Pasqua

From the arrival of olive standards to line Siena's streets and candle-bearing choirs beneath our windows in the evenings, to the piles of brightly cellophane-wrapped eggs in shop windows, and the availability of elaborately plaited palm crosses from the supermarket, if there is one thing the wintry weather fails to dampen, it's the irrepressible Italian Easter spirit. Whilst the 'Easter Bunny' doesn't visit in Italy, there is no shortage of tradition for 'Pasqua'. Obviously every church will hold special services and mass, but particularly the further south you venture, you will find that almost every town will have it's own celebration, many of them consisting of theatrical street parades centered on the idea of the Madonna searching for her son. 

Whilst these displays bring the community together in the streets, it is what brings the family together in the home, the food, that has unsurprisingly caught my attention. Seasonal vegetables such as artichokes, asparagus and spinach are usually used alongside some spring lamb and a variety of special tarts are made, both sweet and savoury. The savoury 'Torta Pasqualina' is made using egg, ricotta and spinach which you can salivate over if you follow Gennaro Contaldo on Twitter or Instagram (OMG he liked my photo yesterday!). I myself gave the sweet 'Pastiera Napolitana' a go, which  uses one ingredient that I had never come across before, 'grano cotto' (literally 'cooked grain') which you can buy tinned and gives a rather porridge-y texture to the tart filling, which otherwise consists of ricotta, sugar,egg yolks, candied fruit and cinnamon. There is the option of adding orange-flower water but this I declined to include on Katie Caldesi's suggestion; I too am not keen on the incense and patchouli oil olfactory connotations it brings. I wasn't all too sure about the grano cotto effect to start with, but after the third slice I was suitably convinced, and thankfully my Sicilian friend Marta assured me that it was just as it should be.

For Easter Lunch itself, I was invited to eat with friends, another Italian tradition as the saying goes, "Natale con i tuoi. Pasqua con chi vuoi" ("Christmas with your family. Easter with who you  want"). Consisting of a perfectly cooked roast chicken with potatoes and caramelised onions and garlic cloves, a traditional Italian spinach tart and a salad for our main course, we were overwhelmed with good food before we even reached dessert. This consisted of a delicious 'Macedonia' and the traditional Easter cake, the 'Colomba di Pasqua' which is like a sweeter, moister version of the Christmas Panettone or Pandoro.  I loved the pearl sugar and almond topping that this dove-shaped cake has, along with the inclusion of candied peel inside. We finished off by breaking open the giant egg I had been given (Thank you Sam!) to find the surprise inside (an Indiana Jones themed ruler!) and sipping on the Italian after-dinner digestif named 'Amaro' which although forewarned by it's title, I found altogether too bitter to drink neat. 

Today, 'Pasquetta', is beautifully sunny and I'm hoping that it really will signify a 'rebirth' and the start of Spring. As expected by the general populus here, I will be doing nothing except enjoying just being on this national holiday and wishing you all a belated 'Buona Pasqua!'

#Photo by Gennaro Contaldo http://instagram.com/p/XecxUoNGst/
#'The Italian Cookery Course' by Katie Caldesi
#http://www.delallo.com/articles/easter-pasqua-lunch
#http://goitaly.about.com/od/festivalsandevents/a/easter.htm