April 24, 2011 – Butter Lamb

For my entire life there has always been a butter lamb on the Easter table. The butter lamb is a small lamb molded or shaped from butter. The lamb traditionally has a red ribbon around the neck and a red paschal flag in its rump. The eyes are two peppercorns.

The butter lamb is an old Polish tradition that is adhered to in Buffalo (where I was born). Even after my family left Buffalo, we had one sent to us. I used to get one shipped to me here in San Francisco. I now have a mould and have been making my own butter lamb for years. I may very well have the only butter lamb in California.

The only Easter without a butter lamb was the one I spent with cousins in Poland 25 years ago. On Easter morning it was time for ham, kielbasa and the traditional Easter meal. All washed down with plenty of vodka. I asked where the baranek was? Baranek literally means “little lamb” in Polish. Lamb? No, we have ham on Easter was the response. I was trying to explain that I was looking for the butter lamb. My cousin Tadeusz, the oldest member of the family at the table, suddenly realized what I meant. He was surprised that I knew what a butter lamb was. He was even more surprised that people in Buffalo still kept the tradition as no one in Poland did anymore.

April 23, 2011 – Eggs

Eggs, and for some Easter Eggs, the tradition of decorating eggs goes back centuries in Eastern Europe. It was practiced long before Easter and pre-dates Christianity. The eggs are common throughout Eastern Europe but the true epicenter of egg art is the Ukraine where the eggs are known as pysanka. The traditional patterns are laden with symbolism. Each egg is actually a written prayer. In Ukrainian one says they are “writing” eggs when they make them.

Writing the eggs is a process requiring care and patience. Raw eggs are used. One would never hard-boil and eat these eggs – too much work is involved in decorating them.

It is a reverse process where wax is applied. The first layer of wax is the pattern that will remain white, without dye. The first coat of dye is the lightest color, yellow for example. Then there is another layer of wax to mark the yellow pattern. Repeat the process with red and finally black dye. Then the egg has to be carefully handled to melt away the wax. It’s done over an open flame (usually a candle). At this stage, a small hole can be made to blow the egg and empty the contents. Or the egg can be left to dry (it takes about a year). It always needs a ventilated place due to off gassing.

Beeswax is used. A stylus similar to a fountain pen is repeatedly heated over candle flame and then dipped in wax. The wonderful smell of beeswax fills the room. Great care has to be taken as you apply the wax to the egg. And being eggs, the entire process is fragile. Inevitably, there will be a time when you get almost to the end and accidentally break the egg. It is a lesson each person who writes eggs learns.

The reward is a beautiful, magical object. And the intricate process applying the patterns can pull you into a trance-like state. And if, like me, you have generations of ancestors who wrote these eggs, it is an important tradition that reconnects us to a timeline thousands of years old.

April 19, 2011 – Ham

It is the season for that most magical of meats. They say ham and bacon are gateway drugs that have gotten more vegetarians to fall off the wagon than all other meats combined.