Domashnia kovbasa

The story

Domashnia kovbasa, homemade sausage, is one of the meats Ukrainian families return to when Lent ends. On Holy Saturday, which falls on May 1, 2027, people carry baskets of food to church, where the priest blesses them with holy water. The basket holds paska, dyed eggs, butter, cheese, horseradish, salt and sometimes lard, together with a ring of sausage or a piece of ham, all covered with a towel. In a 2010 UNIAN article, Father Mykhailo Dymyd, a lecturer at the Ukrainian Catholic University, explained that the sausage or ham stands for spiritual joy, and he connected it with the fattened calf in the parable of the prodigal son. On Easter Sunday, May 2, the blessed food is eaten at the holiday meal, and the table fills with meat dishes after the fast: the Vikna news site lists sausage, roast pork, pork knuckle and aspic. The home version is coarse pork with some beef and fatback, plenty of garlic and black pepper, stuffed into natural casings and baked in the oven until browned. Make it two or three days ahead; it slices best cold and keeps well through the holiday week.