If you spend your Easter holidays in Greece, you will be impressed by the Greek Easter traditions and customs, which are connected with the religious atmosphere of the biggest festivity of Greek Orthodox Church. In general, the customs of Greek Easter, are related to faith, religion and food. According to the fast of Greek Orthodox Church, meat and dairy products are prohibited during Lent. Especially on Holy Week, the Greek people gather and eat seafood. When the fast is finally over, on Holy Saturday evening after the Resurrection of Christ, and on Easter Sunday, people gather and eat traditional Easter foods. To these, belong the red eggs, the roasted lamb, the sweet Easter bread, tsoureki, as well as mayiritsa, a delicious soup that is eaten in Greece only at Easter.
Mayiritsa
This soup was designed to use the leftovers of the lamb, so that nothing went to waste. It is prepared on Holy Saturday, a day, which is dedicated to the preparations of the Easter feast. It is a soup with extraordinary taste, and it is full of energy. This is the reason why it is basically eaten on Holy Saturday evening, when people need important nutrient after the long fast.
Ingredients
1 kg of lamb offal (liver, heart, lungs)
Intestines from 2 lambs
Salt
Juice of 4 lemons
1/3 cup olive oil
1 dry onion
5-6 green onions
Black pepper
10 cups water
2 heads romaine lettuce
2 tablespoons rice
3 eggs
1 tablespoon water
Instructions
1. Wash very well the organs and set them aside to drain.
2. Cut the intestines lengthwise and clean them well with running water and the lemon juice.
3. Boil the organs in salted water for 3 minutes, and then add the intestines for another 5 minutes.
4. Chop the organs and the intestines into small pieces.
5. Sauté the onions and then the meat until it is browned.
6. Add salt, pepper and the water, and cook for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
7. Boil the chopped lettuce for 5 minutes in another pot.
8. Drain it and add it in the soup after it has been boiling for 40 minutes.
9. 10 minutes before the end of cooking time, stir in the rice.
10. For the avgolemono sauce (egg-lemon sauce), separate the eggs whites from yolks and beat the whites until frothy. While beating the whites, add the yolks, the lemon juice of 2 lemons, 1 tablespoon water and ladles of the soup broth.
11. Add the mixture to the soup and mayiritsa is ready.