Today’s diary is a bit different, because it’s not a regular “list ingredients and steps” recipe, but rather a story time diary. Please enjoy.
Tomorrow is Easter in the Orthodox Church. While Poland is Catholic, it and Ukraine share several food traditions around Easter. This is what I remember growing up.
The Easter festivities begin on Friday with boiling and decorating the eggs. There is also a trip to the Polish deli, or garmażeria. There, my mom would pick up a whole lot of kielbasa biala and smoked kielbasa. Usually made from scratch somewhere, or smoked out back.
Saturday morning, we would go to church for the basket blessing. Our church used to do this, because tradition dictates we eat the blessed food on Easter Sunday. Our baskets were always the most unusual. Most of the families brought things like ham, or whatever. We had that strong garlic smell coming from our basket. We had the sausage, the eggs, sometimes we had rolls and a lamb butter too. When we got home from church, mom would then put the sausage in a big roasting pan (cooking for five kids), fill it with water, bring to a simmer, and let it cook for about 2-3 hours. Mom always wanted to make sure the kielbasa biala was fully cooked. We would then have the sausage (only some of it) for dinner, either on its own, or in the blessed rolls as a sammich. We would also have hard boiled eggs as well.
After dinner, mom would wrap the rest of the sausage and eggs and put them in the fridge. She would let the stock from the sausage cool, put it in a better sized container, then also put it in the fridge.
On Easter Sunday, it all came together. My mom would take the sausage stock out of the fridge, skim off the hardened layer of fat, then put it in a pot to heat. Here is where my mom differed from traditional recipes of the barszczt biala. Traditionally, one adds some sort of acid to the stock, such as vinegar or lemon juice, but my mom didn’t like it, so I don’t use it.
As the stock heats, my mom would add half and half to it. Traditionally, one would add cream, and/or sour cream, but my mom thought heavy cream would make it too rich, so I have used half and half, or even whole milk. Let it mix and cook, until it thickens slightly. Pay close attention to the flame! We all know what happens when milk products start bubbling.
While everything was being heated on the stove, the table would be set. First, the platter of sausage. Then, the platter of eggs. Rolls for sandwiches. Bread, if there was a lamb butter. Now, this is the second time I mentioned lamb butter. What is that, you ask? Simply butter molded in the shape of a lamb. All good Polish delis or supermarkets in Polish neighborhoods will have them, at various price points. Anyway, there would also be a nice jar of grated horseradish as well.
Come dinnertime, everyone would take sausage, eggs, and horseradish to their liking, cut them into bite sized pieces, crumbling the yolk, and put them into their bowls. Then the hot soup would be ladled into the bowls, with that yolk adding an extra thickness and richness to the broth. This soup is so rich, it’s rare to eat more than one bowl. I often did, as did some others in the family.
It goes without saying that this soup is a taste that has to grow on one. Having had it every year for 40+ years, all of us do enjoy it. As we grew up and started having families, the in laws and kids, when there would be a large family Easter, not so much. Although ONE nephew of mine really enjoyed it, and at least one in law.
Since my mom passed, I think I’ve only made the soup once or twice. Of course, I made it for the family Easters a couple of times as well. But if a family member asks, I am more than happy to cook for them. Last time I visited my brother in Arkansas, he asked for my mom’s Christmas Eve Mushroom Soup (Another Polish tradition) and sauerkraut pierogi. Which you can read about here.
Now, you will notice that in my soup recipe, I didn’t give any measurements, or times to cook sausage, or any of that. We all know how to boil eggs, and we know when fresh sausage is cooked. As for the soup, it depends on the stock you have. Basically it’s one of those “feel” things. You add what you think is right, and then taste and add more or leave it alone.
Last week, I was on the Messenger call with my siblings, and one of my brothers joked about the soup being basically “hot dog water” soup. But before he became vegan, he used to enjoy it as much as I did.
So as this story comes to a close, I’ve got a couple of options for dinner tonight. I still have some of what I call “corned beef soup” in the fridge, and I’m also going to make this recipe which has become a standard in my rotation.
Wait, WHAT? “Corned Beef Soup”, you say? Well, you’ll just have to wait for a future WFD diary for that recipe.
So, What’s For Dinner at your place tonight? Are you doing traditional Orthodox Easter recipes if you observe? If so, share the yummies in the comments!