Baskets in the eastern European tradition share more than special foods
By Andrea McGovern
Spring is here, and Marilou Suszko’s fancy has turned to thoughts of ... Easter baskets. Not the candy-filled, bunny-delivered baskets of secular celebrations, but baskets that represent the rich spiritual and culinary traditions of eastern European Catholics.For Suszko, a freelance food writer and instructor, the eastern European tradition nicely melds her passions for a simpler life where the foods one eats reflect a respect for the land, for the labor of love of farmers who provide these foods, and for the Creator who made them all.
Suszko, who lives in Vermillion, sits across a table at a local restaurant. She has a bright smile and merry eyes. She sips a juice drink made from celery, ginger and orange juice. Although she works toward a diet that is healthy and natural, she admits to an occasional fast food stop. Still, she appreciates restaurants where she knows the food has been made with fresh and healthy ingredients.
With a degree in journalism and communications from the University of Toledo, Suszko embarked on a career in advertising and magazine editing. About 10 years ago, she realized that foods and cooking had become her major interest, and she began to take cooking classes. Eventually, she quit her job and became a freelance writer. Her work has appeared in The Catholic Chronicle in Toledo, The Plain Dealer and several cooking magazines. Her book, “Farms and Foods of Ohio: from Garden Gate to Dinner Plate,” will be published this month.
“The book is about eating local,” she said. “It contains 40 profiles of farmers who dedicate their lives to raising healthy food in Ohio, and recipes using local flavors.”
“Eating local is a big thing. It’s not difficult, but if you are really going to be true to it, it takes a lot of work,” she said.
For the purist, that means replacing the items in the cupboard with locally grown equivalents. Of course, some items, such as olives, just cannot be replaced. “You’d miss out on some great flavors,” Suszko said.
But she points out that major products such as flour, farm-raised fish, shrimp, meat and many fruits and vegetables are all produced in Ohio.
“You have to learn how to eat with the seasons,” Suszko said. “You can’t enjoy foods like asparagus all year long unless you preserve them by canning or freezing.”
Suszko is the daughter of Bob and Carol Kosik. She grew up in Birdtown, an ethnic neighborhood in Lakewood nicknamed for the aviary street names. The family belonged to Sts. Cyril and Methodius Church. After graduating from Magnificat High School, she went to school in Toledo, where she met her husband Ihar Suszko. She is 100 percent Slovak; he Ukranian.
She credits her “Nana,” Agnes Sopko, with introducing her to the eastern European Easter ritual of the blessed basket of foods that symbolize the story of Christ’s death and resurrection. She said her grandmother would spend days in the kitchen, baking Paska, the traditional Easter bread, which reminds us of the bread of life; cooking ham and sausage, symbolizing God’s abundance; boiling and coloring eggs, which stand for new life; making beet horseradish, a reminder of the bitterness of life, and the soft sweet cheese called cirak, which reminds us to take all things in moderation.
Once prepared, all would be packed in a favorite basket, along with a butter lamb as a reminder of the goodness of Christ, salt symbolizing preservation by Christ, and a candle representing the light of the world. The basket was covered in an embroidered linen cloth, which represented Christ’s burial clothes, and carried to the church to be blessed on Holy Saturday.
Suszko said after the blessing, the food was put away until after church on Easter morning, making the sacrificial waiting of the last few hours of Lent harder than all the other 39½ days.
It’s a tradition shared by many other ethnic families, and Suszko has made a mission of using her credibility as food writer and instructor to reintroduce the custom to families that may have for-gotten about it. She has written several articles about the tradition and shared it in seminars at local churches, most recently Holy Trinity Church, Lorain.
Although Suszko has included recipes for several of the Easter foods below, she said most of the contents of the basket can be purchased. It is the tradition and how it conveys an understanding of food as a reflection of God the provider, that counts.
“So much of our lives revolve around food,” Suszko said. “Yes, its main purpose is to nourish, but it’s also about bringing people to the table.”
McGovern is a freelance writer.
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Courtesy of MARILOU SUSZKO
Marilou Suszko finds that preparing an Easter basket in the Eastern European tradition goes beyond nourishment, but also helps share love among family and friends.
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