Easter food

Food associated with Easter holiday

Abbacchio, a lamb preparation from the Italian Easter tradition

The holiday of Easter is associated with various Easter customs and foodways (food traditions that vary regionally). Preparing, coloring, and decorating Easter eggs is one such popular tradition. Lamb is eaten in many countries, mirroring the Jewish Passover meal.[1]

## Some regional Easter dishes[edit]

See also: Easter traditions

### Greece[edit]

In Greece, the traditional Easter meal is mageiritsa, a hearty stew of chopped lamb liver and wild greens seasoned with egg-and-lemon sauce. Traditionally, Easter eggs, hard-boiled eggs dyed bright red to symbolize the spilt Blood of Christ and the promise of eternal life, are cracked together to celebrate the opening of the Tomb of Christ.

### Hungary[edit]

Sárgatúró

In the Eastern part of Hungary, an Easter specialty known as sárgatúró (literally "yellow curd cheese") is made for the occasion.[2] Sárgatúró (in literal translation: "yellow curd cheese") is a delicacy, prepared mostly in Eastern Catholic regions, notably in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County and in the Hajdúság.[3][4][5] It is made by combining milk, eggs and sugar and boiling the mixture, stirring often, until it begins to lump, much like curd cheese or quark. Vanilla flavor is then added. When the lumps have formed, the mixture is put into a strong cloth and squeezed to get extra moisture out. The top of the cloth is then tied with a ribbon and the sárgatúró hung outside to let it drip and stick together. It is served cold, with other Easter foods like ham, kalács and boiled eggs. Besides the basic recipe, family recipes may vary, adding raisins, and/or cinnamon or nutmeg as additional spices.[6][3][4][5]

### Ireland[edit]

Easter was traditionally the most important date in the Christian calendar in Ireland, with a large feast marking the end of lent on Easter Sunday. Among the food commonly eaten were lamb, veal, and chicken, with a meal of corned beef, cabbage, and floury potatoes was a popular meal. It was traditional for farmers to share the meat from a slaughtered bullock or lamb with neighbours and or the less fortunate. Another tradition was that if a beggar called to a house, they would be given roasted potatoes. At this time of year, eggs were plentiful, and would be eaten at each meal.[7]

### Italy[edit]

Main article: Easter in Italy

Colomba di Pasqua. It is the Easter counterpart of the two well-known Italian Christmas desserts, panettone and pandoro.

Easter in Italy (Italian: Pasqua) is one of the country's major holidays.[8] Traditional Italian dishes for the Easter period are lamb (called "abbacchio" in Central Italy), cappello del prete, casatiello, Colomba di Pasqua, pastiera, penia, pizza di Pasqua and pizzelle. Eating lamb at Easter has a religious meaning.[9] The Paschal Lamb of the New Testament is in fact, for Christianity, the son of God Jesus Christ.[10] The Paschal Lamb, in particular, represents the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the sins of humanity.[9] Eating lamb at Easter therefore commemorates the Death and Resurrection of Jesus.[9] In Central Italy the lamb is called abbacchio, a term that derives from the Latin baculum, or stick, which recalls the stick to which the lambs were tied before slaughtering them.[11]

Colomba di Pasqua (English: "Easter Dove") is an Italian traditional Easter bread, the Easter counterpart of the two well-known Italian Christmas desserts, panettone and pandoro. The dough for the colomba is made in a similar manner to panettone, with flour, eggs, sugar, natural yeast and butter; unlike panettone, it usually contains candied peel and no raisins. The dough is then fashioned into a dove shape (colomba in Italian) and finally is topped with pearl sugar and almonds before being baked. Some manufacturers produce other versions including a popular bread topped with chocolate.[12] The colomba was commercialised by the Milanese baker and businessman Angelo Motta as an Easter version of the Christmas speciality panettone that Motta foods were producing.[13]

### Poland[edit]

Main article: Easter in Poland

Mazurek

Easter in Poland, a public holiday,[14] is one of that country's major holidays, often compared in importance to Christmas.[15][16][17][18][19] Associated with it are many specific customs and traditions.[14][20] In Poland, white sausage and mazurek are typical Easter breakfast dishes. The butter lamb (Baranek wielkanocny) is a traditional addition to the Easter meal for many Polish Catholics. Butter is shaped into a lamb either by hand or in a lamb-shaped mold. Mazurek is a variety of cake with a flat shape[21]. It is very sweet.[21] According to Polish gastronomy coursebooks, typical mazurek is a cake that can be made of one or two sheets of short (or half-short) pastry or one sheet of short (or half-short) pastry covered with a sheet of butter sponge cake[22]. The two sheets are fixed together with a help of a layer of marmalade.[22] In case of one-sheet version, marmalade is skipped or goes on top, under the layer of icing. The top of mazurek is covered with a layer of icing (i.e. sugar icing or kajmak) or jelly.[22] It is also decorated with nut-based icing or almond-based icing and candied fruits[22]. Traditionally, home-baked mazurek cakes are often decorated with dried fruits and nuts.

### Other countries[edit]

Two paskhas with candles (with a kulich and Easter eggs in the background)

Paskha (also spelled pascha, or pasha) is a Slavic festive dish made in Eastern Orthodox countries which consists of food that is forbidden during the fast of Great Lent. It is made during Holy Week and then brought to Church on Great Saturday to be blessed after the Paschal Vigil. The name of the dish comes from Pascha, the Eastern Orthodox celebration of Easter. Besides Russia, Ukraine, etc. Pasha is also often served in Finland. Cheese paskha is a traditional Easter dish made from tvorog (like cottage cheese, Russian: творог, tr. tvorog),[23] which is white, symbolizing the purity of Christ, the Paschal Lamb, and the joy of the Resurrection. It is formed in a mold, traditionally in the shape of a truncated pyramid which symbolizes the first Passover in Egypt, a nod to Christianity's early Jewish beginnings and a reminder that the Last Supper of Jesus was a Passover Seder. Others believe the pyramid is a symbol of the Trinity, the Church; Tomb of Christ). It is usually served as an accompaniment to rich Easter breads called paska in Ukraine and kulich in Russia (where the "paskha" name is also used in the Southern regions) and Poland “Pascha”.[24] The Easter foods; bread and cheese paska are very rich and made of many dairy items given up during Great Lent. They are brought to church on Easter to be blessed by the priest.

Kulich

Kulich is the Russian name for Easter bread. For the eastern Slavs, festive bread was round and tall, and dough decorations were made on top of it. The cylindrical shape of the cake is associated with the church practice of baking artos. The Paska bread tradition spread in cultures which were connected to the Byzantine Empire and is a traditional cultural part of countries with an Orthodox Christian population. It is eaten in countries like Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Romania, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, North Macedonia and Serbia.[25][26][27] Kulich is a variant of paska Easter breads and represents not only Easter but also the spring.[28] Easter is a very important celebration in Eastern European countries, even more important than Christmas.[29]

Traditional Ukrainian paska bread with a pysanka and willow switches

Paska is a sweet decorative bread native to Russia, Slovakia and Ukraine.[30][31] It is a variation of Easter bread, a Christian tradition particularly spread in Central and Eastern Europe, and countries with cultural connections to the ancient Byzantine Empire, Eastern Orthodoxy or Eastern Catholicism. Easter breads are a traditional element in the Easter holidays of Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Ukraine. It is also a common tradition amongst the Assyrian-Chaldean-Syriac diaspora. It is also eaten in countries with large immigrant populations from Central and Eastern Europe such as the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

## List of Easter foods[edit]

Easter biscuits Butter lamb Pastiera Święconka

Other Easter foods and food traditions include:

* Abbacchio
* Akvavit
* Awara broth, in French Guiana
* Babka (cake)
* Butter lamb
* Cappello del prete
* Casatiello
* Chocolate egg
* Carrot cake
* Chakapuli
* Colomba di Pasqua
* Cozonac
* Easter biscuit
* Easter bread
* Easter breakfast (see Polish cuisine#Easter breakfast)
* Easter bunny (often of the chocolate variety)
* Easter eggs
* Red Easter eggs
* Hot cross bun
* Fanesca, in Ecuador
* Feseekh, in Egypt
* Flaouna
* Easter Ham
* Koulourakia
* Kulich
* Leib
* Mämmi
* Ma'amoul
* Mazurek (cake)
* Pão-de-Ló and "Folar" in Portugal
* Paretak pastries
* Paska (bread)
* Paskha
* Pastiera
* Peeps
* Penia
* Pesaha Appam
* Pinca
* Pizza di Pasqua
* Pizzelle
* Pogaca (bread)
* Salted herring
* Sárgatúró in Hungary
* Simnel cake
* Šoldra
* Święconka
* Tsoureki, sometimes lined with red Easter eggs
* Habichuelas con dulce, in Dominican Republic

## See also[edit]

* Chiviri
* Fat Tuesday
* Passover
* Pisanica (Croatian)
* Śmigus-Dyngus

## References[edit]

1. ^ Traditional Easter Foods From Around the World
2. ^ Ujváry Zoltán, Szathmáry V. Ibolya (1992). Néprajzi tanulmányok: Prof. Ujváry Zoltán tiszteletére. Hajdú-Bihar Megyei Múzeumok Igazgatósága. p. 152\. Archived from the original on 2023-04-09. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
3. ^ a b Magyari Márta (2009). "Görög katolikus húsvéti hagyományok Létavértesen". Bihari Múzeum Évkönyve 12-14. (in Hungarian): 191.
4. ^ a b Ujváry Zoltán, Szathmáry V. Ibolya (1992). Néprajzi tanulmányok: Prof. Ujváry Zoltán tiszteletére (in Hungarian). Hajdú-Bihar Megyei Múzeumok Igazgatósága. p. 152.
5. ^ a b "Sárgatúró, a kihagyhatatlan húsvéti étel" (in Hungarian). Felvidék ma. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
6. ^ "Sárga túró (Yellow Cheese)". Magyar News. 2013-02-28. Archived from the original on 2014-02-23.
7. ^ Mahon, Bríd (1998). Land of milk and honey : the story of traditional Irish food and drink. Dublin: Mercier Press. pp. 127–128. ISBN 1-85635-210-2. OCLC 39935389.
8. ^ "Easter: How does Italy celebrate this festivity?". Retrieved 6 January 2024.
9. ^ a b c "Il simbolismo dell'agnello pasquale". lacucinaitaliana.it (in Italian). Retrieved 26 December 2022.
10. ^ "La Sacra Bibbia" (in Italian). Retrieved 26 December 2022.
11. ^ "La triade golosa del Natale italiano: cappone, abbacchio e capitone". lacucinaitaliana.it (in Italian). Retrieved 26 December 2022.
12. ^ "Flamigni Panettone Box". Archived from the original on 2011-09-04. Retrieved 2011-04-13. Chocolate version of Panettone
13. ^ Porzio, Stanislao (2007). Il panettone. Storia, leggende, segreti e fortune di un protagonista del Natale. Datanova. ISBN 9788895092317.
14. ^ a b Kowalczyk, Maria (2020). "Geneza i obchód Wielkanocy w Polsce. Zarys problematyki" (PDF). Studia Elbląskie (in Polish). XX: 273–294.
15. ^ Silverman, Deborah Anders (2000). Polish-American Folklore. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-02569-3.
16. ^ Kempny, Marta (9 June 2010). Polish Migrants in Belfast: Border Crossing and Identity Construction. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4438-2290-9.
17. ^ Levinson, David (1996). Encyclopedia of World Cultures. Prentice-Hall. ISBN 978-0-8161-1840-3.
18. ^ Strzelecka, Aneta (2014). "W JAKI SPOSÓB I Z JAKIEJ OKAZJI ŚWIĘTUJĄ PODRĘCZNIKOWI I PRAWDZIWI POLACY? NEGOCJOWANIE WAŻNOŚCI ŚWIĄT". Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Kształcenie Polonistyczne Cudzoziemców (in Polish) (21): 163–175. ISSN 0860-6587.
19. ^ Kreutza, A.; Greene, J. Augustine (1948). "Easter Customs in Poland". Blackfriars. 29 (337): 169–173. ISSN 1754-2014. JSTOR 43812427.
20. ^ "The Many Faces of Easter in Poland". Culture.pl. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
21. ^ a b Staff writer (3 April 2006). "Mazurki wielkanocne". Kobieta.wp.pl, kulinaria (in Polish). Wirtualna Polska. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2013. "(Translation: If the tradition is to be followed, there should be 12 mazurek cakes at Easter, each with different flavour.) Aby tradycji stało się zadość, na wielkanocnym stole powinno być ich 12, a każdy o innym smaku."
22. ^ a b c d Konarzewska, Małgorzata (2011). "3.14. Mazurki". Technologia gastronomiczna z towaroznawstwem: podręcznik do nauki zawodu kucharz w technikum i szkole policealnej. Tom 2 (in Polish). Warszawa: Wydawnictwa Szkolne i Pedagogiczne. pp. 144–146.
23. ^ "Pashka definition and meaning - Collins English Dictionary". Collinsdictionary.com. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
24. ^ "Easter recipes: Kulich & Paskha". Archived from the original on 2013-03-27. Retrieved 2014-04-11.
25. ^ "Orthodox Easter in Ukraine". Archived from the original on 2018-06-15. Retrieved 2017-05-21.
26. ^ "Kiev Kulich (Ukraine) - sweet Kiev - dessert Kiev - desserts Kiev - sweets Kiev".
27. ^ "Why No Slavic Easter Is Complete Without Kulich". Kitchn. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
28. ^ Kharzeeva, Anna; RBTH, special to (2015-04-10). "Kulich: A cake that means spring, not just Easter". www.rbth.com. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
29. ^ "What to Know if You're Visiting Russia on Easter". TripSavvy. Archived from the original on 2018-01-29. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
30. ^ Hudgins, Sharon (2018). T-bone whacks and caviar snacks : cooking with two Texans in Siberia and the Russian Far East. University of North Texas Press. ISBN 978-1-57441-714-2. OCLC 1013516614. "In Russian, paskha is the word for Easter; in Ukrainian, the word is spelled paska. For Russians, paskha is the also the name of a special cheese dessert made only for Easter, always accompanied by the Russian Easter bread kulich, a tall, cylindrical, yeast-raised, sweet bread decorated with white icing. For Ukrainians, however, paska is the name of their own Easter bread."
31. ^ "Traditional Easter in Slovakia". slovakia.travel. Retrieved 2024-01-02.

* v
* t
* e

Easter and its cycle

Lent|

| Shrovetide|

* Septuagesima
* Sexagesima
* Quinquagesima
* Carnival
* Cascarón
* Maslenitsa

Shrove Tuesday|

* Mardi Gras
* Holy Face of Jesus

Lent proper|

* Ash Wednesday
* Great Lent
* Temptation of Christ
* First Sunday of Lent
* Ember days
* Second Sunday of Lent
* Third Sunday of Lent
* Laetare Sunday (Mothering Sunday)

Passiontide|

* Passion Sunday
* Friday of Sorrows

Music|

* Ave Regina caelorum
* Passion (music)
* Passion hymns
* Stabat Mater

Holy Week|

| Palm Sunday|

* Triumphal entry into Jerusalem

|

Ferias|

* Holy Monday
* Holy Tuesday
* Holy Wednesday

Triduum|

* Tenebrae

Maundy Thursday|

* Chrism Mass
* Last Supper
* Crotalus
* Art
* Farewell Discourse
* Mass of the Lord's Supper
* Foot washing
* Stripping of the Altar

Good Friday|

* Passion of Jesus
* Arma Christi
* Stations of the Cross
* Crucifixion of Jesus
* Descent from the Cross
* Lamentation
* Epitaphios
* Pietà
* Burial of Jesus
* Tomb of Jesus
* Easter Sepulchre
* Good Friday prayer
* for the Jews
* Gorzkie żale

Holy Saturday|

* Harrowing of Hell
* Święconka

Easter Vigil|

* Paschal candle
* Holy Fire
* Lumen Christi
* Exsultet
* Artos
* Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults

Traditions|

* Burning of Judas
* Processions

By location|

* Colombia
* Popayán
* Guatemala
* Italy
* Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto
* Ruvo di Puglia
* Malta
* Mexico
* Taxco
* Philippines
* Portugal
* Braga
* Spain
* Cuenca
* Málaga
* Salamanca
* San Cristóbal de La Laguna
* Santa Cruz de La Palma
* Seville
* Valladolid
* Viveiro
* Zamora

Easter|

| Day|

* Resurrection of Jesus
* Art
* Myrrhbearers
* Road to Emmaus
* Paschal Homily
* Sunrise service

Date|

* List of dates
* Calculation
* Ecclesiastical new moon
* Ecclesiastical full moon
* Epact
* Golden number
* Sardica paschal table
* Dionysius Exiguus' Easter table
* Controversy
* Quartodecimanism
* Gregorian calendar
* Reform proposals

Season|

| Liturgical features|

* Alleluia
* Pentecostarion
* Trikirion

|

Octave|

| Bright Week|

* Easter Sunday
* Easter Monday
* Śmigus-dyngus
* Easter whip
* Easter Tuesday
* Wednesday
* Thursday
* Friday
* Saturday

|

* Second Sunday of Easter
* Doubting Thomas
* Divine Mercy Sunday

* Radonitsa
* Third Sunday of Easter
* Fourth Sunday of Easter
* Mid-Pentecost
* Fifth Sunday of Easter
* Sixth Sunday of Easter
* Rogation days

Ascensiontide|

* Ascension of Jesus
* Art
* Feast of the Ascension
* Cenacle
* Novena
* Seventh Sunday of Easter
* Matthias the Apostle

Traditions|

* Basket
* Bonnet
* Bunny
* Bilby
* Easter seals
* Food
* Greeting
* Parade
* Pace Egg play
* Postcard
* Rouketopolemos
* Saitopolemos
* Scoppio del carro

Easter eggs|

* Dance
* Decorating
* in Slavic culture
* Rolling
* Hunt
* Osterbrunnen
* Tapping
* Tree
* Tossing

By country|

* Croatia
* Poland
* Ukraine

By country|

* Ethiopia and Eritrea
* Italy
* Latvia
* Poland

Pre-Christian|

* Ēostre

Music|

* Easter Oratorio
* I Will Mention the Loving-kindnesses
* Russian Easter Festival Overture
* Salzburg Easter Festival

Liturgical|

* Regina caeli
* Troparion
* Victimae paschali laudes

Cantatas|

* Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden, BWV 6
* Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4
* Der Friede sei mit dir, BWV 158
* Der Himmel lacht! Die Erde jubilieret, BWV 31
* Ein Herz, das seinen Jesum lebend weiß, BWV 134
* Erfreut euch, ihr Herzen, BWV 66
* Ich lebe, mein Herze, zu deinem Ergötzen, BWV 145

Hymns|

* Christ the Lord Is Risen Today
* Jesus Christ Is Risen Today
* O filii et filiae
* The Strife is O'er, the Battle Done

Choral music|

* Surrexit a mortuis

Film and TV|

* Films
* Television episodes

Pentecost|

| Season|

| Octave|

* Pentecost Sunday
* Whitsun
* Whit Monday
* Whit Tuesday
* Ember days
* Feast of Christ the Priest
* Trinity Sunday

|

* Feast of Corpus Christi
* Feast of the Sacred Heart

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