It's almost Easter, and I'll be going back up to Canada to spend it with my Mum, Uncle and Grannie.  Not to mention my wonderful Canadian friends.  Speaking to a friend here  in MA last night the topic of what we were going to eat came up.  I answered that I wasn't sure but either ham or lamb.

I was struck by how different those two meats are.  Considering Easter seems intrinsically linked to Passover  it's funny that one of the traditional meats consumed during this holiday is not kosher.  It's almost as if there is an intent behind eating ham, "it's our holiday, and you can't participate", defining the Easter feast by isolating it from
Passover by making the traditional meal very NOT kosher.   Conversely the eating of lamb at either Easter or Passover is linked directly to the Old Testament, killing the lamb and spreading it's blood over your door so that the first born son is spared.   Seems that the more correct meal would be lamb.  But I'm still haunted by where the ham came from.   My first thought was that it's a British tradition, why I feel that way I'm not sure.  The Brits do like their lamb as well.

There are many food scholars that look specifically at religious eating habits, and how they've evolved.  It would be interesting to see what they say about the Easter Ham, is it a way to separate the Christians from the Jews?  Or is it just that ham is delicious and any excuse to break out a lovely moist ham is a good one.

 


Comments

Lumpy
04/10/2009 21:23

*waves*

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Maureen link
04/13/2009 13:14

Uh...no to the photo. Twitter ?

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sydney
04/13/2009 13:50

Hi Maureen,

Do you not like it because you don't like pork? Or eat pork? Or is it too graphic?

Thanks so much for your input!

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Jules
04/13/2009 15:25

Hi!

Great website. Interesting thoughts...

I was wondering where do hot cross buns fit into Easter celebrations? I kept on seeing references in the local media to hot cross buns, various recipies and their importance as an Easter tradition.

And Easter eggs, what about those? Are they a Easter symbol because of the new life (religious) aspect? Or do you think it has more to do with the Ukrainian decoration of eggs (that then got adopted). Please forgive my lack of Easter knowledge and many questions (that I do not expect you to answer all of) :)

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sydney
04/14/2009 07:58

It's amazing how many foodways come from religious traditions.

It would make more sense if the egg as an Easter symbol came from the new life/christian aspect, which is probably where the Ukrainian egg tradition comes from as well.

As for hot cross buns I will have to look into that, I'm not sure. To be honest I've never really eaten one, are they good?

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Jules
05/06/2009 10:36

I don't really like raisins so I was not taken with it (the hot cross bun) when I tried it. But I suppose there must be some form without raisins. The kind I tried had icing on top (the white kind you would make for cinnamon buns) and that was my favorite part.

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briana link
03/30/2010 13:29

Actually, for Jews, eating lamb is NOT traditional for Passover. It was a lamb that was sacrificed, which means killing but not eating - hence the sacrifice. While it's not forbidden under Jewish law to eat lamb during Passover, it would be unusual to eat it during a Seder.

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Sydney
03/31/2010 08:20

That's really interesting - the only time I've attended a Seder I was served lamb. Goes to show how different people interpret tradition.

Thanks for the clarification :)

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