ISTITUTO COMPRENSIVO ESINE

ITALIAN EASTER TRADITIONS

Easter 2015

In Italy Easter is one of the most important festival of the year.

AT SCHOOL

Easter holidays are from 2nd to 7th April.

We usually don’t have any special activities. During Art lessons pupils make little Easter related crafts or Easter cards for their families.

During Lent, before lessons but not in the school yard, children gather to pray with a priest.

TRADITIONS

In Italy Easter Monday is called Pasquetta, it means Little Easter, if the weather is good, a lot families have long nice strolls or a pic-nic with “torta pasqualina” and eggs.

From Good Friday to Easter morning in the churches the bells stop ringing, in order to remember Jesus’ death. On Easter Sunday the bells can ring again loudly and merrily. That’s why bells are a joyful Easter symbol.

On Good Friday the 'Via Crucis', or parade of the Cross, costumed parade takes place which celebrates the procession of Christ on the way to the cross and his Passion.

On Easter Day in the morning children unwrap chocolate eggs, break them in order to find a surprise, a little treat

MEALS AND FOOD

A typical food for Easter lunch is lamb with potatoes and salad. For dessert we have “colomba” (=dove).

A traditional dessert from our area is “Spongada camuna”.

Another typical dish, expecially for Easter Monday, is “torta pasqualina”.

During Easter time, children love to eat chocolate eggs with a little treat inside.

RECIPES

Ingredients 500gr baking flour 500gr wheat flour 100gr brewer's yeast 8 yolks 300gr sugar 200 gr (fat) butter 2 teaspoons salt 350 ml milk Method Melt the yeast in lukewarm milk, add warm melted

butter and salt. In another bowl, whip yolks and sugar, when they

are soft and frothy add milk (with butter and yeast), flour and knead the dough.

Let it rise for 18 hours covered with warm cloth. Sometimes stir the dough and cover again.

Divide the dough in pieces as big as a woman fist, cut the upper part and let rise for 4- 5 hours.

Brush them with milk and dust with sugar. Bake for 20 minutes 180°C 

Ingredients 500g chard or spinach, roughly chopped

6 eggs (2 for the ricotta, 4 for the pie)80g finely grated fresh parmesan400g fresh ricotta1/4 cup fresh oregano leaves, roughly chopped (can be substitute with marjoram)olive oil for brushing3 sheets of frozen puff pastry (to cover a 20cm springform tin)

1 egg for the eggwash   Method Preheat oven to 180°C. Cook the chard or spinach in a large pot of salted, boiling

water for 3-4 minutes, until tender. Drain, then refresh in iced water and drain again thoroughly. You want to extract as much water as you can so the pastry doesn’t get soggy.

In a separate bowl, mix together 2 eggs, fresh ricotta, parmesan , oregano and season with sea salt and ground black pepper to taste.

In a 5cm deep, 21cm round tart tin with a loose base (a 20cm springform tin will also work), lay down sheets of pastry, brushing a little olive oil between each sheet and making sure to allow enough excess pastry over the sides to cover the pie.

Fill the tart with half of the chard or spinach and then the ricotta mixture, levelling the top. Make 4 indentations in the ricotta and carefully break 1 egg into each hollow, making sure the yolk remains intact. Carefully top with remaining chard or spinach, then fold the pastry sheets over the top to cover and join up in the middle.

Lightly beat another 1 egg and brush over the tart. Bake for 1 hour or until golden brown.

SPONGADE CAMUNE

TORTA PASQUALINA

LENT

The forty-day period before Easter is called “Quaresima” ( Lent). As it’s a period of fasting and reflection children ( and adults too) keep a resolution. We called these resolutions “ fioretto”, they can be: not eating chocolate or sweets, helping people in need, doing housework…

In the middle of the Lent we celebrate “giovedì grasso” ( = Fat Thurday ). We have fried sweets (“chiacchiere”) and in the evening in the main square we “ burn the old lady”. We get a huge bonfire and burn a very big puppet made of old clothes, newspaper and wood. The old lady represents winter and all the bad things occurred during the cold months.