I've always thought that Easter is the perfect day for brunch.  So many classic Easter foods are perfect for brunch.  Plus, a brunch buffet invites lounging about chatting and basking in Easter joy.

In years past, the Lenten regulations followed by much of the West were far more strict than oday's restrictions.  All non-Sundays and solemnities in Lent were days of fasting and all meat and foods made with eggs or dairy products were forbidden.  (Permission to consume fish kept this from being a vegan diet.)  For the most part, people ate bread, grains (such as oats and barley), and root vegetables left over from fall.  The fasting helped to stretch food supplies.

So, the first meal of Easter was a time to eat the forbidden foods again.  The meats most commonly available were lamb (since ewes give birth in late winter) and ham (since hams had completed curing during the long winter months).  In Slavic countries, sausages like kielbasa had finished smoking and were ready to eat. Since cows were back in milk and chickens were laying once again, eggs and dairy products were again available. 

Thus, the traditional Easter foods of ham and lamb and rich Easter breads and cheeses mark the end of Lent and the new growing season.

Tomorrow, we'll look at how we can reflect these traditions in a modern Easter brunch.