Easter is a special time of the year. Irrespective of your religion or cultural belief system, it is a long weekend which means additional time to cherish with our loved ones and… gorge ourselves on tasty morsels!
Whether you choose to snarf down seafood on Friday, whip up a lamb-based dish on Sunday, gobble done Easter eggs or hot cross buns, one thing is guaranteed, you are eating a meal that has a story behind it.
FISH
Eating fish on a Friday does have more of a religious element to it as it is believed that Christ sacrificed his flesh for man on the Friday before Easter, so many abstain from red meat. In the past, only fish was consumed the Friday before Easter (Good Friday), but now this rule has extended to eating all sorts of seafood on a Friday, be sure to check out our post Everyday Seafood for some great seafood recipes. If you are still a novice when it comes to cooking seafood, have a read through Cooking with Seafood for some brilliant tips.
LAMB
Eating lamb on Easter is a tradition carried over from the Jewish celebration of Passover. During Biblical times, Egypt experienced 10 plagues. The 10th plague was the death of the first-born son. To protect themselves against the 10th plague, Jewish families painted a cross with lamb’s blood over their doorposts for this plague to pass over their homes and spare the lives of their first-born sons. Jewish families who converted to Christianity continued with the tradition of eating lamb over Easter.
Try a different recipe this Easter, like lamb korma or a slow-roasted lemon and yoghurt leg of lamb.
EASTER EGGS
Easter eggs are a bit trickier to pinpoint where they came from. Many believe that in pagan beliefs, eggs represented new life and were associated with the celebration of spring. It is further speculated that when the Romans tried to convert the pagans to Christianity, they adopted some of the pagan rituals to make Christianity more “attractive” to the pagans; again – this is merely speculation.
Psst… Vegan readers, or any readers for that matter, try out our Almond Butter Date Eggs. Not only are they vegan friendly, but they are also healthy and fun for the whole family to make.
HOT CROSS BUNS
One a penny, 2 a penny, hot cross buns. If you have no daughters, give them to your sons. One a penny, 2 a penny, hot cross buns. If there is a children’s rhyme about something, you know it is important. This delicious Easter weekend snack goes way back in time; its origins are said to be pre-Christian times – to celebrate the German Goddess of fertility, Eostre. These sticky buns only really became synonymous with Easter when a monk added the cross to them. The cross represents the cross on which Christ was crucified, and the spices in the buns signify the spices used to embalm Him after his death. Be daring this Easter, try out these crazy ways to eat your hot cross buns.
