25/03/2022
{{P***a for Ukraine}}
Free tutorial & printable recipe: www.paskabread.com
For generations, P***a has been the bread made in kitchens throughout Ukraine on Good Friday. Tradition insists upon three loaves: one to honor nature, another to honor the dead, and a third to honor those here on earth. While the dough rises, they quiet their homes.
Right now, the United Nations estimates that over 9 million Ukrainians have been forced from their homeland because of war.
When I watch the footage emerging from the border crossings, my gaze stays longer on the images of grandmothers. Many in wheelchairs, pushed mile after mile, bundled under blankets often covered in snow. These women should be in their kitchens with family, covered in a dusting of flour, carrying on the tradition of P***a baking this Easter season.
I believe so strongly in the power of food and its ability to connect cultures and unite us as one. The gift of taste and smell and the way each can make us both wistful for the past and hopeful for the future. This Spring, I’ll be foregoing my own Easter traditions for the baking of P***a. I will quietly knead, shape, rise, and bake in honor of what so many Ukrainians are unable to do right now.
The making of traditional P***a bread.
My hope is that you’ll bake alongside me in your own kitchen. That the serenity of kneading dough becomes our offering of peace to a situation that seems dim. That we’ll use the time of stillness while the dough rises to yearn for justice and peace. That we’ll be moved to action, offering our resources to feed the weary, always in our own backyard, but especially in Ukraine right now.
Special thanks to Ben Sollee for permission to use his new release, Slow Flow, for this project.
If you would like to donate to World Central Kitchen with me, you can do so at paskabread.com
