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Eating our way through Easter after the Great Fast

Let’s not deny it: holidays such as Easter and Christmas are an excuse to eat food. Not just any food, but the most delicious, fatty, starchy foods that would be at the top of every carb-induced death list of banned foods.
kulich

Let’s not deny it: holidays such as Easter and Christmas are an excuse to eat food. Not just any food, but the most delicious, fatty, starchy foods that would be at the top of every carb-induced death list of banned foods. Those lists are usually my go-to recipes for the holidays. As such, we can gladly take this month to celebrate (and prepare) the foods from all around the world that  have become a part of a family’s unhealthy holiday meal plan.

Since this is my list, I’m going to do something forbidden and start with dessert. Russia has a dish called Pashka. It can be made using a variety of dish shapes, but always the finished product looks like a mini mountain (which I would dive into as opposed to off of) or a truncated pyramid. This particular delicacy is forbidden during the fast of Great Lent in eastern orthodox countries and so is much anticipated during the Easter celebration. It is meant to represent the tomb of Christ and is often decorated with a “Chi Ro” motif, a three-bar cross, and the letters X and B, which basically stands for “Christ is risen!”

The dessert’s main ingredient is tvorog, which is a type of white cheese curd. It can be cooked or uncooked and uses the usual additional baking ingredients such as butter, eggs, vanilla, spices, almonds, etc. The cooked version is made like custard while the uncooked version mixes the ingredients at room temperature. A portion of the dessert is traditionally blessed in church and it is usually served with the Easter bread Kulich.

Speaking of Kulich, this is a particularly popular one since it is served in a few different orthodox Christian countries such as Bulgaria, Georgia, Belarus, Romania, Serbia, etc. It is another type of cake with an odd look because it is baked into a cylindrical shape and topped with a white icing that usually drizzles down the sides. I often see colourful sprinkles on that white icing, so that can make any cake-lover happy. It too often bears the XB symbols and is blessed by a priest. It is only eaten between Easter and Pentecost, although I wouldn’t be surprised if people cheated and ate it at other times of the year too.

Now let’s move on to my second-favourite carb: breads. That brings us to Italy for the Colomba di Pasqua, which is a candied peel-stuffed cake often shaped like a dove. Not surprising since the name literally translates to “Easter dove” in English. This particular starch is actually cousin to the Italian Christmas desserts known as panettone and pandoro. Unlike those cakes however, the Colomba di Pasqua has the candied peel instead of raisins and is topped with pearl sugar and almonds. I don’t think I need to explain why this would be a popular Easter dish.

While we’re on the topic of breads (I feel like this could become a common theme pretty fast), let’s move south to Greece, home of ancient mythology, gods and goddesses, the birth of democracy, philosophy … and Tsoureki. Tsoureki is a delectably fluffy looking loaf that is braided from rolls of dough and then baked. It is rich, sweet, and usually served with either red eggs or rosebuds to symbolize the blood of Christ. The other names for this Easter bread are Lampropsomo and Lamprokouloura. The former is derived from the Greek word for Easter. When translated, that word means “bright light” and “bread.” The latter translates to “round,” which would explain why it’s so often shaped that way or made into a type of cookie. Traditionally, it was flavoured with the essence drawn from the seeds of Mediterranean wild cherries called makhlepi, although vanilla has become more popular recently. Of course, I don’t discriminate when it comes to sweet breads. I’m fair like that.

While breads are often a cultural favourite in the world, let’s move away from that for a while and head to Germany for some Chervil soup. This particular dish is typically served on Maundy Thursday and is known as Gründonnerstag or “Green Thursday.” This might shock you, but some traditional Germans tend to eat green-coloured foods on this day. The soup itself can be made differently, but the main ingredient will always – obviously – be chervil. Aside from that, people usually add hard-boiled eggs, chicken stock, cream, and some other ingredients.

That brings us to the end of popular scrumptious dishes for Easter, but that doesn’t mean the food is all done. Let’s break for lunch.