Italian Easter Traditions

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Video: Italian Easter Traditions

Video: Italian Easter Traditions
Video: Italian Easter Traditions 2024, November
Italian Easter Traditions
Italian Easter Traditions
Anonim

Traditionally, Easter marks the end of a long period of deprivation during Lent, a time when foods such as meat, eggs, butter and lard are not allowed, and this is an occasion for abundant and pleasant celebration.

Although fasting is no longer as strictly observed as in the past, and in today's world of imported foods we no longer have strict dietary restrictions, naturally created by the seasons and scarcity, Easter it's still time for a holiday, especially at the table.

The popular Italian phrase "Natale con i tuoi, Pasqua con chi vuoi" means "Christmas with your parents, Easter with whomever you want." In other words, it's traditional to spend Christmas with your family, but Easter (although it probably still includes family, as they do again on most Italian holidays), is a little freer and you can celebrate it with your friends.

Italian Easter main dishes and ingredients

kazatielo is Italian salty bread for Easter
kazatielo is Italian salty bread for Easter

In the early 15th century, Italians colored hard-boiled Easter eggs with herbs, flowers and onion skins. Today, buying chocolate eggs that contain surprise toys are the most popular Easter entertainment for Italian children.

The most prominent ingredients in Italian Easter dishes are the eggs and the lambs, both symbols of renewal and rebirth.

Italians in the south of the country make many types of complex spicy breads, which often include meat, cheese and whole eggs. Casatiello from Naples is one such bread baked in an egg ring. Easter bread from the Ligurian region is traditionally made with 33 thin layers of dough, one for each year of Jesus' life.

The traditional Italian Easter menu it starts with a soup like the Roman brodetto pasquale, a hearty broth thickened with egg and made with beef and lamb, or a classic in Naples that has become popular around the world as an Italian wedding soup.

Italian Easter cakes and desserts

Italian sweet bread for Easter
Italian sweet bread for Easter

There are also many sweet Easter breads, the most common being colomba, sweet pigeon-shaped yeast bread covered with almonds and crunchy pearl sugar, similar to the texture and taste of the classic Italian Christmas cake.

Another well known Italian Easter dish is pastiera napoletana, so popular that it is now eaten all year round. It is a creamy mixture of ricotta and semolina, flavored with lemon peel and orange water, and traditionally made with wheat ears (symbolizing fertility) and candied orange peel.

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