NCC Education will be highlighting the main festivals of the world's religions in Campus, with articles about how they are celebrated by our staff and students, and recipes for traditional foods for you to try. We would love to hear from our global family how you celebrate your main festivals, so if you would like to produce an article about your own traditions, then contact us via contribute@nccedu.com . The first of these articles is about Easter:

Easter

Easter is one of the main celebrations of the Christian calendar, and commemorates the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Its origins date back to the beginning of Christianity, and it is believed that the word ‘Easter' came from the name ‘Eostre' who was the Anglo Saxon goddess of spring and fertility.

The date of Easter varies from year to year according to the Church's calendar, but it is always on a Sunday between 22 nd March and 25 th April. Whilst the west uses the Gregorian calendar to calculate the date of Easter, some eastern countries still use the Julian calendar which is about 13 days behind. This means that they can celebrate Easter up to a month later.

Traditional celebrations for Easter include attending church on Good Friday (the Friday prior to Easter) and Easter Sunday, to celebrate the resurrection of Christ, and eating traditional foods during the Easter period.

Hot cross buns are a popular food which is eaten at Easter time. They are small, spiced dough buns, marked with a cross on the top of them, to symbolise the crucifixion.

Chocolate Easter eggs are very popular, particularly with children! They are made in various sizes and are often filled with chocolates or sweets. They are supposed to represent the stone which was rolled away from Christ's tomb.

Many people decorate chickens' eggs, a tradition which goes back to the Middle Ages. In Germany they are painted green whilst in Greek and Slavic cultures they are dyed red as a symbol of Christ's blood.

As there are two national holidays at Easter (Good Friday and Easter Monday) it is often a time when families get together for a celebratory meal. Lamb is the traditional meat which is eaten, to signify the Paschal Lamb of the Christian church. Tea later might include a Simnel cake, though this tradition is dying out. It is a rich fruit cake which is encased in marzipan, with 11 marzipan balls on the top to represent the 11 apostles minus Judas, who betrayed Christ. Easter egg nests have become popular, and an easy recipe for making them is shown below.

Ingredients

3 oz / 75g butter

2.5 oz / 60g chocolate, broken into pieces

2 oz / 50g breakfast cereal such as Cornflakes or Rice Crispies

2oz / 50 g oats

30 sugar coated small chocolate eggs

Method

1. Put the butter and chocolate into a pan and melt slowly.
2. Put the cereal and oats into the butter and chocolate and mix together.
3. Put 10 paper cases into a bun tray and put some mixture into each.
4. Place 3 eggs into each nest.
5. Put into the fridge to chill.

Enjoy!