Easter week is one of the most popular Christian festivals in the world and in many countries, is a great time for food and celebration. In Italy dinner is typically a sumptuous feast highlighted with gourmet delicacies including Agnellino, roasted baby lamb. Eggs, symbolizing new life, are featured in soups such as a Brodetto Pasquale, a broth-based Easter soup thickened with eggs. Likewise both sweet and savory breads, symbolizing the bread of life, are a beloved tradition and often given as gifts.
Brodetto Pasquale, Italian broth based egg soup.
At dawn on Easter Sunday in Greece, the spits are prepared, and grills are fired up. The customary main course is a whole roasted lamb to represent the Lamb of God. Everything on the Easter menu is served family-style, including a big salad with lemony dressing and moussaka — lightly fried eggplant and zucchini layered with potatoes and lamb and topped with béchamel sauce.
Greek antipasto plate with roasted peppers, olives and hard boiled eggs.
Greek Moussaka topped with béchamel sauce.
Other typical Greek Easter dishes include: Feta Cheese Platter, Roasted Peppers, Crispy Sweetbreads, Lemon Potatoes and Mixed Olives. Great Greek wines flow freely, and preparations for the meal turn into special fun times even before the eating begins.
Roasted baby lamb is part of the traditional Greek Easter meal.
Another popular Greek dish for Easter is crispy sweetbreads over sautéed spinach.
In France, as always, the French take great pride in their food, and no small town is without a candy shop. Easter brings a time of fanfare for master chocolatiers to display and celebrate their heavenly creations. Years of practice and great attention to detail produce chocolate eggs that look like more like precious art than an edible treat!
In the streets of Paris at Easter, chocolatiers dazzle customers with inspired creative eggs.
The joy of the day is surely doubled when we celebrate with friends and family, but ever-the-more when we celebrate with fellow believers. Whatever your family heritage may be, by adding a touch of history to your menu, you are sure to bless your loved ones with treasured food memories symbolic of the sweet Lamb of Easter.
Gorgeous Easter treats, very much enjoyed them all ! You inspired me to have a go on Moussaka again, absolutely love it :)
those chocolate eggs make me want to go to Paris–beautiful!