TRADITIONALGREEK EASTER FOOD
Greek Easter, usually celebrated one week later than the Catholic Easter, is the most important religious celebration in the Christian Greek Orthodox calendar. The Greeks are starting their preparations from Holy Monday and food is in the core of all the traditions. Even if the holy week is part of the fasting period, families are preparing delicious recipes.
See the most famous traditional Greek Easter food below and find links to their recipes from the famous Greek chef Akis Petretzikis.
1. Tsoureki
A sweet braided bread usually decorated with a red Easter egg is made of eggs, flour, yeast and is rich in flavour of mastic and mahlepi. Recipes may defer slightly from place to place but it is always one of the tastiest Easter recipes. Usually it is consumed during breakfast on Easter Sunday but it is also very popular throughout the year. There are also a lot of modern variations such as tsoureki with chocolate, nuts or berries.
2. Kulurakia
Kulurakia, a.k.a the traditional Geek Easter cookies, they are butter-based with egg glaze on top and They have a delicate flavor with a hint of orange and vanilla. The making of these cookies is one of the most traditional procedures during the Holy week as the whole family is gathered and all helping in the traditional hand-shaping!
3. Magiritsa
This special Easter soup is served as the first meal after the 40 day lent and includes all the lamb innards such as heart, liver, head and neck of lamb. Other ingredients are lettuce, onion and a traditional egg and lemon juice. Magiritsa is served at the early morning hours of Easter Sunday after church and is sometimes accompanied by salad and cheese, tsoureki sweet bread and hard-boiled eggs dyed red.
4. Lamb on the spit
This is the main and most important food tradition during Easter. Preparations are starting as early as 7am on Easter Sunday and the whole family and their guests are coming together to enjoy this tradition. Putting the lamb on the spit and flavor it with thyme, olive oil and lemon is not an easy procedure and everyone has a role to play.
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