Buffalo Rising Online

Apr 5th 2007, 8:09am By Nicole Schuman

My grandparents were not straight-off-the-boat Polish immigrants. Therefore, I’m not even second generation Polish-American. I have more of an Italian look to me, dark hair, dark eyes, rather than the stereotypical Pole: light eyes, light skin and blonde hair. But my family has done everything they can to keep our traditions alive and passed down within our clan. We might not have all the exact terms correct—the actual Polish names for things may have gotten lost along the way—but we know the drill, and we know what is unique to our holiday culture. The biggest example of that culture emerges during the Easter season.

Every Spring, like thousands of other Western New Yorkers, I head toward the East Side, venturing to the Broadway Market, one of the area’s oldest (since 1888) and most unique shopping experiences. The streets surrounding the Market have generated their own deterioration and controversy, rendering a popular opinion that it is ‘unsafe’ or ‘dangerous’ to travel to the Market, which is complete hogwash. And on a recent Tuesday, I discovered the Market as alive, well and kicking and not only because it was the Easter season.

For a non-traditionalist, the Market may seem like a bizarre venue. It has a parking garage upstairs, and you can walk in to see trays of pigs’ feet and pastry hearts within a shoulder’s width of each other. Homemade crafts and imported trinkets color the pasture, at times bewildering the senses.

As a Pole there are certain items guaranteed in your basket for Easter: horseradish, polish sausage, a cross or braided bread, pierogis, crushiki pastries, a platzek loaf, pussywillows, painted wooden eggs, chocolates and of course, the butter lamb. Certain vendors have made a mark in the Western New York Community and many shoppers would not go to anyone but them for their favorite horseradish or pierogi selection. My personal picks? Miller’s Famous Horseradish. Just a sniff will start your eyes watering. They also have other varieties including a local favorite, horseradish mustard.

For your pastries and breads, there are numerous bakery vendors, but a staple of the market has been EM CHRUSCIKI. They make THE BEST chrusciki pastries (little strips of dough fried and covered in powdered sugar), as well as their famous rye bread. White Eagle also isn’t too bad for its braided breads and pastry hearts. Also stop and pick up a platczek loaf, a sugary almost-coffee cake with pieces of buttery sugar crumbs on top from any bakery for a nice Easter morning treat.

For filling the candy space in your Easter basket, there are plenty of confectioners at the Market; one to try for an immediate sugar rush would be Strawberry Island. The infamous vendor dips everything right in front of your eyes from pineapple and marshmallows to of course, strawberries.

Kielbasa and pierogis are mandatory Easter dinner staples. Almost every vendor claims world-famous pierogis and almost all are worthy of the title, but some of my favorites have included those from MALCZEWSKI POULTRY. And even though most of the butchers name themselves in the poultry business, most carry fresh (gray) and smoked (red) polish sausage during the Easter season. And even though the Redlinski Meat counter is long gone, some of the butchers can be seen carrying their infamous sausage. The iconic butter lamb, available in all sizes with a cute little yellow or purple bow, can also be found at any butcher stand.

After perusing all of the items, we’re usually pretty hungry. There are a number of cafes at the market specializing in everything from fried baloney sandwiches to soul food, all at super-reasonable prices. My companion and I had been hankering for Polish food since eyeing the kielbasa and tried a Polish platter from Jacob’s Café. For only $7.99 you received an enormous golmbki (ground beef and rice rolled in cabbage with tomato sauce), cheese pierogi, slice of smoked sausage with sauerkraut, sweet and sour kraut with bacon, a heap of mashed potatoes, and a Costanzo’s roll with butter. The food is extremely homemade tasting. We nearly had to be rolled out of there after we scraped our plates clean. Another restaurant staple that has been there ever since I was a kid is Perison’s Restaurant. A great menu, with great prices, and always busy with real counter stools!

Toward the end of our trip, we picked up the ever-soft and palpable pussywillow branches. I’ve got them in my hands for Monday, Dyngus Day, the Polish Holiday that Buffalo is working to resurrect on a National level. I’ll be back on the East Side Monday for the parade and party at the various venues and the Central Terminal, which looms behind the Market. Spring is always a time for rebirth and revitalization. And it seems like the perfect time for the East Side and burgeoning tradition.