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What to put on the table at Easter. Folk traditions at Easter. Chicken stuffed with royal pancakes

In 2015, the main Christian holiday Easter is celebrated on the 12th day of April. This holiday sings of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which became the brightest and most amazing event in the history of all mankind. To understand and feel the atmosphere of the Bright Resurrection, it is not necessary to be a deeply religious person who observes absolutely all the dogmas of Christianity, because this holiday personifies the brightest sides of our world: the victory of good over evil, faith over power, life over death. Probably everyone would like to learn about Easter traditions, attributes of the holiday, as well as plan a menu for Easter 2015 and beautifully decorate the Easter table. About this, "House of Dreams" picked up the most interesting information for its readers.

Main Easter Traditions

Preparation for Easter begins 48 days before the holiday. That's how long it takes great post, the purpose of which is not so much physical as spiritual cleansing. At this time, Christians should sincerely pray, begging for both their own and other people's sins, reflect on the meaning of life and work hard. The most severe is the last week post called Holy Week. According to legend, at this time, guardian angels move away from a person, leaving him alone with worldly temptations, and it depends only on the person himself whether he can overcome the temptations encountered.

Active Easter preparations come with the advent of Maundy Thursday - the day when it is customary to get up before sunrise to wash, thereby securing the purity of one's thoughts. On Maundy Thursday, believers take communion and confess, after which they go home, where they spend time cooking Easter cakes and coloring eggs. Also many flowers, branches and all kinds of Easter decor.

What should be on the traditional Easter table

Easter table is required attribute holiday day. According to tradition, there should be 48 dishes on the Easter table, personifying the seven-week fast. The most important dishes of the Easter table are, of course, Easter cakes and colored eggs. Easter dough is kneaded on Maundy Thursday, leaving it to infuse all night. Cottage cheese cakes and other dishes are also prepared on Maundy Thursday, but you cannot try them until the breaking of the fast.

In addition to the main dishes, meat, fish and vegetable food must be present on the Easter table. But interestingly, in the traditional version, the Easter table does not include hot appetizers. According to the peculiarities of this holiday, on Easter day the table should be set from dawn to dusk, so that everyone can come to your house and treat themselves to their favorite dish.

Dishes for the Easter table 2015

Easter cake and Easter - the "heart" of the Easter table

Each dish of the Easter table has its own meaning and symbolizes one or another side of life. Easter, which is the first food for breaking the fast, simultaneously personifies the bread and the body of the Lord. As it is said in the Old Testament traditions, during the Last Supper, Jesus Christ broke unleavened bread and said that this is his body, which he sacrifices in the name of mankind.

For every hostess, cooking Easter cakes is akin to a sacrament. You need to knead the dough for Easter bread only by hand. In addition to the main ingredients - flour, water, eggs, yeast, milk, butter and sugar, raisins, candied fruits and nuts can be added to the Easter dough, as a symbol that Christ's torment was not in vain.

Easter table decoration - Easter cakes and eggs

Easter from cottage cheese symbolizes the sweetness of heavenly life. In the traditional version, it should be made in the form of a truncated pyramid, repeating the shape of the coffin where the resurrection of Christ took place. That is why the letters “ХВ” (Christ is Risen) are applied to one of the sides of the cottage cheese Easter.

Cottage cheese Easter, eggs and flowers - pictures

Why do we paint eggs for Easter?

Colored eggs or krashenki are another unchanging symbol of Easter day. We are used to painting Easter eggs in all colors known to us, applying patterns and pictures to them, however, according to tradition, they should be painted red, as a symbol of the shed blood of Jesus Christ. According to the most common legend, on the day of the return of Jesus Christ from the world of the dead, Mary Magdalene hurried to tell this good news to the emperor of Rome. Having met the emperor, she handed him egg with an exclamation: “Christ is Risen!”, but the emperor said that he would believe this news only when eggshell blush. After his words, the egg in the hands of Mary Magdalene turned red with blood.

What to cook for Easter 2015: main menu

In addition to Easter cakes, Easter and Krashenka, the Easter table is complemented by several meat dishes. Boiled pork, jelly, homemade sausages, meat rolls and appetizers are symbols of the joy and strength of life.

Also on the Easter table there should be vegetable dishes and cereal dishes, which personify the infinity of human life.

Before the start of the festive meal, the main dishes should be consecrated. In addition, the table is supposed to be sprinkled with holy water, after which it is customary to pray for those who have already left our world.

How to decorate an Easter table

Easter Table Decor Ideas 2015

Since ancient times, on Easter day, people have sought to fill their home with an atmosphere of warmth, spring awakening and comfort. The house for this holiday was cleanly washed and decorated with fresh flowers and willow twigs. In addition, there are several important rules regarding the decoration and serving of the Easter table.

The Easter table is covered with a light and new tablecloth. It is best if the tablecloth for such a holiday is created from natural materials.

When setting the table, the hostess must leave one free place for unexpected guests, putting a piece of lighted Easter cake and an Easter egg on a plate.

Beautiful decoration of the Easter table photo

Easter table setting

Easter table beautiful pictures

Easter, Easter cakes and colored eggs are placed in the center of the festive table. By tradition, these dishes are set in a wicker Easter basket, next to which there is a place for a transparent vase with fresh flowers or a bowl with sprouted grains of wheat. The presence of a piece of wildlife on the festive table is another symbol of life rebirth, fertility and prosperity.

In addition, you can complement the holiday atmosphere with a variety of Easter attributes, which include figurines of chickens, chickens and hares, compositions from willow branches, painted eggs, napkins with thematic drawings, etc.

According to tradition, if there is a marriageable girl in the house, a bunch of pink flowers should be placed near her plate. If the owners of the house dream of a child, the Easter table should be decorated with primroses, figures of chickens and angels.

Toward evening, it is customary to light candles on the Easter table as a sign of gratitude to Christ for his wisdom and mercy.

Bright Sunday of Christ has always belonged not only to the main holidays of Christians, but also to one of the most beloved ones.

This holiday has always been celebrated on a special scale. And this applied both to the preparation and preparation of treats intended for the Easter table.

Easter feast traditions

The tradition of laying rich and varied tables for Easter has rather deep historical roots.

Preparations for the great celebration began as early as Maundy Thursday, when skillful hostesses made dough for rich cakes, laid the foundations for them, began to paint Easter eggs and painted unique Easter eggs.

Especially for the holiday, young greens of wheat or sheep were grown. Painted Easter eggs were laid out on this delicate greenery.

In prosperous houses, at least 48 dishes succumbed to the festive table.

This tradition is connected with the fact that the name lasted 48 days.

Traditionally, pancakes and women were served on the Easter table, as well as original Easter gingerbread, which were baked for the holiday in the form of hares, cockerels or doves.

Be sure to the table succumbed to baked meat.

Usually these were baked chickens or pork hams, young lambs or veal.

Hot dishes on the table did not give in, because the Easter table was laid for a long time and was ready to receive guests for a whole week.

For Orthodox Christians, the Easter holidays began with the end of the Easter itself, which lasted as much as 7 weeks. The festive feast began with breaking the fast, which was especially pleasant after a long abstinence from fast food.

For breaking the fast, those products that were consecrated during the Easter service were exhibited. The first to be eaten, of course, were eggs and a piece of Easter cake.

During a long fast, the consumption of any animal products was prohibited.

Therefore, the housewives tried to prepare as many hearty dishes of meat, fish, as well as complex salads and rich pastries for the festive table.

Modern housewives, regardless of whether the family observed the fast, try to keep up with their great-grandmothers, and prepare a wide variety of dishes for the Easter table.

These will be your favorite Easter cakes, cottage cheese Easter, as well as colored eggs, which will take central location on the festive table served according to the Easter theme.

In addition, the housewives are sure to select interesting recipes for preparing new dishes, which complement their most successful culinary masterpieces.

Meat Easter dishes and snacks

Hearty Easter salad

It is difficult to call such a dish a salad. This is, in fact, a full-fledged hearty meat snack. But that's it for the Easter table. Adjust the amount of ingredients yourself, depending on the number of guests.

Ingredients:

smoked fat;
homemade sausage;
pork tenderloin;
boiled eggs;
soft cottage cheese;
horseradish grated with beets;
lettuce leaves;
dill greens.

Cut all meat ingredients in the form of sausage, bacon and boiled pork into beautiful, neat strips.

Prepare the dressing sauce. To do this, mix a couple of tablespoons of horseradish with soft cottage cheese, finely chopped dill and grated egg yolks, which will take about three to four pieces.

Mix all the meat ingredients with the sauce in a separate bowl.

As meat components for such a salad, you can also use boiled tongue and chicken breast, and other types of meat.

Prepare lettuce leaves by washing, drying and tearing them with your hands. Put torn lettuce leaves and meat mixture in a salad bowl.

Garnish the top of the salad with egg whites, which must be cut into strips.

Of course, after a long abstinence, you want to enjoy various hearty goodies.

But indulging in such gluttony is not only forbidden by the church, but also not recommended by doctors.

Diversify your Easter table. It doesn't have to be what the family has been eating for the past seven weeks.

The same eggs added to a light vegetable salad make the dish play with new colors.

Ingredients

radish - 200 gr.;
tomatoes - 600 gr.;
chicken breast - 1 pc.;
green onions;
boiled eggs - 5 pcs.;
sour cream;
horseradish;
soy sauce;
salt and pepper.

Prepare salad dressing with sour cream, soy sauce and horseradish. Each component will need 1 tablespoon.

Cut the boiled eggs into washers, and cut the radishes, tomatoes and chicken breast into cubes. Mix all ingredients except eggs.

Lay out the salad bowl with lettuce leaves, on top of which place the prepared salad mixture. Lay eggs on top and sprinkle with chopped green onions.

As additional ingredients for such a salad, you can use fresh cucumbers or Chinese cabbage.

Try to cook as many interesting and varied dishes as possible for the Easter table.

Indeed, on this day, the festive celebration does not last a couple of hours, and the rich table is not removed until the evening.

This Sunday, April 8, all followers Orthodox Church will celebrate one of the most important religious holidays of the year - Easter. Preparation for Easter begins a week before the holiday itself: the house is cleaned (clean Thursday), some dishes are prepared and eggs are painted. People try to organize everything in such a way that they don’t do any work on the holiday itself, but devote themselves to celebrating and, of course, attending church services.

The main ritual dishes for Easter are dyed different colors eggs, Easter cakes and curd Easter.

Painted eggs are directly a symbol of the tomb and the resurrection of Christ. Dead shell outside and life inside. Traditionally, eggs were dyed red, symbolizing the blood of Christ, but later came the custom of painting eggs in different colors and even artistic painting on them. In the world today there are numerous museums of the so-called Easter eggs - painted eggs. This is, of course, not food, but real art. At home, eggs are most often dyed by boiling in onion skins, giving them a characteristic Brown color. It is customary to consecrate such eggs in the church before eating. By the way, it is customary to paint eggs in advance - a couple of days before Easter itself, and there is - another week after it.

My late grandmother told how in the Belarusian villages they began to collect eggs for Easter almost a few weeks before the holiday, and on Bright Sunday they walked down the street, stuffing their pockets full of them, and bumped into each other. Such a game was called "christening", and the winner in it was the one whose egg did not break as a result of the battle. He also took the winner's egg for himself. After the holiday, when the number of eggs in the house did not allow them to be eaten in pure form, prepared okroshka and green cabbage soup from them.

“The egg is applied to the whole creature,” says an ancient handwritten interpretation attributed in the old days to St. John of Damascus, “the shell is like the sky, the chaff is like clouds, the protein is like water, the yolk is like earth, and the dampness in the middle of the egg is like in the world sin".

Another well-known symbol of Easter is Easter cake. Easter cake is a special kind of ceremonial holiday bread, which is traditionally baked from yeast dough on Maundy Thursday, that is, two days before Easter. On Saturday, on the eve of the holiday, it is also consecrated in the church. Kulich is a kind of church artos - large leavened bread, its folk, "home" variation. In Russian practice, arthos is a tall cylindrical bread, consecrated on the first day of Easter at the liturgy after the prayer behind the ambo, which is distributed to believers on Bright Saturday after reading the prayer and crushing.

Cooking Easter cake is also a real sacrament in itself. Its main feature is not the ingredients, but right technology cooking. For the preparation of Easter cake should be taken exclusively with good mood, then the Easter cake will turn out to be successful, and next year everything will be safe in the house.

Cottage cheese Easter is another central dish of the festive Easter table. To prepare a cottage cheese Easter, you need a special detachable pastry box in the shape of a truncated pyramid, consisting of 4 planks. The curd mass is placed in a bean bag and squeezed out, taking the form of a truncated pyramid, which symbolizes the place of the crucifixion and death of Christ. Among other things, cottage cheese Easter is an excellent cottage cheese dessert with the addition of dried fruits and nuts, which will appeal to both adults and children.

In general, Easter is considered a collective holiday. It is celebrated widely and cheerfully - with festivities, egg fights and obligatory treats for friends and neighbors. On this day, they certainly bake a lot of pies, buns, buns and other sweet dough products and give them to all nice people. The more generous you are on Easter, the more successful it will be for you. next year. Joy must be shared with loved ones, not forgetting, of course, about those in need. The very ritual of congratulating on Easter, when people kiss each other three times on the cheeks, saying "Christ is risen", shows us that kindness and attention to others are important elements of the holiday.

And, of course, except for pastries and desserts festive table must certainly be filled with main dishes, pleasing to the eye and stomach. Here is an example list:

aspic and jelly (and Easter in Slavic countries does not always fall on warm spring days, sometimes snow can still lie on Easter);
baked poultry meat (whole baked chicken, duck or goose is one of the main delicacies of Russian and not only Russian cuisine);
boiled pork and sausages (where without meat? Cattle used to be slaughtered especially for Easter);
vegetable salads (if, nevertheless, Easter coincided with the active onset of spring);
pickles (remnants of winter stocks, if fresh vegetables did not have time to ripen);
pies with a variety of fillings;
house wines;
sbitni.

To put it simply, it was customary for Easter, and it remains today, to put on the table all the best and most delicious that is in the house. There is no better occasion for a hostess to show off her culinary skills than Easter. After all, before that there was an exhausting Great Lent, and after that the spring suffering will begin, when it will no longer be up to the holidays. So Easter is such an occasion to stop, have fun, relax after the winter and get back to work. Easter is the king of days, as the saying goes.

On April 16, Orthodox believers will celebrate the most important Christian holiday - Easter, the Bright Resurrection of Christ. The owners are already getting ready. They clean the house, buy food for the Easter table, put the dough on Easter cakes.

48 days of strict fasting will soon be left behind, and a family holiday dinner is ahead. What to treat relatives and friends on Easter? What should be on the table? And how to do it all? AiF-Prikamye shares culinary secrets and family traditions with readers mother Lyubov Vorobieva, wife of the rector of the church in the name of St. Sergius of Radonezh (Oktyabrsky village), mother of five children.

“Preparing for Easter is a wonderful occasion to be with the whole family,” Mother Love is sure. - According to our family custom, on Friday evening we all sit down to big table, light a candle, sing spiritual songs and start painting eggs. On Saturday morning we go to church to consecrate Easter treats (eggs, cottage cheese, Easter cakes).”

Easter on the table

“Our family's favorite treat is Easter. We cook it the old fashioned way, we wipe homemade cottage cheese through a sieve. It is very difficult, because the cottage cheese is fatty, thick, the hands get tired. So we all work in order. To make Easter bright, we add to curd mass pieces of yellow and orange marmalade, ”the hostess shares the recipe.

Cottage cheese Easter with marmalade

Easter Ingredients:

1 kg fresh fat cottage cheese
200 g sour cream (cream) 30% fat
4 egg yolks
100-150 g sugar
200 g butter
crushed marmalade

Cooking time 1.5 hours.

Curd Easter has the shape of a truncated pyramid. This is a symbol of the tomb in which the greatest miracle took place - the Resurrection of Christ. Therefore, to make Easter, you will need a special form - a pasochnik. It consists of four trapezoidal planks with a deep carved pattern on one of the two sides. Most often, the symbols of the suffering and resurrection of Christ (cross, spear, cane, flowers) are carved on the pastors, as well as the letters "ХВ" - "Christ is Risen".

Curd must be homogeneous. Rub it through a sieve to get rid of lumps. Some housewives use a blender to obtain a homogeneous consistency. Butter should melt to room temperature. Whisk sugar, yolks and butter. Add sour cream (cream) to the cooked cottage cheese and beat. Then combine with the oil mass and whisk again.
Put the resulting curd mass in a water bath, stirring constantly so that the mass does not exfoliate. As soon as the first bubbles appear, remove the pan from the bath, continuing to stir the contents.
Let the curd mass cool, then put it in the refrigerator for an hour or two so that it “grabs”. Then add marmalade pieces.
The inside of the pasochnik must be lined with gauze. Tightly, tamping, put the curd mass there. When the pasta box is filled to the brim, cover the curd mass with the edges of gauze. Place a load on top, for example, a liter jar half filled with water. Place a deep plate under the mold to drain all the liquid. Put the treat in the refrigerator for a couple of days.
Before serving Easter, remove the form and gauze. Put the finished treat on a festive dish and put a red Easter candle on Easter.

The egg is a symbol of new life and ... a coffin

According to tradition, the first treat that is eaten on Easter is a consecrated painted egg. Tradition says that the stone with which they closed the tomb of Jesus Christ resembled an egg in shape. According to legend, the painted egg became a symbol of Easter after the miracle of Mary Magdalene. The holy myrrh-bearing woman came with a sermon to the Roman emperor Tiberius and offered him an egg as a gift with the words: “Christ is Risen!”. The emperor replied that, just as an egg is white and not red, so the dead do not rise. At that moment, the egg in his hand turned red.

“There are several ways to dye eggs, for example, boil them in onion skins so that the shell becomes brick-colored. Or even easier, decorate the egg with special stickers. But we, again, adhere to antiquity - we paint the Easter symbol with honey paints. Younger children especially love this activity. With rapture, they draw various ornaments and patterns on the shell with tassels, draw willows, temples, ”says Mother Lyubov.

Easter eggs Photo: pixabay.com

Tips for housewives: how to boil eggs so that they do not crack?

Choose eggs without cracks, smooth.

White eggs for painting are more beautiful, but brown ones have a denser shell.

To ensure that the paint lays evenly, the eggs must be thoroughly washed. The stamp with the marking is erased with vinegar.

Put your eggs in cold water so that they do not crack from a sharp change in temperature.

Salt the water.

Boil the eggs over low heat, otherwise, with a strong bubbling of water, they will beat against the walls of the pan and against each other.

Paint boiled eggs must be completely dry.

home artos

“Each Easter, the Easter cakes that the temple donates to us, we give to large families,” says mother Lyubov. - Kulich (from the Greek "round bread") is home version church bread - arthos. It symbolizes the bread that Christ shared with the disciples after his Resurrection. And when during the Paschal meal we treat each other with Easter cake, we can hope that the risen Lord is invisibly present in our home as well.”

Cookie in a hurry

Ingredients:

600 g wheat flour, 250 l milk, 150 g sugar, 100 g butter, 3 eggs, 5 g dry yeast, 1 sachet of vanillin, 150 g raisins, a pinch of salt

For glaze:

2 egg whites, 50 g of powdered sugar.

Yeast should be poured into warm milk, add 200 grams of flour. Mix everything well and leave the dough for half an hour warm.
Separate the yolks from the whites. Beat the yolks with sugar and vanilla. In another bowl, mix egg whites with a pinch of salt.
In a deep bowl, combine the risen dough and egg yolks. Mix everything thoroughly.
Add melted butter to the main mass and mix.
Pour in the beaten egg whites and mix again.
Add 400 grams of sifted flour and knead the dough. Transfer it to a tall bowl, cover it with a towel and leave it warm for an hour.
After the dough has increased in volume, add the washed raisins to it. Cover the dough again with a towel and leave warm for another 40 minutes.
Arrange the dough in special forms for baking Easter cakes, fill the form halfway. After 30 minutes in heat, the dough will rise and fill the entire volume of the form.
Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Bake cookies for 40 minutes.

To make the frosting, beat the egg whites with the sugar. Pour the cakes with the resulting consistency. Let the icing harden, only after that decorate the top of the concoction with confectionery colored sprinkles.

By the way, you can consecrate Easter dishes, both on the eve of Easter, on Saturday, and on the Bright Resurrection of Christ.

Easter is one of the most beloved and joyful spring holidays. On the Easter table, treats should be special, prepared with warmth and imagination. What are the must-have dishes for Easter?

The most important spring holiday, which joyfully celebrates the entire Orthodox world, is Great Easter. With the onset of Easter, Lent ends, which lasted 40 long days, and festive ones appear on the tables, each of which is filled with a certain meaning.

Preparing for a bright holiday turns into a common cause that unites the whole family. Women are engaged in dough, men in meat, and children love to paint Easter eggs In order for rich Easter cakes, cottage cheese Easter, painted eggs and larks, sausages and hams to really turn out well, they must be made with love, carefully selecting the best ingredients.

5 Must-Have Meals for Easter

Easter cake is an annual decoration of the Easter table. It is customary to decorate it with symbolic inscriptions. Usually these are two letters: ХВ is an abbreviation for a holiday greeting. Letters can be molded from dough or laid out with raisins, dried apricots, pieces of fruit, candied fruit, nuts, dyed millet or caramel. The dough for Easter cakes begins to be prepared on Thursday. In the place where the dough stands, it is forbidden to talk loudly, scold or slam doors. Easter cake is baked on Good Friday, it is consecrated on Saturday, and then, starting from Sunday, it is eaten throughout the following Easter week. According to legend, it is believed that the well-being of the family for the whole year depends on how the cake turns out - tall, lush, beautiful or, on the contrary, squalid and unsightly. Leftovers are usually not thrown away.
Cottage cheese Easter - this traditional dish for the holiday has the shape of a tetrahedral truncated pyramid and symbolizes the tomb of the risen Christ. To prepare it, you will need a special form - a pastry box, consisting of four plates with a cross and the letters ХВ on the inside. It can be either wooden or plastic. For cooking, only very fresh and carefully squeezed cottage cheese is suitable. To make Easter easy to take out, the form should be lined with a double layer of gauze. If Easter is properly prepared, then it easily holds its shape.
Colored eggs - not a single Easter table can do without them. Previously, eggs were dyed only red, but nowadays, they are dyed in a variety of colors. Egg paint is sold before Easter in stores. You can also use natural dyes: alder cones, mallow flowers, onion husks, apple or oak bark, nettle roots, etc. Eggs that are evenly dyed in one color are called eggs. Eggs with an ornament - Easter eggs. They started painting eggs on Holy Saturday after the first stroke. church bell. In the old days, girls gave such eggs to suitors as a sign of location and consent to get married.
As for drinks, Cahors or any red wine is traditionally put on the Easter table.
A variety of meat dishes is a must. From cold appetizers, jelly, boiled pork are usually prepared, various cuts are put on the table. For hot dishes - oven-baked meat, homemade sausage, fried ribs, stuffed duck or chicken - show your imagination ... As for fish, it is rarely put on the Easter table: fasting is over, it's time to enjoy meat culinary delights!

Easter table

On Easter, not only dishes matter, but also the decoration of the Easter table. It's special. By tradition, the serving should be in certain pastel colors, where each color symbolizes something. For example, yellow means a symbol of vitality, joy, light; green - the personification of nature and freshness awakened from a winter sleep; red is the color of love, which at Easter symbolizes the boundless love of Christ to people; white is a symbol of purity and divine light. It is also customary to put a bouquet of fresh flowers on the Easter table, they will delight guests and fill the house with a spring aroma.