Easter traditions in Lower Silesia
Today we will tell you about the flavors of Easter in Lower Silesia. This is another episode of Lower Silesia Tales. If you don't want to miss any, sign up on the lowersilesia.substack.com
Of course, talking about Lower Silesian cuisine or regional dishes of Lower Silesia is not easy. What are these dishes? Which historical period do these dishes come from? Which country are these dishes come from?
Lower Silesia is an extraordinary region. It has a rich and multicultural history. Over the centuries, Poles, Germans and Czechs have left their mark on it. Today you can find the cultural heritage of several eras and nations here.
Lower Silesian cuisine is currently a combination of various cuisines. You will find traditional German and Czech dishes, various Eastern Borderlands cuisine and food typical of central Poland.
How is Easter visible on the plates of Lower Silesia? What can we find on Easter tables in Lower Silesian homes? First of all, white sausage. It's a traditional delicacy. It is both a Polish and German delicacy.
However, Polish white sausage and German white sausage are different. The German version is highly fragmented, prepared from veal meat with the addition of lard in a natural thin pig intestine. Polish white sausage is stuffed with pork and spices (garlic, marjoram, pepper). Germans season their white sausage with onion, parsley, nutmeg and lemon zest.
A common delicacy in Lower Silesian homes is Easter bread. Easter bread is baked in a round form and decorated beautifully. This is a tradition brought from the Eastern Borderlands of the Second Polish Republic. This bread can be found in many bakeries. It is decorated with plant and religious motifs.
Easter tradition also includes cakes. These are mainly babkas and mazurkas. Mazurek is a topic for a separate story. This is a traditional Polish Easter cake. However, according to historians, it has been known in Poland only since the 17th century. It probably came from Turkey along with spices imported from the Middle East.
Of course, eggs are also a must for Easter. Eggs are a dish and the main symbol of Easter. Eggs are also decorations. There are many ways to decorate eggs for Easter. The oldest Easter eggs in Poland were found in the ruins of a stronghold on Ostrówek Island in Opole. They come from the times of Mieszko I.
In pre-war Lower Silesia, an important element of the Easter dinner was chicken soup. It was called Ostersuppe, which literally means Easter soup. There was also Osterbrot, which is a Easter bread dyed yellow with saffron, and Osterneste, which is a sweet almond cake.
Lemko traditions are also present in Lower Silesia. The Lemkos were displaced from the Beskid Niski Mountains after World War II and moved to Lower Silesia. Today, in Lower Silesia, you can find, for example, kysylica, which is Lemko żur. It is a thick soup with bay leaves, allspice, black pepper and cumin, served with potatoes with fat smear and fried onion.
Lemkos also have their own Easter eggs. Usually, written patterns are quite simple.The poles of the egg are decorated with suns, and a wide strip runs through the center of the shell filled with stars, patterns, snakes and other patterns and shapes.
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Happy Easter!