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| Simnel Cake for Easter (Photo credit: Jessicastjohn) |
Author: Adam Simonds
Often it is found that Easter in England and Ireland is celebrated in private parties and family gathering. During the hay days of Christianity, Easter was known as Pascha and the word derived from the Hebrew term Passover. Later on during the Anglo Saxon era the same celebration got a new name "Easter"; and this time it came from Eostre, the Anglo Saxon goddess of fertility during springtime.
Today, Easter celebration in UK is not only restricted within the orthodox western Christians, but across the cosmopolitan country people of all communities and religions participate in this celebration and commemorate the rebirth of Jesus, the Son of God. Besides the etymological meaning, there lies an inner meaning of this beautiful Christian celebration. Easter symbolizes "rebirth". With this celebration, people welcome the new. This is the reason why they exchange "Easter eggs" as gifts during this festival as "eggs" symbolizes birth.
Now, here in this article we will discuss on some of the ‘traditional cuisine' that the Irish and English prepare while they are preparing for Easter-
Easter in England and Ireland has similarities. It is found that both British and Irish people follow the traditional concept of preparing their Easter special recipes. Baked foods and chocolate eggs are the hot favorite gourmets in this Christian celebration. Both Irish and British enjoy the traditional cakes and buns in the traditional ovens. The worth mentioning pastries of Easter are the Hot Cross Buns and Simnel cakes.
Hot Cross Buns:
The Anglo Saxons used to prepare these buns to honor Eostre, their goddess of fertility. These buns are special as they are designed with a cross on top. The Saxons used to believe that these buns represent the moon and the cross symbolizes the crucifixion of The Lord. These were eaten warm on the Good Friday along with butter. This is a century old traditional recipe which is still prepared by the British and Irish people.
Simnel Cake
There is a story behind the Simnel cake. From the chronicles it was found that one a brother sister duo Simon and Nell wished to make a cake for their mother. One wanted to bake while the other wanted to boil the mixture of the cake. Later they decided to mix both and prepare the cake for their mother. Later the cake was named after Simon and Nell. This is why; it is also a Mother's Day recipe.
Preparing Simnel Cake is also a tradition of Christians. These cakes were previously prepared at the end of Lent. During the 40 days of Lent, the orthodox Christians fast and repent for the crucifixion of Christ. The Simnel Cake is enriched with spices, fruits and marzipan. These were all forbidden during the Lent. With the Simnel Cake the Christians celebrate Easter and the resurrection of the Son of God.
Easter Eggs
During the Middle Ages people used to paint the eggs and they were used to add more colors in the celebration. Today chocolate eggs are used as one of the finest delicacies in the Easter platter. Eggs represent birth and Easter is all about the celebration of Christ's resurrection. That's why eggs have symbolic values during Easter.
These are some of the finest delicacies prepared during Easter in England and Ireland. People gather and have lunch with each other during this time of year.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/destinations-articles/how-do-british-and-irish-celebrate-their-easter-6462038.html
About the Author
Adam Simonds is a reputed web article writer. While writing articles, she specially concentrates on festivals and cultures of different countries across the world. Recently, some articles of this British writer are based on Easter in England. Here in these articles, she has talked about how the British and Irish people celebrate their Easter with different fulfilled activities and how do they prepare a variety of mouth watery cuisine.
