Meat, wine and much-awaited Easter eggs

Easter, the festival of sweet marzipan eggs, chocolate bunnies and sugary icing, is not delightful for children alone. Aarefa Johari reports.

Easter, the festival of sweet marzipan eggs, chocolate bunnies and sugary icing, is not delightful for children alone. On Sunday, as Christian families across the city gather around the table for their Easter lunch, young and old alike will be waiting to gorge on treats such as chicken curry, fried fish, pork vindaloo and wine.

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A celebration of the resurrection of Christ, Easter comes after 40 arduous days of Lent, during which many Christians abstain from meat, alcohol and other pleasures as a form of penance for Jesus’ sacrifice.

“So when Easter comes, people get excited and are waiting to indulge,” said Aleta Lobo, 38, a Bandra resident who observes Lent every year and extends it to abstaining from sweets and chocolates.

Her Easter table will include a variety of meats cooked Goan-style. “I unintentionally lost some weight during Lent, but all that will do down the drain from Sunday,” said Lobo, adding that Easter binging doesn’t always go according to plan.

“After 40 days, your tongue gets used to the abstinence, so sometimes I just cannot feast too much,” she added. Media professional Andrea Newton has no such problem. Easter is about giving one's appetite a free rein and everyone in her family enjoys it thoroughly.

“Lunch at my aunt's home will include every kind of meat and it is the one day in the year when every adult is allowed to get drunk,” said Newton, whose family feast in Bandra will include an Easter egg hunt for children and will stretch all the way till dinner.

Amidst all the happy feasters, there are a few exceptions, such as Kalina resident Robin Viegas who considers Easter, too, to be a time for restraint. “We do everything in moderation at home, so my family will not be gorging on too many chocolates or meat dishes on Sunday,” said Viegas, 51, an electrical engineer who gives up chocolate during Lent and is not too fond of meat as well. “Of course, we will have some basic chicken curry, biryani and whiskey,” Viegas added.