Buona Pasqua to everybody, but let’s not forget Pasquetta!

Buona Pasqua a tutti (which literally means Good Easter to all, but you would translate Happy Easter to everybody).

Today I have been asked by my neighbor if the Easter Bunny has already come to my house… My face probably answered for me and she gave a few coloured and rubbery rabbits to my son Kevin (she probably thought that I was a heartless mother!). Actually, we do not have the Easter Bunny in Italy and tradition dictates that the egg is the symbol of Pasqua (Easter). I remember painting eggs and, sometimes, putting some cotton chicks with them when I was a child. The relationship between chicks and eggs is quite obvious, but I cannot really see the connection between a rabbit and an egg! Paese che vai, usanze che trovi (countries you go to, traditions you find) we say in Italy. It will, nevertheless, be great fun tomorrow to look for the eggs in our granny’s garden with my son Kevin.

In all the Italian houses tomorrow there will be a great lunch based on lamb or kid (goat) and eggs. Besides lots of chocolate eggs, in Italy we will have the Colomba Pasquale (Easter Dove) which is a sort of answer to the Panettone. In fact, the Colomba is a soft cake with candied fruit covered by a crunchy icing with almonds… Here is a picture, doesn’t it look yummy?

Almost as popular as Pasqua is our Pasquetta which literally means little Easter. We celebrate Pasquetta on the Monday after Easter (Easter Monday) and tradition dictates that families and friends go out for a picnic. Therefore, our countrysides, beaches, mountains or parks are all covered with tablecloths and barbecues and everyone enjoys it!

And remember the saying: Natale con i tuoi e Pasqua con chi vuoi! Christmas with your family and Easter with whoever you want!