Easter Traditions: Memories from Ukraine to Bali

Hello everyone,

First of all, I want to wish everyone a Happy Easter! May this wonderful Easter holiday bring love and joy to your family, sincerity and kindness in relationships, and most importantly, health and peace.

In Ukraine, Easter is celebrated in spring, when all nature comes alive after a long winter, so this holiday has additional significance for us, symbolizing not only religious meaning but also the rebirth of life and the renewal of the world.

While many rituals we practice today have no direct link to Christianity, Easter in Ukraine began to be celebrated as the resurrection of Jesus towards the end of the first millennium with the advent of Christianity. Coinciding with the pagan festival of spring equinox, both holidays share similar themes: the triumph of good over evil and the dawn of new life. Over time, customs from both celebrations merged to form the Easter festivities we know today. Here are some traditions that have come down to us from pre-Christian times: baking Easter bread (paska) - the "solar" Slavic loaf; painting Easter eggs (pysanky); blessing the Easter basket - an offering to the gods; Wet Monday - an ancient cleansing ritual.

About Easter in Ukraine when I was a kid.

I was born in the soviet union, but in western Ukraine, where even during the soviet occupation, religious traditions were observed, although the church was banned at that time. Therefore, from childhood, I have two important religious holidays: Christmas and Easter. These holidays always bring me back to warm childhood memories when the whole family gathered in the village to celebrate.

Noisy, fun, everyone busy with something: dad cleaning the yard, uncle making a fire in the stove to bake Povnyna (stuffed meat) and Paska (Easter bread), aunt cleaning the house, grandma and mom cooking in the kitchen, we, the children, painting pysanky (Easter eggs). In the village, we always blessed the baskets in the morning. The basket contained the traditional Transcarpathian set: Paska (Easter bread), boiled eggs, pysanky (Easter eggs), butter, horseradish, wine, salt, Shovdar (smoked or dried pork leg according to the Transcarpathian recipe), smoked sausage, Grudka (dessert made from eggs and milk), Povnyna (stuffed meat).

The whole family, dressed up, went to church on Sunday morning with the basket. Each family near the church had its place, which no one ever occupied. Upon arrival, we waited for the blessing of the baskets. When the service and blessing were over, all the hosts hurried home as quickly as possible because there was a belief that whoever came home first would be lucky all the next year. And of course, no one ate anything before going to church in the morning. We did not strictly observe the strict Easter fast, but on Saturday, even we, the children, were not allowed to eat Shovdar. Only after the blessing did the whole family gather at the table to celebrate Easter, and everyone had to eat a little from each blessed dish.

Well, and on Monday there were “polyvanky” (water pouring). Men and young guys come to visit the houses where there are women and girls to "pour them" with water. The more a girl was splashed, the better for her. Then she won't be "korostava" (ugly), but will be beautiful and healthy. As a thank you, the men (those who watered) received pysanky (Easter eggs).

How we celebrate Easter in Bali now.

My husband is from Brazil, I am from Ukraine, and we live in Bali, from the very beginning, I thought about how to organize such holidays as Christmas, Easter, to combine his family traditions with mine. I really wanted to keep in memory and show Santi how rich and culturally interesting my land is, what different dishes we cook, how many customs we observe. So we celebrate Christmas according to his traditions. I asked him what they cooked at home for this holiday, what traditions were in the family, and we follow them.

But on Easter, we celebrate according to the customs of my family. I make a menu that consists entirely of family recipes that my grandmother cooked, now my mom, sometimes I involve my aunt to clarify the recipe.

I definitely bake Paska (Easter bread) according to Grandma Regina's recipe, cook polyvka - they say that polyvka is chicken broth, but it's not true, polyvka is polyvka (Transcarpathians will understand), I wrap cabbage rolls, of course, there is no shovdar in Bali, so I prepare ham, get horseradish (you can always ask someone flying from Ukraine to bring it), paint pysanky (Easter eggs), and of course, make Grudka. Grudka is my childhood love.

Our Easter 2024 in Bali, we first went to the beach with our dogs and then had an Easter breakfast.

Me&Java on the beach

Nyang Nyang beach

Our Sumba

Pysanky and Paska

Easter food

Grudka

Transcarpathian cuisine and our family recipe for Grudka.

Transcarpathia, where I come from, due to its geographical location, has a very interesting and complex history. Only in the 20th century, we were part of both Austria-Hungary and Czechoslovakia, were occupied by Hungary during the Second World War and Soviet rule after the war. Today, Transcarpathia shares borders with Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and even Poland. And all this greatly influenced Transcarpathian cuisine, which combined various dishes of all neighboring states.

Transcarpathian cuisine is very colorful and tasty. Recipes often vary depending on the region. Somewhere, for example, Grudka is made salty, but in our family, we cook it sweet. To describe the taste of my favorite Easter dessert, it's briefly "crème brûlée". The ingredients are almost the same, it's just that cream is used in brûlée, and Grudka is made with whole milk. If everything is done correctly, it's an incredibly tender dessert that melts in your mouth.

I'll share my family Grudka recipe with you:

Grudka

For 2 people:

0.6 liters of whole milk

6 eggs

Sugar to taste

A pinch of salt

Vanilla

• Beat the eggs until smooth, adding vanilla, sugar, salt.

• Heat the milk, but do not let it boil. Leave the milk on very low heat.

• Gradually pour the beaten eggs into the milk and stir constantly. When you see that the eggs start to form lumps - the mixture is ready. Do not overcook the mixture, as the tender texture of the Grudka depends on it.

• Take cheesecloth, lay it in a sieve, and slowly pour the prepared egg mixture. Squeeze it gently, and then you need to hang the Grudka in cheesecloth somewhere so that all the excess liquid drains. It takes 2-3 hours.

• When the Grudka has drained and formed a stable shape, remove the cheesecloth and put it in the refrigerator for a few more hours.

• That's it! Slice the Grudka into thin slices and enjoy the taste!

On this tasty note, I end my Easter post. Once again, happy Easter!

Khrystos voskres! (Christ has risen!)

See you soon,

Olya.