Easter Chocolate and Passover Amaretti

 A Very Chocolatey Easter

Italians, especially younger ones, will consume their fair share of chocolate in the coming days, mostly in the form of hollow chocolate eggs containing surprises inside. 

What's inside?

Adorned with ribbons and wrapped in brightly colored Mylar, chocolate eggs are an established rite of Easter-time consumption in Italy. Prices range from 32 to an astonishing 96 euro per kilo, depending on the quality of the chocolate and branding with trademarked gadgets and toys. 

Although big-name brands such as Kinder, Motta, Perugina and Nestlè may top sales, Italy's many artisanal chocolatiers keep up their end and compete on both quality and price. 

Vintage Easter

Presented at the Roman shopping center Euroma 2 in 2009, the Guinness World Record for the Largest Chocolate Egg in Europe was set with an egg 6 meters high made from 2,500 kilos of dark chocolate.

Sales of the chocolate went to earthquake relief for Aquila

Chocolate Trivia: Italians consume an average of 4 kilos of chocolate annually (Great Britain tops the list at 9.5 kilos per head). Dark chocolate is favored over milk chocolate and consumption varies greatly between North and South: 67% is consumed in northern Italy while only 9% in Southern Italy, according to the Association for Italian Chocolate Lovers.




Passover (Pesach) Foods in Italy

The special dietary restrictions observed by Jews during Passover are often inspiration for creativity in the kitchen: A vegetarian lasagna made with matzo instead of egg pasta?  

That is one of ideas suggested on the mouth-watering food blog www.labna.it (mostly in Italian). Their kosher-for-Passover recipe for amaretti (almond cookies), which we've translated to English, came from a treasured notebook handed down from nonna (grandmother).

Amaretti

 AMARETTI DELLA NONNA

• 300 g  almonds (1 and 1/2 cups ground)
• 200 g  (7/8 cup) sugar
• 2 egg whites

Beat egg whites until very stiff; refrigerate. Process almonds until finely ground; mix almonds with sugar. Stir together egg whites with almond mixture to obtain a thick batter. Form into small balls, pressing them down slightly as you set them on a baking sheet covered in baking paper. Bake in a preheated oven at 150° C (300° F)  for roughly 45 minutes, or until dry and crisp. Keep an eye on the oven! Though amaretti  take a long time to bake, they take no time at all to burn, especially on the bottoms.

Holy Week in Rome

24 March 2013 - Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday at St. Peter's Basilica

 
Newly enthroned Pope Francis I, riding in an open jeep, greeted an adoring crowd of 250,000 waving olive branches in St. Peter's Square this morning. 

Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week in Rome, the most important holiday in the Christian calendar. 


There will be many opportunities for the faithful to see the new pope: consult the complete list of liturgical celebrations in the Vatican here.

A Centuries-old Tradition Interrupted then Restored in 20th Century

On Good Friday, 29 March, the pope will lead the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum. This tradition dates back over 250 years, when it was instituted by Pope Benedict XIV to celebrate the Jubilee Year of 1750. It was in this year that the Colosseum became consecrated as a holy site in memory of Christian martyrs, and the 14 stations of the cross were installed inside the Roman amphitheater. 

When Rome became the capital of a united Italy in 1870, the stations and cross installed in the center were removed, a sign of the surge of secular, anti-clerical nationalism sweeping Italy at that time. In 1926 during the conciliation between the state and the church, the cross was reintroduced in the position in which it stands today. The Good Friday rite of Way of the Cross at the Colosseum was restored by pope Paul IV in 1964.

Easter Vigil at Saint Praxedes

Pope Paschal I

 

Santa Prassede

One of the most beautiful churches in Rome to observe the Easter Vigil is commonly known as Santa Prassede,  located near St. Mary Major on the Esquiline Hill. Although the church that can be visited today dates back to 780, its origins are even older: according to tradition, one of the first Romans converted by the apostle Paul was the senator Pudens, who in turn converted his two daughters, Pudentiana e Praxedes. All three were matyred under the reign of Emporers Marcus and Antoninus II in 165. 

Here Pope Paschal I is depicted with a square halo, indicating that he was still alive at the time (870).

Pillar of the Flogging

The church contains some of the most stunning examples of medieval mosaics in Rome and a fragment of the alleged pillar upon which Jesus was flogged and tortured before his crucifixion. The pillar is one of relics brought to Rome in the early 4th century by Saint Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine.  


Via di Santa Prassede 9/a / Via San Martino ai Monti.  For more information, contact the church directly 06 48 82 456.