We talked recently about what we’d be eating at Easter time and thanks to the feedback that we’ve received, we’ve learnt a little bit about what we had on the menu, as well as a few more unusual and international suggestions.

For example, we only had half the story of Hot Cross Buns which were eaten year round in pagan pre-Christian times. The bun represented the moon and the four quarters represented the four seasons. Christians took over this tradition and changed the meaning so that the cross represented the cross that Jesus died on.

Simnel cake is a rich fruit cake covered with a layer of marzipan, with 11 marzipan balls to represent the faithful disciples of Jesus. What we didn’t realise was that Simnel cakes were first made by servant girls and maids to take home to their mothers on Mothering Sunday.

As for international Easter cuisine, salty pretzels are traditionally eaten in Italy at Easter time. The Russians eat ‘blini’s', which are little pancakes topped with anchovies and a mixture of cream, soft cream, dried fruit and orange peel call ed ‘Paska’. The Greeks eat an Easter cake made with oranges, almonds and a spicy orange sauce poured over it.

Mouthwatering…

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As people who spend a large part of the working day looking for fine foods for our hampers, conversations quickly turn to food, regardless of the context. Easter is no exception as there are a range of traditional foods that we all associate with Easter. Easter eggs will of course be a staple for everyone next Sunday, but many will be indulging in a ham or roast lamb Sunday lunch.

Simnel cakes (fruit cakes with eleven marzipan balls representing the faithful apostles),  hot cross buns and Easter biscuits will all be making an appearance too!

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We blogged recently about why Mothering Sunday is on a different day each year and judging by the conversations that we had in the office, it’s not something that’s widely understood. Hopefully the post made it a little clearer though. Easter is at the start of April this year, so with the help of Wikipedia and the very informative site at Woodlands Junior School, we thought we’d find out why.

As most people will be aware, Easter Sunday celebrates the resurrection of Christ on the third day after his crucifixion on Good Friday and also marks the end of Lent. Historians variously interpret that the resurrection happened between AD 26 and AD 36.

The First Council of Nicaea established the date of Easter Sunday as the first Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon, which follows the vernal equinox. Based on the timing of these events, which are not always astronomically correct as the Church reckons the date of the equinox to be the 21st of March, the date of Easter varies between the 22nd of March and the 25th of April. So although Easter feels very early this year – it could be as early as the 22nd of March!

Eastern Christianity refers to the Julian calendar, whose 21st of March corresponds to the 3rd of April in the Gregorian calendar, placing the celebration of Easter between the 4th of April and the 8th of May.

Celebrating Easter with treats such as Easter eggs, simnel cakes, gifts and hampers is part of the modern celebration and is enjoyed by both Christians and non-Christians alike.

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