More Easter Foods

As is the case with many of our holidays, Easter is steeped in tradition--many of which have to do with food.  Most of the foods we traditionally eat at Easter--from eggs to ham to candy--are full of symbolism and religious meaning.

If you're interested, you can read some of the things I've written previously about Easter food.  Click here to read about our common Easter food and why they're so appropriate for the season.  And click here to read about Easter candy!

Here are a few lesser-known Easter traditions (to us, anyway) from around the world.

• In the United Kingdom, they make something called Easter Simnel.  It's basically a fruitcake topped with 12 marzipan balls that represent the 12 apostles.  I guess it's not a holiday there without fruitcake!
  
• Instead of chocolate bunnies, in Australia, they sometimes have chocolate bilbies.  The bilby is a very endangered marsupial native to the country.  They actually compete with rabbits--introduced to the country a couple of centuries ago--for food and habitat.  And the bunnies are winning.  So the Easter Bunny isn't very welcome Down Under, I suppose.
  
• A blend of the best local beers, called Paskelbrygg, was started in 1934 in Norway during the Easter season (not sure what the connection is).  Conservative Christian groups protested and it died away a bit until after WWII, when it resurfaced and still is popular today.
  
• Colomba Pasquale is a sweet bread made in the rough shape of a dove for the Easter holiday in Italy.  It is coated in almonds and coarse sugar.  
  
• A Russian Easter dessert, paskha, is made primarily from cream cheese, cottage cheese and dried fruit.  It's made in a pyramid shape and traditionally has the Cyrillic symbols for "Christ has risen" written in icing.
  
• Visit Brazil during Easter and you'll probably find something called pacoca de amendoim (often just called pacoca, which could be confusing since there's a meat dish of the same name).  It's made from crushed peanuts, sugar and cassava flour.  Think the inside of a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.  Yum!
  
   

So there are just a few more Easter foods for you to sink your teeth into.  Enjoy your holiday!

Easter Sugar!

Yesterday I wrote a bit about some of our long-standing Easter traditions that center around food.  They are based on the religious meaning of the holiday and date from pre-Christian days.

But come on.  We really know what many people think of when they Easter food comes to mind:  jelly beans and chocolate bunnies!

So here are some interesting facts about how these two confections became as big a part of Easter as lamb and eggs.

The exact origins of jelly beans are not exactly known, but most experts believe that they are
decedents of two kinds of candies: Turkish delights, which date from biblical times and had a gel-based center; and Jordan Almonds, a candy from 15th Century France which used "panning" to create the shiny shell that they share with jelly beans.

The first appearance of "modern" jelly beans were during the Civil War when, in 1861, a Boston confectioner suggested that jelly beans be sent to Union soldiers as gifts.  Perhaps because of the candy's lack of nutritional value, in the early 20th Century, "jelly bean" became a term for a man with style and no substance.  Jelly beans were the first candies sold by weight and originally were often sold by color.

It wasn't until the 1930's, though, that jelly beans became associated with Easter.  Someone realized that the candy was shaped like the egg--a traditional symbol of Easter and rebirth--and they were marketed as Easter candy.  Today, about 16 billion jelly beans are made for the Easter season.

In 1976, Jelly Belly started producing it's famous gourmet jelly beans.  Up until 1998, Jelly Belly reports that their most popular flavor was Very Cherry.  But in that year, Buttered Popcorn took over as favorite.  (I know, I don't get it either.)  But Very Cherry took over once again in 2003.  Jelly Belly makes 50 regular flavors and some specialty flavors (including blueberry, which was created for jelly bean-lover Ronald Reagan's inauguration in 1981).  You can see their list of flavors here.

Well, it's no surprise that someone started making bunnies out of chocolate for Easter.  The rabbit--a symbol of fertility--was long a symbol of Easter for that reason.  And hey, pretty much everyone likes chocolate. 

The first chocolate bunnies were made in Germany in the 19th Century.  Whitman's Chocolates started to produce them in 1842, but they didn't really catch on that much.  Around 1890, a Pennsylvania drug store owner, Robert L. Strohecker, displayed a 5-foot chocolate bunny in his store as an Easter promotion.  (Try as I might, I could not find out where in PA he was from.  If anyone knows, tell me!)  Strohecker's idea helped to popularize the chocolate bunny for Easter, where it really took off in the early 20th Century.  By the way, Robert L. Strohecker chocolate bunnies are still available and are supposed to be some of the best you can find.

During World War II, cocoa was rationed, so to abide with these regulations, confectioners started making hollow bunnies.  The process continued after rationing ended as a way for these businesses to save money by not using as much chocolate in their products.  I don't know.  It's always a little disappointing biting into a hollow bunny. 

Today, there are more than 60 million chocolate bunnies produced each year for American Easter celebrations.  And 76% of Americans say that they eat their bunnies ears-first.  You're not alone!

So there you go.  Jelly beans and chocolate bunnies.  Have a tasty and cavity-free Easter!

Easter Food Traditions

Like most holidays, Easter is filled with family traditions--most of them centered on food.  Probably more than most holiday food traditions, however, food associated with Easter is steeped in symbolism and ancient roots.

This holiday may be the most sacred day for Christians, but many Easter traditions come from pre-Christian pagan cultures.  In fact, the word Easter comes from Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of fertility and springtime.  So it's not all that surprising that the fertile rabbit later became a symbol of Easter.

But we're here to talk about food. 

And probably the most long-standing Easter food is lamb.  The lamb holds a starring role in the Passover story where the Israelites were ordered to kill a lamb, paint above their door with the blood and eat it for their meal.  The blood notified the "Angel of Death" to pass over their home, thus saving them from destruction.  As some ancient Jews converted to Christianity, they brought their tradition of the sacrificial lamb with them--representing Christ as the Lamb of God.  Tradition has it that the devil can take the form of any animal except the lamb, because of it's religious significance.

In our country, lamb isn't as popular as ham.  Even this is not by chance.  In many ancient cultures, the pig was known as a symbol of good luck and prosperity.  That's why we put money in piggy banks and eat pork for the new year (pigs push forward as they forage as we should do into the new year).  Ham became popular for Easter (instead of fresh pork) because the animals were usually slaughtered in the fall and their meat was cured to last the winter.  So by the time Easter rolled around, the ham was ready to eat. 

Ask most people around the world, though, what food they think of in relation to Easter and they'll say the egg.  The egg has been a symbol of new birth from ancient times when many believed that the world was formed from an egg.  Eggs are part of the traditional Jewish seder meal and later, many saw the empty shell of a cracked egg as representing the empty tomb of Jesus on Easter.  In Medieval times (and in some cultures still today), eggs were prohibited during the Lenten season.  Eggs were boiled or preserved in some other way and finally eaten on Easter.

The tradition of decorating eggs goes back thousands of years.  Ancient Egyptians and Persians decorated eggs (ostrich for the Egyptians) and given as gifts as a symbol of new life.  Decorating eggs for Easter seems to have started in 1290, when Edward I of England (known as Longshanks) ordered 450 hard-cooked eggs to be covered with gold leaf and given as Easter gifts. 

Egg decorating has different styles in various parts of the world.  Greek and Slavic traditions dye the eggs deep red to represent the blood of Christ.  Those in Poland, Russia, Ukraine and other countries in that part of the world take to decorating their eggs in as fancy a way as they can--full of symbols, holy pictures and intricate designs.  Of course, in the 19th Century, the Russian court jeweler named Faberge', used precious stones, gold and more to create egg-shaped treasures. 

Even the famous egg rolling on the White House lawn has its roots in an ancient game, where the rolling egg represents the stone rolling from Jesus' grave.  Games similar to this are still played in many parts of the world.

If you haven't cooked your eggs yet, give this method a try.  It gives you perfect hard-cooked eggs every time.

FOOL-PROOF HARD-COOKED EGGS
Make as many eggs as you wish, as long as they are in 1 layer in the bottom of the pan and can be covered with 1 inch of water.

1. Place the eggs in a pan, cover with 1 inch of water and bring to a boil over high heat.  Remove the pan from the heat, cover and let sit for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, fill a bowl with cold water and a tray or two of ice.
2. Transfer the eggs to the ice bath with a slotted spoon and let sit for 5 minutes.  Then they'll be ready to decorate or eat.

So as you enjoy your Easter meal with family and friends, think about how you are part of that long line through the generations celebrating this most holy day in much the same way!

Easter Recipes

If you got my April newsletter, you read about some of the food traditions that Easter brings us--lamb, ham, eggs, Hot Cross Buns, etc.  (If you don't get my newsletter, what's the problem?  Send me your email address and I'll add you to my list!)

As promised in the newsletter, here are some recipes that you can try for your Easter dinner.  There's 2 interesting glazes for your ham and a recipe for Hot Cross Buns.  Enjoy!

ORANGE, CINNAMON & STAR ANISE GLAZE from Cook's Illustrated

INGREDIENTS
1 cup juice plus 1 tablespoon grated zest from 2 large oranges
2 cups packed dark or light brown sugar
4 pods star anise
1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick

SPICY PINEAPPLE-GINGER GLAZE from Cook's Illustrated

INGREDIENTS
1 cup pineapple juice
2 cups packed dark or light brown sugar
1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger, grated (about 1 tablespoon)
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes

For both glazes:
Bring ingredients to a boil in a small nonreactive saucepan over high heat; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until syrupy and reduced to about 1 1/3 cups, 5-7 minutes.  (Glaze will thicken as it cools between bastings; cook over medium heat about 1 minute, stirring once or twice before serving.)  Baste ham every 45 minutes and serve remaining glaze as a sauce, if desired.


HOT CROSS BUNS

INGREDIENTS
For the buns:
1/3 cup sugar
1 package dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
3/4 cup warm whole milk (100-110 degrees)
4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
6 tablespoons butter, melted
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 large eggs
1/2 cup golden raisins

For the glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons whole milk

• Dissolve sugar and yeast in warm milk in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes.  Add 3 3/4 cups flour, butter, and next 3 ingredients (through eggs) to milk mixture, stirring until a soft dough forms.
• Turn dough out on a lightly floured surface.  Knead in raisins and continue kneading until smooth and elastic (about 6 minutes); add enough of the remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands.
• Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top.  Cover and let rise in an 85 degree place, free from drafts, 45 minutes or until doubled in size.  Punch dough down; cover and let rest for 5 minutes.
• Divide dough into 20 equal portions; roll each into a ball.  Place balls in a 9" square baking pan coated with cooking spray.  Cover and let rise 45 minutes or until doubled in size.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Uncover and bake for 20 minutes or until golden.  Cool in pan 5 minutes on a wire rack and then remove from pan.
• For the glaze, combine the powdered sugar and cinnamon with whisk, then stir in the milk.  Spoon a cross on top of each warm roll.