Easter in Italy in 2020 is on Sunday, April 12.
In most western countries, Easter will be a holiday from Friday, and the holiday is usually four days. However, the regulations in each country are different, and the number of holiday days will be different.
The Easter holiday in Italy in 2020 will be closed from April 10 (Good Friday) to April 13 (Easter Monday). Therefore, one day before and two days after, plus the middle weekend, you can take four days off in a row.
How to spend Easter in Italy
In Italy, Catholics account for about 83% of the country's population, and Easter has become a holiday for all Italians. When the holiday comes, the whole country celebrates with it, which is quite like the Spring Festival in China. During Easter, almost every village and town in Italy will hold some kind of special parade or celebration.
Among them, the Easter ceremony in Florence is the largest among all the Easter ceremonies. The parade in front of the Great Temple has continued from the 6th century A.D. to the present. On Easter Sunday, Lantian, dressed in all kinds of medieval costumes, came to the main church to celebrate with colorful flags and musical instruments.
The most special thing is the mechanical pigeons coming from the altar during the mass. They hit the carriage in the open space in front of the church, turning the carriage into a rotating pyramid-shaped fireworks, and the warriors piled a lot of firecrackers on the carriage to detonate. The scene is extremely spectacular. This is the most lively fireworks salute car celebration in Florence at Easter. After the fireworks, the archbishop will pray, and the "medieval" blessing team will distribute olive branches and "holy" eggs representing good luck to tourists.
During Easter, according to the traditional custom, people cooked eggs and painted them red, representing the tears of swans and the happiness after the birth of the goddess of life. Another symbol of Easter is the bunny, because it has strong reproductive ability, and people regard it as the creator of new life.
When Easter comes, adults will vividly tell children that Easter eggs will hatch into rabbits. Many families will also put some eggs on the garden lawn and let the children play the game of finding eggs. Shopping malls also sell all kinds of rabbits and egg-shaped goods during the festival, as well as rabbits and eggs made of chocolate. These "food rabbits" are cute and have different shapes of eggs, which taste sweet and are suitable for giving to friends.
On Easter day, you can still see the shadow of the beautiful lily everywhere. The charming lily symbolizes the sacredness and purity of Jesus Christ, and the lily shaped like a trumpet is just like loudly proclaiming the good news that "Jesus Christ has risen". In particular, the white iron cannon lily is regarded as the "flower of resurrection" in Christianity and is an indispensable flower in Easter.
What food does Italy eat for Easter?
Cold-cut meat platter
Easter is one of the most important festivals in Italy. The tradition is to have lunch with family to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and the arrival of spring. As the first dish of the banquet (Prima), all kinds of delicious cold-cut meat platters made of air-dried ham and sausage are indispensable.
Roman lamb
Mutton is a must-eat dish for families during Easter, and Roman lamb is the most classic, either roasted or stewed, but lamb must be lamb born within1-2 months. Roasted and stewed mutton is delicious and rich in juice. The easiest way to make it is to cover the lamb with garlic, rosemary and other spices, then sprinkle some salt, pepper and olive oil, wrap them in plastic wrap, put them in the refrigerator for one night and put them in the oven the next day.
Roasted kid goat
In addition to the lamb in Rome, the hill mutton in Marche region is also famous. Cut the lamb into small pieces, then wrap it in the sliced pork belly, and sprinkle all kinds of herbs and white wine in the season on it. The key point is to take it out of the oven and sprinkle it with various secret sauces. After eating it steaming, it will be fragrant.
Pigeon-shaped cake
At Easter, the pigeon cake is the holiday dessert that people must eat. This is similar to the position that every family eats Panettone at Christmas. As a dessert, pigeon-shaped cake must add lemon peel or orange peel, almonds and preserved fruit in addition to its unique appearance. Pigeon-shaped cake has crisp skin, soft inside and very fragrant.
Napoli sweet cake
Easter is a festive day, and the cake eaten at this time is almost equal to "gorgeous", so is the Polly sweet cake, which will surprise you with the softness of the sweet fruit, and even the filled dried fruit tastes just right.
Cream chocolate cake
The traditional Sicilian cream chocolate cake has a baroque appearance, which is the representative of Sicilian desserts. It was originally made only on Easter holidays. Because of its sweet appearance and rich taste-sponge-like taste, it can be enjoyed even in Sicily on non-traditional festivals, and it is covered with exquisite white icing, which makes this cake more attractive.
Ma Erkai donuts
Ma Erkai's donuts are the most typical Easter dessert in Marche region. According to an ancient recipe, housewives in Ma Erkai carefully prepared the dough on Good Friday (3 days before Easter), then let the dough rest and bake it on Easter Day. It is said that traditionally, to get a perfect Ma Erkai doughnut, you need to use a cooked wood oven.
Salty cake
Friends who don't love or can't eat sweet food can always find your true love in Italy, a gourmet country. Salty cake is a kind of salty doughnut during Easter. Instead of pulp and nuts, various kinds of ham and sausage are used, and people can also add diced beans and diced vegetables according to their personal preferences.