Traditional Easter and Easter meals play an important role in most countries with Judeo-Christian roots, whether you decide to enjoy them or abstain from them.
If you are one of the first, this year we invite you to try the delicacies they prepare around the world to commemorate these dates.
In Russia, life is sweetened with Pasjá
This traditional dessert is a kind of creamy mousse made with fresh farm cheese – also called tvorog – that is mixed with egg yolks, butter, sugar, vanilla, heavy cream, nutmeg, citrus zest, and brandy.
It is topped with fresh, dried, or candied fruits and served with paska, the traditional Russian Easter bread.
Greece likes the Tsourekis
This is a sweet bread resembling brioche bread that is often braided around bright red Easter eggs. Its aromatic flavor comes from the resin collected from the Mediterranean mastic.
It also carries mahlepi, a spice made from the seeds of cherries, a touch of anise, orange zest or cinnamon. Some variations of tsoureki are common in Armenia, Turkey, and any country with a large Greek community.
In Lebanon, the Maamoul enjoy
This butter cookie filled with dates, nuts, or pistachios is also served around Eid, a major Muslim holiday.
Its origins are ancient and traditional recipes use semolina flour and mahlab, the Arabic version of fruity mahlepi. Rosewater and orange blossom add a fragrant quality. The cookie is then shaped in a special wooden mold, baked, and sprinkled with powdered sugar.
Ecuador eats fanesca, a grain soup
This hearty soup is made from a dozen different grains, legumes, and vegetables that vary by region. There have to be twelve ingredients because you symbolize the 12 apostles.
This dish is accompanied by fried plantains, peanuts, hard-boiled eggs, and empanadas.
This savory, flaky cake is filled with a mixture of chard, ricotta, and Parmesan cheese, bonded with egg yolks and flavored with lemon zest and nutmeg.
In some regions, chard is replaced with artichokes or spinach. This recipe of Italian origin is the gift of Argentine Easter since the immigrants of the nineteenth century brought the recipe.
Hot cross buns, the sweetness of Bermuda
These buns, hot cross buns, as well as sweets, are spicy, they are filled with raisins with crosses that have been pressed into the dough or drawn with white glaze.
In the UK they sometimes stuff them with cod, especially during Easter.
Roasted lamb with flageolet beans from France
Between the traditional Meals of Holy Week and Passover, the lamb has a special place that dates back to the ancient traditions of Jewish converts.
In France, le gigot d’agneau, is seasoned with garlic and rosemary and accompanied by flageolet beans.
Folar: Portuguese Easter bread
This bread can be sweet or salty depending on the region. Like tsoureki, one or more boiled eggs are baked on top of golden bread.
In the north, bread is sometimes stuffed with meats such as ham and linguiça, a local smoked pork sausage. Sweet folar is the classic in Lisbon and can be seasoned with anise, cinnamon, or powdered sugar.
In Brazil, they eat Paçoca de amendoim
These peanut sweets are especially consumed in São Paulo and southeastern Brazil. They are made with ground peanuts, sugar, salt, and, optionally, cassava flour.
These marzipan-like sweets are also popular during Festa Junina, a large Catholic celebration that takes place in June.
And in Mexico, we eat capirotada
The Mexican version of the bread pudding is enjoyed on Good Fridays. It is very easy to make, soaking bread in piloncillo honey with cinnamon and cloves.
At the end, a handful of raisins, other dried fruits, or even cheese and sweets are added. Some symbolically interpret this dessert, taking bread as the body of Christ, syrup as his blood, nails or raisins as cloves, and cinnamon sticks as the cross.
And if you want recipes for traditional Easter and Easter meals, learn how to prepare romeritos here or here, on our YouTube channel.
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