Христос воскрес! Easter in Russia is an amazing time of year. Due to visa difficulties last year, this was my first Easter in Russia. Preparation began Friday with a shopping trip in which this large hunk of meat came home with us.
I thought it would be fun to serve to ham to everyone...fun indeed! That is a 18 pound chunk raw pork! After I moved past the initial intimidation and did some googling, I was read to begin the cutting and seasoning. One of the best things about living in a different country is learning to do things you never thought you would or even could do! :)
I got it cut up and smothered with soy sauce, liquid smoke, garlic, salt and pepper. It sat in the fridge to soak up the yummy flavors overnight. Saturday our house smelled wonderful all day while they cooked. It took about 10 hours for them all to cook.
This is the finished product. Sunday I warmed it up with a sauce I made from honey, minced garlic, soy sauce and liquid smoke. A lot of prayer when into this meat! I have never felt so intimidated by cooking before! We were blessed with 52 people in attendance for the whole service!
A very common food for Russian Easter is Kulich. It is a sweet bread and often has raisins inside.
It is marked with the Russian letters "ХВ" which stands for Христос воскрес (He is risen).
I decided to make sugar cookies with those letters since another lady was making the yummy bread.
It was such a fun day. I've always said my favorite holiday is Christmas, but I think that has changed living in Russia. Their Christmas is pretty dull and not a very big deal, but they make up for it at Easter! Воистину Воскрес (Truly He is risen)!
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