FEEDING A VILLAGE: ITALIAN EASTER SUNDAY, PART ONE

Easter is one of our favorite holidays, not just because of it’s religious significance but also because it reminds us that Spring is finally here and it gives us an excuse to recreate the Easter feasts of our childhood.  We’ll also admit to a fondness for jelly beans, chocolate cream eggs and those garish Peeps that seem to stick around long after the holiday has passed.

While we never called it “brunch” (a word we’ve never actually heard an Italian-American utter) the holiday meal is typically served late morning and continues throughout much of the day, and for our family always included an enormous ham, several versions of frittata, side dishes too numerous to mention and the ubiquitous Easter bread, the recipe that we’re attempting first as it can be made several days (if not a week) in advance.

For inspiration, we’re pulling out D’s copy of  a community cookbook published by the Catholic Church of our youth entitled “Our Favorite Recipes: Created by the Parishioners and Friends of the Immaculate Conception Church”.  Not only is it a culinary history of our community and a bygone era, it’s a record of many cherished family recipes since we are related to a significant number of contributors.  It’s also very typical of many self-published community cookbooks in that there are often multiple versions of the same recipe (eggplant parmesan versions 1 through 4, for example, along with at least six recipes for “Italian” cookies).  We especially love the recipes for baked goods that merely list ingredients and then say “shape and bake”.  Shape into what, exactly?  And bake for how long, and at what temperature?  More often than not, the assumption is that the reader is not only familiar with the recipe itself but also the person who contributed it, making detailed instructions unnecessary.

This year, we are using our Aunt Mary’s recipe for Easter bread, a large braided anise-flavored bread often decorated with colored hard-boiled eggs (which we were warned never to eat, but more on that later).  Aunt Mary’s version of this family favorite is really the best in our memory, and fortunately for us the tattered, much used copy of our Church cookbook includes the coveted recipe.

Original Recipe

-G