Add to favorite
Breaking the Lent with delicious sumptuous dishes has always been an integral part of the Easter celebrations. So what is the Russian Easter feast like?
After the Cross Procession at night and the following Easter Vigil the Russian people did not linger in church but hurried back home to the festively set table.
There was an old belief: those who promptly taste the consecrated Easter cake (kulich) and a painted Easter egg will be accompanied with good luck and good health. The head of the family would personally shell the first of the red Easter eggs to be eaten. Just like the Easter cake, it was divided into parts for everyone in the family house. The symbolical treat was offered to everyone with the blessing for health, peace and happiness.
Easter Table Customs
The Easter table for was traditionally laid with a white starch tablecloth, and set with porcelain ware, silver cutlery, and crystal or bohemian glasses. Napkins, candles, and fresh flowers of bright red as the main color of the Orthodox Russian Easter added a special solemnity to the looks. In the center of the Easter table composition, there towered a high kulich coated with sugar icing. It was crowned with a thin church candle. Painted Easter eggs were laid out on tender greens. Nearby they put the traditional sweet curd Easter pudding (Paskha).
Vintage Russian Easter Dishes with Recipes
In the old days, the Easter feast began with oatmeal kissel and a light vegetable snack to prepare the body to take meat and dairy for the first time after 40 days of the Lent. Some ancient recipes of Easter vegetable dishes have come down to us.
One of them is the Spring Salad. Fresh greens, such as sorrel, watercress, wood garlic, cilantro, and green onions are torn into pieces. Two large boiled potatoes are mashed and diluted with 250 g of heavy cream to get the sauce consistency. Salt, pepper, sugar and vinegar are added to taste. Rye bread (500 g) is diced and slightly browned in vegetable oil. The greens and rye croutons are served in transparent plates, while the creamy gravy comes in a sauce-pan.
Horseradish Beetroot Salad was another favourite Easter appetizer. Grate a large boiled beetroot and nap it with 4 tbsp. sour cream and 2 tbsp. grated horseradish. Add some finely chopped onions, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Decorate the beetroot salad with slices of boiled eggs.
After tasting the traditional Russian vegetable appetizers, they would drink a glass of dry wine and proceed to cold fish and meat snacks. It could be the famous meat jelly, which would hardly surprise anybody in Russia. At the same time, traditional Liquor Jellied Veal cooked in vermouth boasts stunning taste and looks.
The traditional hot dish of Bright Sunday was, and still is in many Russian families, a suckling pig with sour cream and grated horseradish gravy. The pig is served with boiled potatoes, plentifully napped with sour cream sauce and sprinkled with chopped parsley.
With all that said, the king and the queen of the Russian Easter feast are Kulich Easter cake and Pascha curd pudding. Find their recipes here.
The Russian Tradition of Easter Eggs
Russian Easter Traditions
Photos from
Author: Vera Ivanova
