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Mageritsa, the classic Easter soup
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Resurrection soup As soon as the bells ring on M. Saturday with the joyous message of Christ’s Resurrection, the cook will make her appearance at the family’s Resurrection dinner. This traditional classic soup with offal and various aromatics prepares us for the following day’s binge. Her recipe was born from the need for a transitory edema from the multi-day fast of Lent.
The symbolism of the cooking pot The recipe for the stew came about because they wanted to use all the parts of the lamb that were normally slaughtered on the days of Easter and eaten on the same day, in the heart of spring. As the rains decrease and the vegetation, as the weather warms, decreases, the number of goats and sheep also had to decrease because there would be no food. So, on the one hand, thanks to household economy, they had to use all the materials provided by the season and the leftovers from the Easter table, on the other hand, they had to cook a nutritious meal. As the eating of the lamb has its roots in the Jewish Passover, according to an old Jewish tradition God commanded the faithful to consume all parts of the animal. Initially, when the custom began to be observed, a soup was made that looked more like the tripe we all know. The first to establish the galiritsa in its current form, adding seasonal herbs and the necessary avgolemon, was the chef Nikolaos Tselemendes. The continuation is somewhat expected, in different parts of Greece different variations arose depending on the habits and products of each place.
The cooking in all of Greece The stew is not just one, it also has various versions and the nutritional value of the stew varies depending on its preparation.
On the island of Faiakon, in Corfu, the stew was called tsilihourda and was a thick soup with liver and many vegetables such as calamus and myronia but without lettuce. In Crete, the neck and the legs of the lamb were cooked, but even there the classic version has prevailed. In Mani it is called regali and it is not a soup, it is a stewed food that contains only the lamb’s liver and various greens and is accompanied by pilaf rice. The traditional Vlach soup is made with tomato and yogurt. Although the traditional recipes vary, new variations have emerged in recent years to cover all tastes. Now we can find vegetarian versions of the stew with chopped mushrooms and tahini.
