248: How food shapes our Easter celebrations

<div>Easter is an important time of year for the food industry, and is one of the pillars of the calendar for any company working in the sector.<br> <br> </div> <div>But the role of food goes way beyond planning stock or staffing restaurants, it has always played a key role in how Easter is celebrated.<br> <br> </div> <div>Easter symbolism is laced with food at almost every turn, from Shrove Tuesday, to Lent, Easter Eggs and the Holy Communion.<br> <br> </div> <div>In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, we explore the food-related traditions that go hand-in-hand with Easter.<br> <br> </div> <div>Why do we eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday? Why is lamb the meat of choice on Easter Sunday? And when did <a href="https://foodmatterslive.com/discover/article/why-we-eat-chocolate-eggs-at-easter-the-history-and-tradition-behind-the-sweet-treat/">chocolate Easter Eggs</a> come to prominence?<br> <br> </div> <div>We also learn how the hot cross bun rose in popularity in the UK, was banned, and then returned.<br> <br> </div> <div>And we look further afield at the traditional Easter dishes being served up around the world.<br> <br> </div> <div> <strong>Emma Wells, Historian and Archaeologist, University of York<br> </strong><br> </div> <div>Dr Emma J. Wells is an historian and archaeologist of the medieval Church based at the <a href="https://www.york.ac.uk/">University of York</a>. <br> <br> </div> <div>She is the author of <em>Pilgrim Routes of the British Isles</em> (Hale, 2016), and the imminent, <em>Heaven on Earth: The Lives &amp; Legacies of the World’s Greatest Cathedrals</em> (Head of Zeus, 2022). <br> <br> </div> <div>Her next book, currently in the works, is on relic merchants of the Middle Ages.<br> <br> </div>