Happy Easter!
It's a day that we celebrate in this country by getting gussied up in our most uncomfortable church clothes and then gorging on chocolate cream eggs until the buttons burst.
But that's not how they celebrate Resurrection Sunday in other parts of the world. Let's take a look at other cultural traditions:
Finland: A traditional dessert here is Mammi, an unsightly almost-black, sludge-like concoction of ingredients such as rye flour, malt, molasses and orange zest served with heavy cream, according to a Pinterest entry from cookingfinland.blogspot.co.uk. You pronounce it like, "Maa-mmi, please don't make me eat that! I promise I'll be good from now on."
France: In Haux each year, townspeople egg on chefs who cook up an eggs-treme omelet of some 5,000 eggs in an effort to feed the population of about 1,000, according to Epicurious.com. What an eggs-citing eggs-periment. Want something more eggs-otic than the bacon, onion and garlic omelet the chefs eggs-ecute? Well, b-egg-ars can't be choosers.
Greece: Forget throwing beads, candy or confetti. On Easter Sunday, in anticipation of Resurrection, citizens of Corfu "hurl clay pots from windows and balconies which crash noisily on the streets below," according to visitgreece.gr. It's a smashing good time. Well, for anyone not on the street.
Norway: Plan to spend Easter Sunday binge-watching Breaking Bad? Then you are celebrating Paske (that's Dutch for Easter) Norwegian-style. During Easter break is when Norwegians traditionally read their Paskerkrim (Easter Thriller) novels and watch crime shows produced especially for this season, according to tnp.no (The Nordic Page). For the full Nordic experience, nosh on a Kvikk Lunsj chocolate wafer bar. A Kit Kat egg will do nicely.
Poland: Here, Easter Monday is also known as Lany Poniedzialek -- Wet Monday. Also called Smingus-Dyngus, it's the day when boys attempt to drench cute girls with buckets of water and squirt guns and hit them with twigs, according to Wikipedia.com. The courtship ritual is less about assault and more like April Fool's Day crossed with Valentine's Day. With an ALS Ice Bucket Challenge thrown in.
Somewhat similar is Hungary's "Ducking Monday" when young men spray perfume on young women and ask for a kiss and a red egg, according to thehungariangirl.com who says, "This ritual is associated with fertility, healing and cleansing rites." Guys who attempt that in the United States will likely be told to kiss off and have a red face.
Romania: Painting eggs is a true art here, where the ornate decorated ovals begin with dyes from natural sources like onion skins, herbs and flowers. And you thought you were really something-something with your Paas Tie Dye Kit.
Hop to it, email:
jchristman@arkansasonline.com
Spin Cycle is a weekly smirk at pop culture.
Style on 04/05/2015