The United Kingdom and other countries around the world which began as British colonies, often share fairly low-key events which may or may not include church-going, but can also be family or sport-oriented.

But let’s find out what happens traditionally in other countries?

Argentina – on Good Friday people attend their local Christian churches, but on Easter Sunday they share eggs as well as a special Easter cake. Monday there’s often a big barbeque and treasure hunt.

Bermuda – is the home of the Easter lily, but the locals fly kites to mark Christ's ascent into heaven.

Brazilians put on a festival to celebrate the hanging of Judas.

Bulgaria – has a game where two people fight with eggs. The person with the unbroken eggs is called borak.

Czech Republic and Slovakia – a tradition of gentle ‘spanking’ occurs on Easter Monday. Legend says this helps women keep their health and beauty during the coming year!

Finland – sooty-faced scarved children carrying broomsticks, coffeepots and willow twigs, beg in the streets. Western Finland, there are bonfires on Easter Sunday to ward off witches.

France – a giant omelette is made and shared in the town of Haux. Church bells do not ring for three days over Easter. On Easter Sunday children search for Easter treats hidden in the garden. 

Germany – children receive Easter Baskets containing eggs and chocolate, toys and other gifts. The baskets are hidden and children must search for them. WATCH A German egg-throwing event...

Greece – in Athens, Christ’s tomb is carried through the city on Good Friday, then gardenias and burning candles for the midnight resurrection procession and Easter Sunday feasts. On Holy Saturday on Corfu people throw pots, pans and plates out of windows to smash on the street.

Hungary – children try to throw coins into a painted hardboiled egg. Sprinkling, takes place on Easter Monday (Ducking Monday). Boys playfully sprinkle perfume or perfumed water on girls.

India – Christians exchange lanterns and cakes on Easter weekend.

Italy – on Good Friday in Rome the Pope commemorates the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum and on Easter Sunday, thousands congregate in St. Peter’s Square waiting for the Pope’s blessing from the church’s balcony.

Latvia - LEARN ABOUT Latvian Eater foods and traditions.

Lebanon – Good Friday mass then, on Easter Sunday, church where ribbons and flowers are handed to children who form a procession and carry them around the church followed by a huge celebration feast.

Netherlands – the Dutch and Flemish light Easter fires (above) on Easter Sunday at sundown.

Norway – a modern custom is to catch up with the latest Paaskekrimmen, Easter crime thriller novel.

Papua New Guinea ­– Sunday means an Easter Tree placed in the front of churches.

Poland – blessing of Easter baskets filled with Easter eggs, butter lamb, ham, Polish sausage, horseradish and homemade bread. Smingus-Dyngus, on Easter Monday, is when boys try to drench everyone with water.

Russia - SEE HOW Orthodox Easter is celebrated.

Scandinavia – in Finland, Sweden and Denmark, small children decorate pussy willows and dress as witches and visit neighbour to swap them for sweets.

Scotland – boiled and painted Easter eggs are taken to the park hills for rolling on Easter Sunday to represent the rolling away of the stone on Jesus’ tomb.

Spain - has a carnival atmosphere with trumpets and drums. Members of Seville’s 52 different religious brotherhoods parade through the streets for the entire Holy Week (see above). The resurrection is celebrated by floral floats street dancing in the streets and traditional sweet foods. On Holy Thursday in the town of Verges, the locals perform the dansa de la mort (death dance) dressed in skeleton costumes, parading through the streets.

Sweden – children dress up as good witches and give out letters and cards in return for eggs, sweets and coins. On Easter Sunday there is a feast and gifts of eggs are later used in a game, rolling them down roofing tiles - the furthest unbroken one wins.

Ukraine – eggs are painted and shared.

USA - for the past 130 years, the White House has hosted the Easter Egg Roll on its South Lawn. WATCH this video....

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The foods of Easter

Chocolate, hot cross buns, and Easter eggs – these are the key flavours of Easter in many English-speaking countries. But what happens in other countries? In many the food is rich with symbolism, either Christian or pagan, or a mixture of both.

Some foods relate to different days over the three or four-day festival. For instance in some parts of Europe chervil soup also called Holy Thursday Soup is made because chervil symbolizes the Resurrection.

Hot Cross Buns appear on Good Friday similar to those carried by ancient travellers. The cross on top was to ward off danger and evil spirits.

Sunday, because it is believed to be the day of Christ’s resurrection, has deep significance for Christians and in many countries it is celebrated it with feasts and special foods.

Eggs are also an important food of Easter. A symbol of life anew, they are also connected with the ancient pagan Spring festivals, with which Easter coincides. In countries around the world eggs are dyed, painted, decorated, or made in chocolate to be presented as gifts.

 

So let’s take a quick trip around the world to see what everyone is eating this weekend.

 

Argentina: Easter Sunday is for sharing eggs and a special Easter cake, Rosca de Pascua and of course a huge barbeque.

Australia: Hot cross buns usually make an appearance and Easter eggs are given to friends and family. The cross signifies the crucifixion, and in pagan terms, allowing evil to leave the loaf.

Brazil: Pacoca, a peanut candy, clipfish, a white fish, and Easter ring cake. 

Germany: Eggs are dyed green the Thursday before Easter and carried for good luck. Green vegetables are served as well. In other European countries eggs are dyed red in celebration of the resurrection of Christ.

Greece: Orthodox Easter can be a week later than in other European countries. Avgolemono, a lemon, egg and rice soup breaks the long lenten fast. Dishes include faki, a thick lentil soup. Easter Sunday dinner features mint sauce with roasted spring lamb, the symbol of Christ, and mayiritsa soup, a rice and lamb soup that uses the remaining pieces of a lamb killed on Good Friday for Saturday's meal. Sweet things include tsoueki paschalino a braided bread cooked with coloured eggs in it, koulourakia, orange and sesame cookies, and honey and nuts feature in many dishes, such as baklava. WATCH HOW TO make tradition Greek Easter bread....

Italy: In Tuscany Florentine love knot cookies, flavoured with lemon are folded to resemble a person in prayer. Italy also has a traditional ricotta-based Easter pie, and a braided bread baked with a dyed egg or eggs. Also baked are pannetone (a fruit and nut bread) and the dove-shaped bread Colomba Pasquale sprinkled with flaked almonds and coarse sugar. WATCH HOW to make Italian sweet Easter bread.

Lebanon: After a 40-day strictly vegan fast it’s no wonder it is broken by a massive feast featuring lamb and lots of egg breaking. sweets called maamoul (little icing sugar-dusted semolina cookies stuffed with dates or ground nuts)..

Norway: Paskelbrygg is a special beer, a popular holiday brew today.

Poland: Pretzels, intricately hand painted eggs, and butter moulded into the shape of a lamb is traditional.

 

Russia: Kulich, an egg bread baked as a tall cylinder, and is filled with orange, almonds and raisins and flavoured with saffron. It is often served with paskha, an Easter dish made from fresh cottage cheese, flecked with dried fruit, shaped like a pyramid and stamped with the letters “XB,” which stand for "Christ has risen" in Cyrillic script. WATCH HOW TO make Russian kulich.

Scandinavia: Herring is caught during spring around Easter and served pickled, raw or cured, usually on a bun or alongside rye bread, potatoes, sour cream and akvavit, a special-occasion Schnapps.

Spain: The fry little pastries in olive oil and serve them with various dip. There are also fish soups and asparagus with Spanish garlic mayonnaise are also typical Easter foods. Elaborate chocolate sculptures called "monas" (first established during the 15th century in Catalonia) are on display in many shops. 

Sweden: Fish features in Easter feasts mainly different kinds of herring, a selection of smoked salmon, and perhaps roast ham and various cheeses.

United Kingdom: Hot cross buns flecked with currants or raisins with a cross marked on top are traditional. Some believe the Anglo-Saxons ‘crossed’ the buns to honour the four quarters of the moon. Now it is widely used to symbolize Jesus’ crucifixion.

USA: Easter eggs are popular, and even the White House has a long-standing event of egg rolling on the lawns each year. Ham has become the traditional Easter dinner centrepiece.

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Italian Easter cakes

 

“The cake that tastes like spring.” This is how Colomba (dove) was presented to Italians in 1930, when one of the biggest panettone makers – Motta – decided to use the same machines, techniques and more or less the same ingredients to make another cake, the dove-shaped colomba (peace symbol) for Easter, the most important Catholic feast.

You can find many different industrial colombe for as little as 4 euros in supermarkets, but if you want something better for this relatively recent traditional Italian Easter cake, here are some tips.

These are from our local sweet-sleuth in the Italian capital, Buzz in Rome's, preferred artisanal colombe in Rome.....

1.       Volpetti. Made with an 80 year-old mother yeast from the Pescara province.

2.       Romeo. By Iginio Massari, one of the best bakers in the country, a leavening guru from Brescia.

3.       Panella. Our favorite bakery in town. Traditional recipe.

4.       Said. The best chocolate shop-bar in Rome. Milk chocolate or plain chocolate covered and decorated.

5.       Casa Bleve. By Bisco, in the Asti province. One of the best in Italy. Three options: classic, with orange and chocolate or with pistacchio cream.  

6.       Bonci. The best pizza and bread maker in town has a fantastic apricot colomba for Easter.

7.       Roscioli. One of the top bakery and pastry shops in the Eternal City. Traditional version.

8.       Cristalli di Zucchero. Another “must” for foodies with a sweet tooth. Classic recipe.

9.     Gianfornaio. The biggest and most expensive of Rome: 5 kilograms, 115 euros!

10.   Gentilini. Historical Roman cookie-maker, produces a cheap colomba, which is half artisanal and half industrial, with a beautiful wrapping paper which makes it perfect for a gift.

Scary Easter Festivals

 

Moving on from food, many countries like to send a shiver up the spine with terrifying events like some of these that Sicily enjoys:

San Fratello: Good Friday, San Fratello (Messina). The men of the town dressed up in colourful costumes with tied-on tails, hide their faces whith red masks and stick out long leather tongues, blaring on trumpets and jangling chains from the early morning, with the purpose of disturbing all religious activity. But when the Easter procession gets under way, they recognise their defeat and fall silent. WATCH THIS video.

 

Prizzi: Easter, Prizzi (Palermo). The traditional dance takes place in the picturesque landscape of deepest Sicily, an archaic recalling of the struggle between the good and the evil as represented by huge and terrifying iron masks: with the death of Christ, the world is at the mercy of the devils and the figure of death, both roaming the village streets engaged in the symbolic capture of the soul of the passers-by. Having tried in vain to obstruct the afternoon meeting between Christ and the Madonna, both evil forces are finally defeated. After this, the typically Easter cannateddi sweet is given away. Watch this...

 

Adrano: Easter, Adrano (Catania). This religious folk drama is held in a town square, Piazza Umberto 1st, where a stage is built, with Hell on one side and Heaven on the other. The script is attributed to a priest of the 18th century coming from the town of Adrano: Death is killed by Humanity; Lucifer vents his rage but the Archangel Michael keeps guard. The Diavolata symbolises the triumph of Good over Evil.

 

Terrasini (see image above): Easter, Terrasini (Palermo). The schietti are the the bachelors of the village who compete in an unusual race on Easter. It consists of raising an orange tree which weighs about 50 kilos to Heaven with only one arm, the tree bearing a decoration of trinkets and coloured ribbons. The tree is then carried around the village until the party stops at the house of the zite or betrothed women to witness this trial of strength. WATCH THIS video...

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