Blessed Be the Food: Difference between revisions
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== What Goes in the Basket? == | == What Goes in the Basket? == | ||
Alas, the sample size (''n''=8) didn’t allow me to treat it as representative of the whole of Poland’s population. So rather than conducting statistical research, let’s see what information about the contents of a typical Polish Easter basket we can find on the Internet. | Alas, the sample size (''n''=8) didn’t allow me to treat it as representative of the whole of Poland’s population. So rather than conducting statistical research, let’s see what information about the contents of a typical Polish Easter basket we can find on the Internet. Towards the end of Lent, Polish-language websites (especially those of Catholic parishes, supermarket chains and web portals) fill with tips about what to put in one’s basket. I took a look at a few of them.<ref name=interia>{{Cyt | ||
| tytuł = Tipy | | tytuł = Tipy | ||
| nazwisko r = Martenka | | nazwisko r = Martenka | ||
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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 very Christian one: bread as the Eucharist, 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 may associate 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. As for the meats, we shall come back to them later. | 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 very Christian one: bread as the Eucharist, 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 may associate 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. As for the meats, we shall come back to them 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 | 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 always be 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 be 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 Swiss-type cheese instead), butter, chocolate (probably in the form of a lamb or a bunny) and water. | ||
<nomobile>[[File:Dwa koszyki, dziesięć różnic.png|thumb|upright|Spot ten differences.]]</nomobile> | <nomobile>[[File:Dwa koszyki, dziesięć różnic.png|thumb|upright|Spot ten differences.]]</nomobile> | ||
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== Benedictions == | == Benedictions == | ||
Is there a more trustworthy source than random tips from the Internet, though? I’m not sure how many churchgoers really listen to what the priest says during the ceremony | Is there a more trustworthy source than random tips from the Internet, though? I’m not sure how many churchgoers really listen to what the priest says during the food-blessing ceremony, but the blessing formulas he recites specify the food products that are actually being blessed. And explains why these and not others to boot! Bread and other baked goods are the first to be sprinkled with holy water. | ||
[[File:Święcenie jadła pod figurą.jpg|thumb|upright|Blessing of food outdoors, under a cross<br>{{small|By Jan Feliks Piwarski (1859)}}]] | [[File:Święcenie jadła pod figurą.jpg|thumb|upright|Blessing of food outdoors, under a cross<br>{{small|By Jan Feliks Piwarski (1859)}}]] | ||
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}}, own translation }} | }}, own translation }} | ||
So far, everything checks out: bread, that is, the Body of Christ. Smoked meats come next. | So far, everything checks out: bread, that is, the Body of Christ. | ||
Smoked meats come next. | |||
{{ Cytat | {{ Cytat | ||
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== “And He Took It and Ate” == | == “And He Took It and Ate” == | ||
The author of the Gospel of Luke took great pains to underscore that, after his resurrection, Jesus was again a man of flesh and blood, with all natural physiological needs. Having had no bite for three days, he must have been really hungry. Luke, therefore, mentions two meals Jesus had during the first day after rising from his grave. First, he met two of his disciples on their way to Emaus. They didn’t recognize him, but were kind enough to invite him for supper. | The author of the Gospel of Luke took great pains to underscore that, after his resurrection, Jesus was again a man of flesh and blood, with all of his natural physiological needs. Having had no bite for three days, he must have been really hungry. Luke, therefore, mentions two meals Jesus had during the first day after rising from his grave. First, he met two of his disciples on their way to Emaus. They didn’t recognize him, but were kind enough to invite him for supper. | ||
{{Cytat | {{Cytat | ||
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What was Jesus doing in Jerusalem in the first place, though? In the times when the Jerusalem Temple still stood (it was demolished in 70 CE), Jews were obligated to make a pilgrimage there at least once a year, for one of three holidays: Passover (''Pesah''), the Feast of Weeks (''Shavuot'') or the Feast of Booths (''Sukkot''). As a pious Jew, Jesus never failed to fulfil this obligation, even though he knew he wasn’t as safe in Jerusalem as he was in his native Galilee. Eventually, during one of these pilgrimages, he ended up being charged with blasphemy, sentenced to death and executed by crucifixion; it all happened on the first day of Passover. | What was Jesus doing in Jerusalem in the first place, though? In the times when the Jerusalem Temple still stood (it was demolished in 70 CE), Jews were obligated to make a pilgrimage there at least once a year, for one of three holidays: Passover (''Pesah''), the Feast of Weeks (''Shavuot'') or the Feast of Booths (''Sukkot''). As a pious Jew, Jesus never failed to fulfil this obligation, even though he knew he wasn’t as safe in Jerusalem as he was in his native Galilee. Eventually, during one of these pilgrimages, he ended up being charged with blasphemy, sentenced to death and executed by crucifixion; it all happened on the first day of Passover. | ||
I’ve [[Eat Bread with Joy, Drink Wine with a Merry Heart#Annual Holidays|already written]] about how Passover combines an ancient pastoral festival of lambing ewes and | I’ve [[Eat Bread with Joy, Drink Wine with a Merry Heart#Annual Holidays|already written]] about how Passover combines an ancient pastoral festival of lambing ewes and an ancient agricultural festival of new barley. I’ve also written about how this combination was later associated with the Biblical story of the Jews’ supposed escape from slavery in Egypt. But I haven’t yet written about how Jews celebrate the eve of the first day of this seven or eight-day long holiday. On that night, “different from all other nights”, Jews gather at a ceremonial supper called ''seder''. It features seven traditional foods, each charged with some symbolic meaning, of course. | ||
{{Video|url=https://vimeo.com/202227066|szer=400|poz=right|opis=The seven seder dishes | {{Video|url=https://vimeo.com/202227066|szer=400|poz=right|opis=<poem>The seven seder dishes | ||
{{small|By Nina Paley}}</poem>}} | |||
''Matzah'', or unleavened bread, is eaten in memory of the Jews escaping Egypt in haste and thus having no time to wait for the dough rise. ''Zeroa'', or a lamb shank, commemorates the lambs whose blood the Jews used to smear on their doorposts as an identification marker just before the escape, as well as those later sacrificed in the Jerusalem Temple; nowadays, it’s usually substituted for with a chicken wing. ''Beitzah'', or a chicken egg that is hard-boiled and then additionally roasted, is another memento of temple offerings. Two kinds of bitter herbs – ''maror'' and ''hazeret'' – symbolize the bitterness of slavery in Egypt. Ashkenazi Jews (those from northern Europe) typically use romaine lettuce for ''hazeret'' and horseradish (often dyed red with beetroot juice in the style of Polish beet-and-horseradish relish) for ''maror'' – even though horseradish is neither bitter nor a herb. ''Haroset'' is a sweet paste of apples, walnuts and honey, meant to stand for masonry mortar to remember that Jewish slaves in Egypt were mostly used for construction work. Finally, the seventh food is ''karpas'', or some green vegetable (e.g., parsley leaves) which is dipped in salted water, a symbol of the tears shed by the Jews in slavery. All of this is paired with wine. | ''Matzah'', or unleavened bread, is eaten in memory of the Jews escaping Egypt in haste and thus having no time to wait for the dough rise. ''Zeroa'', or a lamb shank, commemorates the lambs whose blood the Jews used to smear on their doorposts as an identification marker just before the escape, as well as those later sacrificed in the Jerusalem Temple; nowadays, it’s usually substituted for with a chicken wing. ''Beitzah'', or a chicken egg that is hard-boiled and then additionally roasted, is another memento of temple offerings. Two kinds of bitter herbs – ''maror'' and ''hazeret'' – symbolize the bitterness of slavery in Egypt. Ashkenazi Jews (those from northern Europe) typically use romaine lettuce for ''hazeret'' and horseradish (often dyed red with beetroot juice in the style of Polish beet-and-horseradish relish) for ''maror'' – even though horseradish is neither bitter nor a herb. ''Haroset'' is a sweet paste of apples, walnuts and honey, meant to stand for masonry mortar to remember that Jewish slaves in Egypt were mostly used for construction work. Finally, the seventh food is ''karpas'', or some green vegetable (e.g., parsley leaves) which is dipped in salted water, a symbol of the tears shed by the Jews in slavery. All of this is paired with wine. | ||
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[[File:Pontyfikał Erazma Ciołka, Święcenie pokarmów.jpg|thumb|left|Blessing of bread, eggs and roasted lamb<br>{{small|By the Master of the Jagiellonian Missal of Jasna Góra (16th century)}}]] | [[File:Pontyfikał Erazma Ciołka, Święcenie pokarmów.jpg|thumb|left|Blessing of bread, eggs and roasted lamb<br>{{small|By the Master of the Jagiellonian Missal of Jasna Góra (16th century)}}]] | ||
But wait: how come this typically Polish custom of blessing food for Easter was born before Poland even adopted Christianity? Well, as with many “typically Polish” traditions, it didn’t originate in Poland as much as it survived in Poland while it was forgotten pretty much | But wait: how come this typically Polish custom of blessing food for Easter was born before Poland even adopted Christianity? Well, as with many “typically Polish” traditions, it didn’t originate in Poland as much as it survived in Poland while it was forgotten pretty much everywhere else. In the past, the blessing of food was a thing throughout Christian Europe. It started in the 8th century, quite logically, with the blessing of a roasted lamb. In the 10th century people started to bless other holiday foods as well: ham, cheese, bread, butter, milk and honey. As time passed, the range of blessed foodstuffs expanded: eggs were added in the 11th century; in the 13th, it was fish; in the 16th, salt, horseradish, herbs, oil, poultry, wine and beer; and in the 18th century, fruits.<ref>M. Pisarzak (1976), p. 230</ref> | ||
The blessing ceremony provided a perfect opportunity to show off the abundance of one’s larder. No wonder it’s got so popular in Poland, where the saying “pawn all, but give a ball”<ref>In Polish: ''zastaw się, a postaw się''. I found the brilliant English rendering of this proverb in Carolyn French and Nina Karsov’s translation of the novel ''Trans-Atlantyk'' by Witold Gombrowicz.</ref> applied to everyone, from the richest magnates to landless peasants. Back then the food wasn’t tucked away under a doily at the bottom of a basket, but spread out on tables for all to see. As late as the 19th century, priests were expected to travel door to door and to bless in each house everything its inhabitants were going to have for Easter breakfast.{{clear}} | The blessing ceremony provided a perfect opportunity to show off the abundance of one’s larder. No wonder it’s got so popular in Poland, where the saying “pawn all, but give a ball”<ref>In Polish: ''zastaw się, a postaw się''. I found the brilliant English rendering of this proverb in Carolyn French and Nina Karsov’s translation of the novel ''Trans-Atlantyk'' by Witold Gombrowicz.</ref> applied to everyone, from the richest magnates to landless peasants. Back then the food wasn’t tucked away under a doily at the bottom of a basket, but spread out on tables for all to see. As late as the 19th century, priests were expected to travel door to door and to bless in each house everything its inhabitants were going to have for Easter breakfast.{{clear}} | ||
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}}, own translation }} | }}, own translation }} | ||
[[File:Michał Elwiro Andriolli, Święcone.jpg|thumb|Blessing of food in a private | [[File:Michał Elwiro Andriolli, Święcone.jpg|thumb|Blessing of food in a private home<br>{{small|By Michał Elwiro Andriolli (19th century)}}]] | ||
In Western Europe, the tradition slowly died out due to the Reformation. Protestants criticized the Catholics for treating the food blessing as equally or even more important than the sacraments. The Church had to remind people that the consumption of blessed food is not a substitute for receiving holy communion during Eastertide. Protestant Reformation was doing quite well in 16th-century Poland too until the Catholic Church stroke back with its Counter-Reformation in the 17th. Polish Renaissance-era Lutheran moralist Mikołaj Rej wrote sarcastically of Catholic food blessing: | In Western Europe, the tradition slowly died out due to the Reformation. Protestants criticized the Catholics for treating the food blessing as equally or even more important than the sacraments. The Church had to remind people that the consumption of blessed food is not a substitute for receiving holy communion during Eastertide. Protestant Reformation was doing quite well in 16th-century Poland too until the Catholic Church stroke back with its Counter-Reformation in the 17th. Polish Renaissance-era Lutheran moralist Mikołaj Rej wrote sarcastically of Catholic food blessing: | ||