Tower and Town, April 2015 (view the full edition)Easter Foods From Around The WorldWhen I think of Easter I think of hot cross buns! Here in the UK it is a long-standing tradition. Anticipating these got me wondering what traditional goodies other countries ate at this time. Here are just a few interesting examples. It’s surprising how similar a lot of them are, both to each other, and to ours.
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Russia - Pashka – a pyramid - shaped dessert made from cheese is traditionally served at Easter. The dish is often decorated with religious symbols, such as the letters XB, from “Christos Voskres” which means ‘Christ is Risen’.
Italy - Columba di Pasqua - similar in taste to the Italian bread, panettone, Columba di Pasqua is a caked stuffed with candied peel, and shaped like a dove.
Greece - Tsoureki – brioche-like bread, flavoured with an essence drawn from the seed of wild cherries, and is often decorated with hard boiled eggs which have been dyed red to symbolise the blood of Christ.
UK - Of course we all know and love the good old Hot Cross Bun (even though we can eat them all year round!) – the sweet spiced bun, marked with a cross, which has been eaten for hundreds of years. Simnel cake – a rich, fruit cake topped by 12 or sometimes 11 marzipan balls representing the Apostles.
Mexico - Capirotada – a kind of spiced bread pudding filled with raisins, cinnamon, cloves and cheese, that is popular during the Easter period. It’s said that each ingredient carries a reminder of the suffering of Christ – the cloves being the nails on the cross, the cinnamon sticks, the wooden cross, the cheese, the Holy Shroud, and the bread, the body of Christ himself.
Orthodox Christian countries - Kulich – families in many Orthodox Christian countries, including Bulgaria, Georgia and Russia, will bake a Kulich at Easter. The cakes are baked in tall tins and decorated with white icing and colourful sprinkles of flowers. The cakes are often blessed by a priest after Easter Sunday service. Often eaten in Russia along with the Pashka>/i>.
Germany - Chervil soup – Maundy Thursday is known as ‘Grundonnerstag’ or Green Thursday, when Germans traditionally eat green-coloured foods. Chervil soup is a popular choice.
Brazil - Pacoca de Amendoim – is a sweet treat made from peanuts, sugar and cassava flour. It is traditionally served in honour of the Easter festival.
Spain - Mona de Pascua – a popular Easter cake traditionally cooked in several regions of Spain during ‘Semana Santa’ (Holy Week). Traditionally resembles a large doughnut topped with a hard-boiled egg.