Red Eggs and Lamb Soup for Easter
For Greeks, this Sunday’s Orthodox Easter is the biggest holiday of the year, a time when observant Greek Orthodox families and friends gather to share a bountiful feast after the 40 days of fasting during Lent and Holy Week. In many homes, preparations for the Easter feast will go on all day Saturday, well into the night and even continue most of the day Sunday.
Lamb and eggs are the centerpieces of the Greek Easter feast. The eggs are dyed a vivid red with a special imported coloring available only at Greek markets. The lamb appears in many forms--as appetizer, soup and main course.
Traditionally, it’s the soup, mayeritsa, that is eaten first. It is used to break the fast after the Saturday midnight church service when the faithful leave the church with their lighted candles and the scent of incense and rush home or to their favorite restaurant.
Mayeritsa is only prepared at this time of the year. Authentically, it is made with lamb heart, lungs and other organ meats, though these days adaptations are permissible. After the long fast, this soup is soothing to the stomach and a gentle break from the fast.
At this midnight meal, it is traditional for each person to choose one of the red hard-boiled eggs to crack against someone else’s. The person whose egg doesn’t crack is considered to have good luck for the rest of the year. The egg symbolizes the new life of the Resurrection. The cracking of the egg is symbolic of Christ’s emergence from the tomb.
The next day is the major feast. There will be tsoureki, a yeast bread braided with more of the bright red eggs and flavored with mahlepi (a seasoning made of ground pits of a native Greek variety of cherry). These breads are so beautiful that they can be used as a centerpiece for the table.
The first lamb dish usually served is kokoretsi--skewers of lamb innards that are wrapped in lamb intestines and grilled. These skewers are meant to be eaten as appetizer-like nibbles while the lamb is slowly roasting over the open fire.
The preparation of the lamb is done by the men of the family. The lamb is selected and butchered a few days before Easter. It is then brought home and kept until Easter morning when it is tied to the rotisserie and delicately balanced so it will turn smoothly. It usually takes about four hours for the lamb to cook over the open fire, depending on its size. It is rubbed with olive oil and generously seasoned with Greek oregano, garlic, salt and pepper. An herbal brush is made up of fresh oregano, dill and parsley sprigs, dipped into a mixture of olive oil and lemon juice and brushed on the lamb throughout the cooking.
The lamb is served with Greek roasted potatoes. Spanakopita, a spinach pie, and Greek salad are served along with chunks of feta cheese and kasseri cheese, Greek olives, and tzatziki a yogurt-cucumber sauce. Assorted appetizers (mezedes) are served, including cheese-filled tyropitas made with filo dough, the eggplant dip melitzanosalata, the little meatballs called keftedakia and stuffed grape leaves, or dolmades.
The traditional dessert for this feast--as well as any other festive Greek dinner--is the beloved baklava. There may also be small braided orange-and-sesame cookies called koulourakia, or the custard-filled galaktoboureko filo desserts. There will probably be a platter of fresh fruit and, of course, more of that tsoureki braided bread. It’s not every day you get to eat red eggs.
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Mayeritsa Greek Easter Soup
Active Work Time: 30 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 1 1/2 hours
This recipe comes from Cosmas Kapantzos of the Astroburger restaurant on Melrose Avenue.
2 pounds lamb shanks and/or neck bones
12 cups water
3 carrots, cut in half
3 celery stalks, cut in half crosswise
1 yellow onion, cut into quarters
1 teaspoon peppercorns
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 beef bouillon cubes
3 tablespoons butter
11/2 cups chopped green onions (about 14 onions)
3 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup chopped fresh dill
1 cup chopped Italian parsley
3/4 cup long-grain rice
3 eggs
Juice of 1 lemon
Place the lamb, water, carrots, celery, yellow onion, peppercorns, bay leaves, salt and pepper in a 6-quart saucepan and bring to boil. Lower the heat, cover and simmer until the meat is tender, 11/2 hours.
Remove the meat; strain the juices into a bowl. Discard the vegetables. Put the bowl in the freezer until the fat has solidified enough to skim from the top, about 45 minutes. Discard the fat and cut the meat from the bones. Chop the meat into small pieces; set aside.
Pour the defatted juices into a small, 4-quart saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the bouillon cubes and stir to dissolve. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Melt the butter in a 6-quart saucepan over low heat. Add the green onions and cook until tender, about 4 minutes. Stir in the flour until blended. Add the dill, parsley and rice and mix well. Cook on low heat for a couple of minutes and add the chopped meat. Pour in the broth. Cover and bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until the rice is done, 15 to 20 minutes.
Break the eggs into a small bowl and beat with a fork. Gradually beat in the lemon juice. Add a ladle of the soup from the pot to the egg mixture while beating the eggs. Gradually add a second ladle. Pour the egg mixture into the soup gradually while continuously stirring. Cook the soup another 3 minutes; do not allow it to boil. Remove from the heat.
8 servings. Each serving: 145 calories; 802 mg sodium; 108 mg cholesterol; 8 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 8 grams carbohydrates; 10 grams protein; 1.08 grams fiber.