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What I found most interesting is that all these sources not only advise their readers as to what kinds of food to place in their baskets, but also supply a kind of justification by explaining their symbolism. While various sources may differ in some details, they are overall fairly consistent. So here’s my summary (you will find individual sources in the footnotes).
The foods that are always mentioned first are bread, eggs, salt and smoked meats (ham, sausage, etc.). As for their supposed symbolism, in the case of bread it’s a Eucharistic and, therefore, Christian one: bread as the Body of Christ. Eggs (often brightly dyed or painted) are said to be a symbol of new or reborn life; and even though you might may associate this them with Christ’s resurrection, the sources avoid using the word “resurrection” itself. Salt is particularly rich in symbolic meanings: hospitality, truth, meaning of life and even immortality. The meats, we shall come back to later.
Further spots are taken by: black pepper (if mentioned, then always in the same breath as salt), lamb, cakes and horseradish. The pepper is supposedly symbolic of “harmony between humans and nature”; cakes (especially [[Good King Stanislas and the Forty Thieves|babas]], or Polish bundt cakes) stand for skill and perfection (which is why they should be always home-made), while horseradish is meant to be a sign of Christ’s victory over suffering. It’s getting more and more creative, I must say. When it comes to the lamb, it’s not really the meat of a young sheep, but a lamb figurine, representing – depending on the source – Christ resurrected, victory of life over death and of good over evil, or meekness and gentleness. The figurine may fashioned out of butter, sugar, cake, chocolate or plaster (in the latter case, consumption not recommended). According to some sources, you may also add cheese (possibly ''paskha'', a delicious Easter fresh-cheese dessert, although the illustrations feature slices of yellow cheese with holes instead), butter, chocolate (probably in the form of a lamb or a bunny) and water.
