The Easter meals offer release from the somber religious rituals of the previous Lenten period and solemn Holy Week events. In some southern Italian homes Easter celebrations––after morning Mass, of course––may begin with the head of the family, or the eldest member of the group (usually a nonna), blessing the table, foods and invited guests with an olive twig (saved on Palm Sunday) dipped in holy water (collected earlier in church) splashing everyone with a prayer, and a word of hope.

In Alpine regions, Easter Sunday cannot be complete without boiled calf’s tongue served with horseradish. In Sardinia, peasant tradition maintains spit-roasting a whole piglet for the entire family. Not to mention the Easter Monday celebrations, Pasquetta– or little Easter – when Italians take off and enjoy a day of meditation and rest, gathering for a scampagnata, or day trip to the countryside.