Easter bread: Difference between revisions

In [[wikipedia:Sardinia|Sardinia, Italy]], bread is a part of a wide social context. It is the most important food in Sardinia, as well as all over Italy and the [[wikipedia:Mediterranean|Mediterranean]]. "Bread is a nexus of economic, political, aesthetic, social, symbolic, and health concerns".<ref name=Counihan99>Counihan, Carole. The Anthropology of Food and Body: Gender, Meaning, and Power. New York: Routledge, 1999</ref>{{rp|29}} Bread is symbolic for life. A peasant proverb mentions, "Chie hat pane mai non morit&nbsp;— one who has bread never dies".<ref name=Counihan99/>{{rp|29}} The Easter holiday is one where bread brings itself into the symbolic realm. Bread is significant for religious purposes. Luisa Fois described bread in her life after she was married and for the Easter holiday. The bread was made into a cross to represent the crucifixion of [[wikipedia:Jesus Christ|Jesus Christ]]. Since they were married, they needed to eat it together. They would share their lives now,  and they must share their "cross" together (their life's burden) as well. "Bread was a product of their union, and its shared consumption reaffirmed their interdependence".<ref name=Counihan99/>{{rp|30}} From this we gather that bread also displays a message, rather than being an item purely for consumption and nutritional purposes. Two kinds of Easter bread are described in Counihans article. One contained two points, and an egg covered with a cross. "The egg and the points that recall birds in flight speak of fertility, sexuality, and procreation&nbsp;— basic themes in Easter and its pagan precursors".<ref name=Counihan99/>{{rp|41}} The second bread was designed to have no overall shape, but was rather baked to encircle an egg, with the initials ''BP'' put on it. The initials ''BP'' stand for ''buona Pasqua'' or "happy Easter". "Letters rather than forms express meaning. Letters are symbolic of civilization and ... meaning".<ref name=Counihan99/>{{rp|41}}