Easter is fast approaching with less than two weeks to go and for many it will be a time of feasting. So to help the UK public plan and prepare to feast, the first of a two part Mary Berry’s Easter Feast programme aired on BBC2 last night at 8pm.
The programme looks at how the cosmopolitan make up of various adaptations of the Christian faith celebrate Easter, through the celebration of food shared with friends and family and the traditions that led to what will be served.
Mary Berry explores the roots of her own Christian faith and shows how that has shaped much of what we all eat over the Easter period. She clearly enjoys her latest assignment and tells the audience, “I loved the idea of seeing how different communities and cultures commemorate Easter through food. I met people from the Greek and the Russian Orthodox Church, Italian and Polish cooks and a girl from the Philippines. It was wonderful seeing their traditions, flavours and Easter family rituals.”
As we watched we were delighted to see Chef Damian Wawrzyniak enter the programme. Chef Damian is a regular participant in H&C News events like Open Kitchen Live and recipe contributor.
Welcoming Mary Berry to his home to meet his wife and two children, a boy and a girl, he introduces her to the Polish Babka cake. Damian is then whisked off to make a Babka cake for Mary Berry at her home. She clearly is surprised at the sheer volume of work required and likes how the baking process was handed down through generations and retained. She was even more impressed with the end result, and so were we.
Next week is part two at the same time when all the participants get together to enjoy their dishes together. We would highly recommend as a very enjoyable hour of television.