Easter food traditions around the world

Easter food traditions, from giving Easter eggs to eating hot cross buns, have been an important part of Easter celebrations for years. But have you ever wondered why these Easter food traditions are so important this time of year? Is there a hidden deeper meaning why Easter lunch comprises of roast lamb and heaps of carrots? And why are there eleven marzipan balls on top of a simnel cake? Many Easter food traditions, like dyeing eggs in bright colours, have been a part of Christianity for centuries. Others, like eating roast lamb or cured ham, are even older and can be traced back to Jewish Passover traditions or pagan springtime rituals.
Easter is big business nowadays, with one custom – giving Easter eggs – among our most essential. According to a study by Kantar, £153 million was spent on chocolate eggs last year, with the majority being Easter eggs for kids. But the older traditions are still going strong too – Easter hampers are proving popular this year, as are non-chocolate Easter gifts for kids – and an average of £37 million is spent on hot cross buns.

1. Chocolate eggs
Symbolises: New life, rebirth, fertility, and the brightness of spring.
History: Compared to many Easter traditions, several of which pre-date Christianity, chocolate eggs are relatively new. Eggs are an ancient symbol of fertility, but making them from chocolate originated in France and Germany in the early 1800s. By 1875, a certain Mr. Cadbury was making them. Originally they were dark chocolate, and some were solid, while others were filled with sweets like sugared almonds. In 1905, Cadbury Dairy Milk was born and the Easter egg market began to boom. Today they’re probably the most popular Easter food traditions and a symbol of Easter indulgence.

2. Hot cross buns

Symbolises: The cross on top symbolises the crucifixion, the spices may also symbolise spices used to embalm Jesus after the crucifixion.
History: No one is quite sure where hot cross buns originated. The first literary reference to them is not until 1733 (from the rhyme ‘One a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns’). But they were definitely eaten before then. It’s possible they originated in St Albans in the 12th Century when a monk made them on Good Friday to distribute to the poor. In the 1500s, Queen Elizabeth I banned them except at Easter, Christmas, and funerals because they were thought to have magical healing powers.

3. Simnel cake

Symbolises: The eleven who went to heaven. Simnel cake is usually topped with 11 balls of marzipan, to represent the twelve apostles, minus Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus with a kiss.
History: The story is a little fuzzy, but it seems simnel cake was originally more of a Mother’s Day tradition – in fact, Mothering Sunday is sometimes known as Simnel Sunday. In the UK, this falls on the fourth Sunday in Lent, a day when servants would return to their mother church (and see their families). The fasting rules of Lent were relaxed and simnel cake was made. Now it’s usually eaten for tea on Easter Sunday.

4. Roast lamb
Symbolises: Purity and goodness, and also Jesus’ sacrifice.
History: Long before Easter was a Christian tradition, the lamb was the main meal of the Jewish Passover. This usually falls around Easter so when Christianity was born, converting Jews brought the tradition along. It’s neat too since Jesus is the ‘Lamb of God’ and he sacrificed himself at Easter.

5. Easter bread
Symbolises: The end of the Lenten fast, and peace and good luck in the coming year.
History: Bread has always been important at Easter, a symbol of Christ’s body during holy communion, and The Last Supper. Easter bread varies wildly by country but it’s very common for people to share and give traditional bakes as gifts. In Greece, Turkey, and Eastern European countries there is plaited wreath bread with brightly dyed eggs pushed into the dough. In Germany and the Netherlands, people eat Osterbrot or stol, which is like Christmas stollen. Italian delis sell a version of panettone which is usually shaped like a dove of peace.

6. Easter bunny bakes
Symbolises: Fertility, and possibly the virgin birth.
History: The Easter bunny (or at least his cousin the Easter Hare) has been busy delivering eggs to children since the 1600s, originally in Germany. And just like Santa, he traditionally decided whether children were naughty or nice first. Rabbits are a symbol of fertility because they reproduce prolifically. Hares were originally thought to be hermaphrodites, which meant they were associated with virgin births.

7. Carrots
Symbolises: Springtime, plenty and food for the Easter bunny
History: It’s probably not as common as leaving them out for reindeer at Christmas, but traditionally children would leave out carrots for the Easter bunny. It makes much more sense, too. Reindeer wouldn’t naturally eat carrots – but bunnies definitely would. British carrots are available all year round, so it also makes a handy side dish for your Easter feast. And they’re not limited to savoury dishes. Carrot cake became popular during the Second World War, when sugar was rationed. In recent years, carrot cake with white frosting, decorated with mini eggs or little marzipan carrots, has become one of the most popular Easter food traditions.

8. Cooked ham
Symbolises: Feasting. There’s no deeper meaning here – in some parts of Northern Europe ham was the meat that was most readily available at this time of year, so it became the Easter tradition.
History: Spring celebrations to celebrate new seasons and rebirth predate Christianity, and eating ham at this time probably does too. There is evidence people were eating it in Germany as early as the sixth century. In America it’s now the most popular choice for Easter Sunday lunch.

9. Pretzels
Symbolises: Prayer
History: Originally pretzels were a Lenten snack, which appeared on Ash Wednesday (the day after Pancake Day) and were eaten up until Easter Sunday. Early Christians did not eat dairy products during Lent, and pretzels were made simply from flour, salt and water. The word means ‘little arms’ because it’s meant to look like arms locked in prayer.

10. Boiled eggs
Symbolises: Fertility, the tomb of the resurrection and, when dyed red, the blood of Christ.
History: Decorating eggs is an ancient craft. Ostrich eggs from the palaeolithic era have been discovered with engraving on them. Early Christians used to paint chicken eggs red to symbolise Christ on the cross. Over the years it has become an Easter food tradition to paint emptied eggs as a fun Easter craft for kids, and hang them on trees for decoration. More recently, cracking the eggs open has come to represent the opening of Jesus’ tomb after the resurrection, which is why it’s common to eat hard or soft boiled eggs on Easter morning. In the North of England, egg jarping is a traditional Easter game that involves knocking the pointed end of a hard-boiled egg against opponents eggs. The last egg to crack is the winner.

11. Spiced Easter biscuits
Symbolises: The crucifixion.
History: Special Easter biscuits are a common Easter food tradition from the South-West of England. Slightly-spiced, sultana currant biscuits are made in the West Country to celebrate the festivities. Original recipes included cassia oil in the belief that it was used to clean Jesus’s body after his crucifixion, and spices have the same connotation. These Easter biscuits can be left as they are, but often take on Easter-themed shapes or decorations – like the Easter bunny.

12. Decorated Easter cakes
Symbolises: New life and spring
History: Chicks, lambs and flowers are all popular motifs on easter cakes. Like many Easter traditions, these probably reflect the pre-Christian pagan traditions of Eostre and the coming of spring. In more recent times, flowers and baby animals like chicks, ducks, rabbits and lambs have all become important motifs for all kinds of Easter decorations – including Easter food traditions.

Source: Good To Know