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Also known as Resurrection Day, Easter is celebrated around the world with a lot of enthusiasm and delicious food. One of the most well-known festive traditions is hiding Easter eggs full of gifts and surprises for children and curating a treasure hunt experience for them.
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Also Read: Easter 2022: All About Easter Eggs
People around the world have different ways of bringing in Easter celebrations. In fact, in Russia, people have a tradition of making butter lambs and in Italy people make pizza pies on the occasion of Easter. Sounds interesting right?
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* Butter Lamb
Making butter lambs is a popular tradition in countries like Poland, Russia, and the Czech Republic. It has been a tradition to make butter lambs as the main dish on the occasion of Easter in a lot of Catholic households. Butter lamb might sound very deceptive as it doesn't involve lamb meat at all. It is made by sculpting butter to resemble the shape of a lamb. It is further decorated with some colourful cherries and edible paint. The butter lamb is specially given red cherry eyes. Some people also like to eat it as the first thing after breaking their Lenten fast on the occasion of Easter.
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* Janssons Frestelse
Janssons Frestelse is a savoury dish that is traditionally made in Sweden. This popular dish is spicy and fulfilling. It is made by using some onions, pickled sprats, potatoes, bread crumbs, and some creamy bechamel sauce. As per the local legend, the name of this dish is dedicated to a Swedish religious fanatic called Erik Jansson who was tempted by a delicious casserole dish made from potatoes and sauces. Over time, the dish has also become popular in Finland where it is called janssoninkiusaus.
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* Pizza Chiena
Making Pizza Chiena on the occasion of Easter is a popular tradition in Italy. This dish is a hybrid of pizza and pie since it tastes like a pizza but looks like a pie. Pizza chiena is a stuffed pizza, and it is believed that the dish was invented in the famous Italian city of Naples. Traditionally, the dish is baked on Good Friday and filled with cheese and meat slices that are seasoned lightly. Back in the 17th century, the dish was used to break the 40-day-long Lenten fast in which people were strictly prohibited from eating anything with meat or dairy.
* Chocolate Bilbies
Chocolate bilbies are a popular alternative to Easter bunnies in Australia. These are hollow chocolate treats that are available in different sizes and flavours. In fact, in Australia, Easter bunnies are not a prevalent concept and people don't like bunnies because it's a local belief that bunnies tend to ruin crops. People like having candies in the shape of an indigenous species called bilbies which are small rat sized marsupial omnivores. Australian people consider that bilbies are better for the environment and are also an endangered species. By making chocolate-shaped Bilbies on the occasion of Easter, people try to raise awareness among the citizens of the country. During the Easter season, Australian supermarkets are flooded with chocolate bilbies and all children love to munch on them.
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* Patsas
Patsas sounds like a distant cousin of pasta, but it's a traditional soup that is made in Greece with the meat from the lamb's innards and is consumed as the first thing on the day of the Easter celebration. Many people who observe Easter fasts like to break their fast at midnight with this soup. It is also considered a perfect cure for hangovers as it helps provide a shield to the stomach against the effects of alcohol.Patsas is certainly not for everyone but over the time it has surely built a community for itself that consider it a cult classic recipe. It is believed that this special recipe dates back to ancient times in Sparta and was a favourite meal of warriors as it is light on the stomach yet very nutritious, promoting strength and agility.
* Francesca
A popular Easter delicacy in Ecuador, the Francesca is a scrumptious Lenten soup that is served on the occasion of Easter. It is made by a combination of different types of beans, grains, as well as some dried salted cod. This is a dish that has regional variations and almost every household has their recipe for making Fanesca. In its most authentic way, the dish is made by using 12 different types of beans that are a representation of the 12 apostles. A lot of people believe that the dish was invented in 1882. As per another local legend, the dish is at least 1000 years old and since then has evolved with seasonal and local availability of spices and other continents
