Ukrainian Easter Recipes (Velykden)
Velykden – Ukraine’s “Great Day” – is the biggest feast of the Orthodox year, arriving after forty days of Lenten fasting. The centerpiece is paska, the tall egg-rich bread blessed in its basket at church before anyone at the table may eat it. Once the blessing is done and the fast breaks, the rest of the spread returns in full: butter, cheese, sausage, smoked meat and everything else Lent set aside.
Velykden closes the cycle that starts with Sviata Vecheria’s meatless Christmas Eve and continues through Malanka’s New Year’s Eve revelry – see the Sviata Vecheria table and the Malanka feast for the rest of the season.
