As we dig into our glazed ham and spring vegetables, what will the rest of the world be eating this Easter?
American children will be expecting an Easter weekend filled with marshmallow Peeps, candy baskets, Easter egg hunts, and a decadent dinner of roast ham and spring vegetables. However, that’s not the case for the rest of the world. From Lebanese ma’amoul cookies, to Greek lamb soup, we’ve taken a look at the many and varied Easter food traditions all around the world.
Easter is an important holiday in all Christian countries, and every Easter weekend centers around decadent foods, and a celebratory meal. All over the world, a vast range of dishes are made and enjoyed over the Easter season. Often, they are specialty sweets and meals, which are not made or seen at any other point during the year.
From Shrove Tuesday to Easter Monday, Easter is an incredibly symbolic time, and the food traditions which have come to be firmly associated with this holiday demonstrate this. Whether the Easter meal is simply celebrating the beginning of spring, or whether the dessert represents Christ’s punishing time on the cross, there is an explanation and story behind every Easter food.
Sweet, fruit breads, eggs, and lamb are common Easter foods. They appear in various forms, cooked with different flavors, in so many countries. Whether these food traditions are eaten to mark the start of Lent, the end of the fasting period, or to celebrate Christ rising from the cross, there’s always a reason behind their annual Easter existence. From Ecuador to Italy, we’ve looked at what — and the reasons why — the world will be eating over this holiday.
Easter Food Traditions Around the World
American children will be expecting an Easter weekend filled with marshmallow Peeps, candy baskets, Easter egg hunts, and a decadent dinner of roast ham and spring vegetables. However, that’s not the case for the rest of the world. From Lebanese ma’amoul cookies, to Greek lamb soup, we’ve taken a look at the many and varied Easter food traditions all around the world.
American Easter Ham
The American tradition of eating ham at Easter started years ago, before refrigeration existed. The animals were traditionally slaughtered in the fall, and, to make the meat last, the meat was cured. The curing process took so long that it wasn’t until Easter that the first hams were ready. Ham has thereby become a celebratory Easter dinner centerpiece, which many households in America enjoy every Easter Sunday.
Argentinian Torta Pascualina
Literally translated as “Eastertime Tart,” Torta Pascualina, has been a traditional Argentinian Easter dish since the sixteenth century, when the Italian immigrants brought the recipe to Argentina with them. This spinach and ricotta pie has raw eggs cracked into it, which cook as the pie bakes in the oven. When you serve it, every slice has a cross-section of a cooked egg in it, making this pie the prettiest egg-focused Easter celebration dish.
British Hot Cross Buns
These spiced, fruit buns, marked with a white cross, are traditionally eaten on Good Friday morning to signify the end of Lent. The cross on top is there to symbolize Jesus’ crucifixion, and it’s said that the spices used in the buns represent the spices used to embalm Jesus at his funeral.
Ecuadorian Fanesca
The 12-bean Ecuadorian soup, called ‘fanesca,’ is only ever cooked at Easter. It’s exact recipe and preparation varies from region to region, but it will always include 12 different types of beans and grains, pumpkin, bacalao, and milk. The 12 different grains represent the 12 apostles of Jesus. Catholicism doesn’t allow for any meat to be eaten during Holy week, which explains how this meat-free Easter dish came about.
French Roast Leg of Lamb
Roast lamb is a traditional Easter dish in many countries, but a roast leg of lamb is a French Easter staple. Lamb has long been a feature on Easter dinner tables as a symbol of Jesus’ sacrifice (lamb is considered a sacrificial animal), and also because it symbolizes new life, as does the spring season.
German Chervil Soup
The Germans call Maundy Thursday ‘Gründonnerstag,’ which literally means ‘Green Thursday.’ Although the word didn’t originate from the word ‘grün’ (green), but instead from ‘greinen,’ which means ‘to weep,’ it remains a German tradition to eat lots of green vegetables to mark this day which commemorates Jesus’ last supper.
Greek Mageiritsa
The Greek Orthodox tradition is to break the fast after the Midnight Liturgy service on Easter Saturday with this lamb soup. This soup is made of lamb offal. The head, neck, intestines, heart, and liver are cooked in this dish as traditionally it was made of the parts of the lamb that were removed before it was roasted for the main Easter meal on Sunday.
Russian Kulich
This tall, soft, fruit-studded sweet bread is eaten in Russia at Easter to break the fast of Lent. The bread requires a lot of rising and oven time, and is only ever made for the Easter weekend. It’s a classic Easter sweet, which is quite similar to the more commonly known Italian panettone, in shape, texture, and flavor.
