overnight and drain into the sink), and forced
through a sieve
2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. freshly-grated orange zest
1/3 cup finely-chopped almonds
1/4 cup dried currants plus some additional for decoration finely-diced glaceed cherries for decoration angelica for decoration
KULICH for an accompaniment (see previous posting)
Beat the whole eggs and the yolk together with the sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer until the mixture is thick and pale yellow. Add the cream, scalded, in a thin stream, beating constantly as you add it, and transfer the custard to a heavy saucepan. Cook the custard over moderately low heat, stirring constantly, until it's thickened (175 degrees or so on a candy thermometer), BUT DO NOT LET IT BOIL! Strain the custard through a fine sieve into a metal bowl set in a larger bowl of ice and cold water, and let it cool down stirring occasionally.
While the custard is cooling, in another bowl with the electric mixer cream the butter, add the cheese gradually, beating all the while, and beat the mixture at moderate speeds for five minutes. Beat in the custard, the vanilla, the orange zest, the almonds and 1/4 cup of the currants. Line a 7- to 8-cup new clay flowerpot with a double layer of rinsed and squeezed cheesecloth, and add the cheese mixture, packing it tightly and smoothing the top level. Fold the ends of the cheesecloth over the top. Put the flowerpot into a small bowl, and weight the top of the cheese mixture with a four-pound weight that just fits inside the pot (you can get a small plate and put another coffee-can filled with water on top of the plate to make the weight). Chill the PASCHA for at least 12 hours or overnight. Again, this recipe, like the KULICH, is traditionally made on Good Friday afternoon, following the Vesper service, and not eaten until first thing after the Resurrection Liturgy at dawn on Easter Sunday morning.
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