La Pasquetta

Ciao Ragazzi,

I am writing this whilst listening to the rain bounce off my shutters because i'm in Italy and it's Easter and notorious for it's bad weather over this weekend.

In the last couple of weeks I have been given a plethora of information about what Italians do at Easter (Pasqua) and the general gist is THEY EAT! of course they do, munch munch munch!
Every small town / region / city  has their own particular food that is traditionally made and eaten at Easter. In Milano its the "Colomba" a dove shaped cake that symbolises peace.

 

The Colomba de Pasqua is made from flour, butter, milk, eggs, candied fruit, almonds and sugar. It tastes like Panattone!

Shadone - the Italian Easter Pie.

Easter Pie is made from Eggs, Salami, Ricotta, Queso Fresco, Pecorino Romano and salt and pepper.
Traditionally eaten  on Easter Monday, La Pasquetta (Little Easter) After they stuff their faces on Easter Sunday they have "Little Easter" of course!! Usually this involves a picnic al fuori, Friends and family meet and eat!

 

 

 



Easter is the second most important holiday after Christmas so it's a big deal here! It's quite nice to have such a lovely atmosphere and to be able to experience things the way that Italians celebrate.
The Easter eggs here are HUGE! the cheapest i've seen is 10euros and it would feed a family of 4!

 

Easter Bread is also quite spectacular, I think it's just the lovely coloured eggs which are nested into the bread that make it look so appealing!
I haven't tried it yet but I would hazard a guess that its like a hot cross bun!

 

 

 

Something else I have noticed, is a lot of people carrying Olive Branches. Especially last weekend. I don't know where the term "handing someone an olive branch" came from but it is a tradition at Easter in Italy to give people olive branches. Maybe because Easter symbolises new beginnings.

 

I'm sure that there is a lot more to Easter than just food but food is always interesting!! Buona Pasqua