Many people around the world enjoy spending quality time with their families and loved ones. Others who want to enjoy the rest of the world take up travelling to new places and eating lots of good meals not only on occasions but on regular days as well.
Some people have a thing for eating lots of good meals just for fun. Consider it like changing your clothes every four hours, most people will rather eat new dishes instead.
With the celebration of Easter which just ended in a flash, I bet you didn’t know that in some countries around the world, Easter was celebrated in a curious way.
For instance, in Ghana, Easter is mostly about Kwahu in the Eastern Region of the country. Families and loved ones after all their church activities from carrying palm leaves to church to have them blessed; they will later use these leaves to decorate their homes and move from the north, south, and west to join people in the east for all the fun activities including paragliding and good meals as well.
Some curious Easter traditions in other places could be the Dressing up as witches in Finland, the Self-flagellation in the Philippines and the walking the town barefoot in Spain!
If you had a boring Easter this year like myself, keep on reading and find out the 5 most unique ways to celebrate Easter next year.
1. Easter Trick or Treat in Sweden
If you have quite a number of kids in the house, this will be a fun activity to do. Children dress up as påskkärringar (Easter hags) in Sweden. They paint their faces, carry a broom and go knock on neighbors doors for treats, much like North American children do for Halloween.
For Easter, the Swedish decorate their houses with willow or birch twigs and eat a smörgåsbord, a buffet-style meal that includes various dished, such as herring, salmon, potatoes, eggs, meatballs, sausages etc.
2. Giant omelettes in Haux, France
In France, for the past 30 years, some people like to celebrate Easter with a ginormous omelette. In the town square of Haux, over 5000 eggs are used to make a huge omelette on Easter Monday and more than 1000 people are invited to join for lunch.
TIP: If you want to prepare a giant omelette in your own town, here is the recipe: 5000 eggs, 50 kg of onions and garlic and 4 kg of salt & pepper.
3. Bonfires and Mämmi in Finland
Although Finland is quite popular for eating Mämmi, a baked dessert made of powdered orange peel, dark molasses, and rye flour, the Finnish believe that evil spirits roam free on the Saturday before Easter, the reason for which they light bonfires and dress up as witches. On Sunday children go out looking for the chocolate eggs their parents and family members have hidden around the house.
TIP: The preparation of Mämmi takes hours and needs to be chilled for three to four days before it can be served cold with milk or cream and sugar. Mämmi is mentioned for the first time in the 16th century and it is believed to originate from either medieval Germany or Iran.
4. Self-flagellation and self-crucifixion in the Philippines
The Philippines celebrate the Holy Week. A commemoration with street processions and a traditional play called Sinakulo. During the processions, some devotees will self-flagellate and even have themselves crucified, as a way to share Christ’s pain.
On Sunday, Catholics carry palm leaves to church to have them blessed; they will later use these leaves to decorate their homes.
5. Lamb leg shaped cake and egg trees in Germany
For Germans, Easter celebrations start on Holy Thursday (aka “Gründonnerstag”), and according to tradition, you can only eat green things. One of the typical dishes in Germany is the seven herbs soup, containing watercress, dandelion, chives, parsley, leek greens, sorrel, and spinach.
For dessert, there are lots of chocolate eggs, but also Osterlamm, a lamb-shaped cake dusted with confectioner’s sugar. This dessert is also popular in Alsace.
Decorating trees with colored eggs is likewise a popular tradition. These trees, known as “Osterstrauch”, fill the streets and gardens with colour and announce the arrival of spring.
