Fünfte: Ostern Gerichte

Hallo zusammen!

Frohe Ostern! How were your Easter holidays? Did anyone do anything or see anyone special? Perhaps, take a trip back home to visit family, or attend an Easter egg hunt? Also a very happy Passover, to those who celebrate it! To those who don’t really celebrate Easter, or even know why it is a holiday, I’ll just write a sentence or two to get you up to speed. Easter, always celebrated on a Sunday, is also known as resurrection day, as it is supposed to be the day that the Christian Jesus (i’m sure you guys have heard of him at least once or twice haha) came back from the dead. Eigentlich, the main celebration of Easter is derived from two older holidays, Ostara and Ishtar. Technically Easter is supposed to last a long time (a few weeks), but most people only technically celebrate it for one day. Most of the time, this holiday is filled with decorated eggs, church masses, and bunnies, or hares! Why bunnies? Well, this tradition actually started with Germans! And in ancient beliefs, rabbits are closely associated with new life and Spring! Huh!

So, along with all those eggs and candies, many countries celebrate Easter with food! Around the world, special dishes are prepared and eaten in celebration of this ancient holiday. Now some are familiar and seem like they taste incredible, while others are rarefied in a place such as Germany and might not seem all that appetizing. Whatever the case may be, we are going to take a look at some of the most interesting and popular Easter dishes from around the world.

Russia: In Russia there is a special dessert dish called Pashka. This dessert is much like that of cheesecake, except it is piled and shaped into a pyramid! Then, lots of times the letters XP are written on there with other food items.

Greece: In Greece, during Easter time, a special braided sweet brioche bread decorated with red, yes red, eggs is made. It is called Tsoureki and is said to have a taste of cherries. Hmm, sounds interesting!

Italy, Croatia, England, Slovenia: A common Easter dish in many European countries is actually Hot Cross Buns. These bread buns are sweet, and sometimes spiced, and often get their name from a white X or cross drawn on the top with frosting, or bread pieces.

Finland: In this Scandinavian country, a common Easter dish is a dessert (I’m noticing a reoccurring trend here) called Mämmi. This thick and dark dessert is mostly made from rye. molasses, and water, and is often served with cream and sugar. And in fact, one should start preparing this a little while before Easter because it takes days to prepare!

Netherlands: Much like the Americans do at Christmas time, people in the Netherlands often drink a sweetened alcoholic egg drink called Advocaat.

Mexico: Mexico is known for its incredible sweet bread called Pan Dulce, but during Easter, the people step it up a notch with something called Capirotada. This sweet dessert is a bread pudding often filled with sweet cheese and raisins, along with spices such as cloves and cinnamon.

Lebanon: Ma’amoul is a typical Eastern dish eaten by Christians in Lebanon. This pastry is much like a shortbread and is often filled with other sweet and savoury foods such as dates and pistachios. It can then be enjoyed as such or with a sprinkle of powered sugar on the top. (In my opinion, this one sounds the best!)

Last but not least, Germany: In Germany, a traditional, but not yet extremely common dish is Osterschinken im Brotteig. And for those of you who know what that means (which should be almost all of you), it is exactly what it sounds like. It is a large ham baked inside a large loaf of bread. Meat inside of bread? This couldn’t be more German.

All these dishes sound incredible, even the ones that I would never thought to have tried in my life. I unfortunately did not get to try any of these, as a didn’t have a traditional Easter dinner with family. In fact, the night before Easter Sunday, I went to Burgermeister with my friends and enjoyed a nice veggie burger while they chomped away on a cheeseburger. Talk about traditional Ostern meal, huh? Lol. Did you guys have an awesome Ostern meal, or have you ever tried any of the Gerichte mentioned above? Feel free to comment and let me know :-). Until then, bis bald!

The friend that chomped away!

-Milan