Traditional Easter food in Britain

Chocolate eggs are undoubtedly the most popular Easter food in Britain, but by no means the only one. Hot cross buns, roast lamb, Easter biscuits in the shape of bunnies and Simnel cake are not to be sniffed at. Today, we are going to have a look at some of these traditional recipes.

Egg hunt
Image by Simon Greig in Flickr

As we said in a previous post, eggs have traditionally been related to spring and the beginning of life, and from the early stages of Christianity, they symbolized the resurrection of Jesus Christ after his death on the cross. Today, boiled eggs are still eaten at Easter, but the chocolate egg has become the most popular in the last years, being the traditional present that people give away to family and friends.
In the following video, we can hear a short history of the Easter egg.


Apart from boiled eggs, Easter biscuits are eaten for breakfast and also for tea. They are traditionally made with currants and spices, but they can also be made with other ingredients and in the shape of eggs or bunnies. Here is a recipe for traditional Easter biscuits.

Easter biscuits
Image

For the main meal on Easter Sunday, roast lamb is served with mint sauce and vegetables. Lamb symbolizes Christ, who is known as "the Lamb of God". But before the Christians, lamb was already used by the Jews to celebrate Passover, which roughly coincides with Easter. It all started more than 3000 years ago, when the Jews were slaves in Egypt and Moses wanted to free them. The Pharaoh refused to let them go, so God sent a series of plagues, the last one of which was the death of the firstborn sons. To spare the Jewish children, God told them to sacrifice a lamb and paint the lintels of their doors with its blood, so that the angel of death would pass over their houses and leave their offspring unhurt. That's why the Jews call this festivity "Pesach", or "Passover". When Jesus entered Jerusalem he told his Apostles to prepare the Passover meal, and they probably ate lamb at the Last Supper.

Easter roast lamb
Image

For tea, in many households people like to make Simnel cake, which is a delicious fruit cake with layers of marzipan and decorated with eleven marzipan balls which symbolize the twelve Apostles except Judas, who gave Jesus away. In this video we can watch how to make one of these.



And last but not least, my favourite: the scrumptious hot cross buns, which are served hot with butter. They are traditionally eaten on Good Friday, but I start to eat them as soon as I see them in the shops, which can be as early as February! You can watch how they are made in this video.

One a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns!
Image

Finally, try this exercise to see how much you have learnt.
Traditional Easter food

Happy Easter!

Easter traditions

In many countries, when children think of Easter, they think of eggs, rabbits and chicks. But what do these have to do with the Passion of Jesus Christ? Well, nothing at all. The rabbits and the eggs, though associated with the Christian tradition, are actually of pagan origin. In fact, the name “Easter” comes from a pagan goddess, Eostra, who was a deity related to spring and fertility. Her symbol was the hare or rabbit, and this is where the association of Easter and the rabbit begins. Apparently, it was the German immigrants who took the tradition of the egg-laying rabbit to America, being the egg a symbol of the new life that spring brings about.

Easter cupcakes

Image: 'For Foodwhirl.com - Easter Cupcake inspirations'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/41214178@N00/4458291705

The first Sunday of the Holy Week is called Palm Sunday because it was on this day that Jesus entered Jerusalem and was greeted by people carrying palms and olive branches, and it is on the last Sunday, which is called Easter Sunday, that the Christians celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and is the day when most traditions take place. One of these is egg-hunting. Legend has it that the Easter rabbit hides painted or dyed eggs all over the garden, and children must try to find them all. Nowadays, Easter eggs are made of chocolate, and children are also given jelly beans, chocolate bunnies and eggs full of surprises inside.

Jelly beans

Image: 'I have discovered an entire new food+group'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/66656285@N00/2475639269

Egg rolling takes place on Easter Monday. In many parts of the UK children roll hard-boiled eggs down a hill, and the winner is the one that takes the egg the farthest or the one whose egg survives! In the USA, the President and First Lady sponsor an egg rolling competition on the grounds of the White House, where children of up to 12 years old take part. This is the only occasion in which tourists are allowed to tread over the White House lawn!

Easter eggs

Image: 'Eastereggs'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8331463@N07/2370157845

Apart from chocolate eggs, people traditionally eat Easter cakes and hot cross buns, which are eaten on Good Friday, the day when Christians celebrate the death of Jesus Christ, and that's why these buns have a white cross on top. There is a famous nursery rhyme that goes:

Hot cross buns,
Hot cross buns,
One a penny,
two a penny
Hot cross buns.
If you have no daughters,
give them to your sons.
Hot cross buns.

A much funnier Easter song is this bunny rap.


If you want to learn more about the history of Easter, I wrote an entry in this blog last year about it.


To see how much you have learnt, try this reading comprehension test: