Easter Sunday tomorrow. Imagine a table filled with food, family, fun - like Christmas come early. And there, amongst the plates and yellow little chickens, lays a myriad of colourful eggs, smiling from between the spring catkins branches.
Eggs. In Poland, as in most Catholic practices, they symbolize rebirth and resurrection - the sparking of life in a dormant shell.
We like them with a little spark of energy and a twist of colour.
These have been dyed with special grocers paint from Poland, however home-made recipes for natural paints (using onions often) produce similar effects.
The egg goes further than being just a decoration - on Holy Saturday, we prepare the “Święconka” - a decorative basket of Easter egg and other symbolic food sampling. Eggs, for life and resurrection, bread and a sugar-lamb for the body of Christ, salt for purification, pepper to remember the bitter sacrifice and sausage for the celebration of joyful abundance.
Fluffy catkins and cats, excellent dishes and decoration. Happy Easter!