Ukrainian Easter Feast
Praying before the meal in 1948, Courtesy of State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory Project
As part of our ongoing series on the culinary traditions of Lent we turn today to WPA Sources on New England Rhode. The story is archived in the Library of Congress as part of its America Eats collection in a Rhode Island folder marked "Notes, Reports, and Essays." We share the content in a paraphrased format when necessary to make them legible and we share illustrative direct quotes as often as possible.
In Rhode Island members of the Ukrainian community take all their food to their churches to be blessed before cooking it. When the family is financially able to do dishes are used. Following is the menu for this feast:
Pigs in blankets, scalloped potatoes, lima beans, pickles, celery, Vienna bread, and butter, pie, and coffee.
Pigs in a Blanket Recipe
Serves 10 to 15 people
Ingredients
Hamburg
Onions
2 hot peppers
2 cups rice
1 tablespoon butter
Salt
Instructions
Cook rice for 10 minutes in boiling water. Chop onions and peppers, and mix with hamburger and salt. Searing hot buttered skillet for a few minutes. Add rice and mix thoroughly together with the rest of the mixture. Individual portions are wrapped in a cabbage leaf and fastened with toothpicks. Steam in a cooker until cabbage is tender.
