Ingredients
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Directions
Notes
In the Italian countryside Easter, prior to World War II, was supposedly a less important holiday than Christmas. It was said "One spends Christmas with one's family, and one spends Easter with whom one likes." However, the foods served during the Easter holidays were much more elaborate than those served during the Christmas holidays, suggesting that maybe Easter and Not Christmas was the major event of the year. For one thing, Easter was one of the few times of the year cakes and holiday breads were prepared in the South. These sweets incurred a great deal of cost because they used lots of eggs, plus they had to be baked at a commercial oven. So, while first generation Italians will claim that Christmas was a more important holiday than Easter, this is not reflected in the types of foods that were offered. In any case, Easter came in the spring and Italians, like other Europeans, marked the event with the appropriate good cheer.... Photo: Mary Melfi. |
