Lenten traditions and cuisine of the old Warmia and Masuria
For centuries, the liturgical calendar was as important to the inhabitants of Warmia and Masuria as the secular calendar. Of course, Protestant Masuria and Catholic Warmia differed considerably in matters of celebrating religious festivals. However, some elements remained common, e.g. each Easter was preceded by a period of fasting and this fasting by a period of fests.
In Warmia, there was no tradition of carnival, but there were the “zapusty” (a kind of slavic carnival). These were the three days leading up to Ash Wednesday. During this period, works in the fields and on the farm were stopped and people focused on celebrating before the fasting period. And it was then, and not on Fat Thursday, that doughnuts were baked in Warmia. In addition to doughnuts, fatty foods appeared on the tables – this was to prepare the body properly for Lent. As one Warmian proverb used to say: “There will be a fat hen in zapusty”.
The fest ended at midnight on Tuesday. The community was then entering a serious time of fasting. It is worth pointing out here an important difference between the Warmian traditions and some of the Masurian traditions. Indeed, in the Ełk area, the tradition of celebrating on Ash Wednesday was also known. Bachelors had so-called “birki” attached to their backs with the inscription: “Didn’t manage to get married, became an old bachelor”. The same was done with maidens. In most areas of the region, however, Ash Wednesday was a day of reverie and the start of fasting. It was a well-known custom to scrub pots with ash to get rid of leftover fatty and meat dishes.
During Lent, a similar set of dishes appeared on the tables of Warmians and Masurians. The main dishes were: peas with cabbage, milk soups and wholemeal bread. In the western part of the Masuria region, herring, previously imported by the farmers, was also popular. The Masurians also ate potatoes baked in ashes, raw cabbage and mushroom dumplings without any omelette, or ‘bare’.
Three Sundays before Easter, the boys plucked willow and birch branches. They were placed in a bucket standing in the kitchen to sprout leaves and catkins. The catkins consecrated during Palm Sunday mass acquired extraordinary powers: swallowed, they were supposed to protect against throat diseases; burned, they became penitential ash. Farmers also made small crosses from them and placed them in the grain fields to protect them from various natural disasters. They also placed twigs over the barn gates – to protect the cattle from disease.
According to liturgical tradition in Warmia and Masuria, the fasting period was a period of abstinence and waiting – both for Easter and for the beginning of spring.
Castles and palaces in Warmia and Masuria
Many tourists know that the Warmia and Masuria region enjoys many well-preserved historical buildings. This is evidenced, for example, by the popularity of the Gothic Castle Trail, which leads to six fortresses in our region (there are fourteen of them throughout the trail) – Teutonic, episcopal and capitular. Since they preserved in a good condition, they have been revitalised. There are currently museums, cultural centers, and even hotels. Numerous old manor houses and palaces shared similar fate.
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