My favourite time of year is approaching! Easter , which funnily enough, coincides with my birthday, is when the year really starts for most of us, throwing off the shackles of winter and into the glow of spring. But it's also the most important date in the Christian calendar - even bigger than Christmas - when Jesus Christ was crucified at Golgotha on Friday by Roman soldiers under the orders of Pontius Pilate, embalmed and entombed, only to miraculously rise from the dead to greet his followers on Sunday. Christ's resurrection is a metaphor for Christian salvation, and sees celebrations and parties the world over.
Easter has plenty of traditions cramped in a few short days. No meat on Good Friday (our parents and grandparents' generations would have been familiar with long queues at the fish and chip shop ) and endless re-runs of Ben-Hur. Another tasty tradition is hot cross buns - first definitively recorded in London in 1733.
The buns are famously decorated with crosses made from shortcrust pastry to symbolise Jesus' crucifixion, and baked with spices to represent the embalming of Jesus' body. Today, hot cross buns are eaten by Christians across the English-speaking world on Good Friday, but they hold a special significance in Britain, where they can be eaten all year round - with many flavourful variations. This week, I'll sample traditional hot cross buns from Tesco , Sainsbury's , Lidl , Waitrose and M&S to see which bun comes out on top.
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