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EveryMasala

Next: 2 May 2027

Orthodox Easter and Fasika

After Lent, tsiga, magiritsa, kulich and paska, with mahleb and mastic in Greek tsoureki and Ethiopian doro wat.

Resurrection of Jesus
Photo: Piero della Francesca, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Spices for Orthodox Easter and Fasika

Orthodox Easter ends a long fast. Greek families bake tsoureki, a braided sweet bread flavoured with mahleb and mastic (the resin from the Chios mastic tree) and eat magiritsa, lamb offal soup, after midnight. Russian and Serbian kitchens bake kulich with cardamom and saffron, and paska of cheese with vanilla. In Ethiopia, Fasika opens with doro wat and fresh injera. In Egypt, Coptic Christians eat fatta, with garlic, vinegar and cumin. A single Sunday brings flavours from the Aegean to the Nile.

The spices

MahlebIn Greek tsoureki.MasticThe Chios resin that flavours the bread.CardamomIn Slavic kulich.SaffronUsed in some kulich.
About this page

Written by the EveryMasala desk with AI assistance. Background: "Easter" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

The weekly digest

Every Monday: seven spices you may not know, what is cooking this week, and one blend explained step by step.