(upbeat music) - I love Easter.

It's one of my favorite times of year, full of new life and hope.

It's a time when food is at the very heart of our celebration.

In my family, Easter isn't Easter without hot cross buns, simnel cake and, of course, roast lamb.

So, as well as showing you how to cook some of my Easter favorites, I've been finding out how Britain's many vibrant Christian communities commemorate Easter.

- Put this bad boy... - I think it's a good boy.

Why cooking has such an important place.

- Do you think the almond bunnies are superior?

- It's another dimension for me.

- Found one!

- And why food is particularly symbolic at this time of year.

Ahh!

- Whoa.

I don't mind, you can be the winner.

And, in this program, I'll be continuing my journey.

- Colomba.

- Italiana.

- [Mary] What does that say?

- Have faith in my cooking!

- Well, you certainly did have faith in my cooking!

And bringing it all together for one special Easter feast.

Hello!

Where, alongside my favorites, I'll be serving all the delicious foods I've collected from around Britain.

- [Man] There we go, young man.

- I want to create an Easter feast that puts all our dishes on one table, and I just can't wait for everyone to tuck in.

Easter Sunday is the one day I look forward to most, it brings together my whole family.

♪ Oh happy day ♪ ♪ Oh happy day ♪ - [Mary] As a churchgoer myself, it's a day to rejoice with my loved ones, and, just like us, all across Britain, Christian families and communities congregate to celebrate the Resurrection.

- [All] Amen.

- [Mary] So, after the Lenten fast, traditionally, the 40 days when we abstain from luxuries, comes the most important feast in the Christian calendar.

Before I get cooking, I want to find dishes that really capture the spirit of Easter Sunday.

♪ Oh it's a happy day ♪ ♪ Oh happy day ♪ - [Mary] At Easter time, food comes with the added ingredient of symbolism.

None more so than the bread shared by the Greek Orthodox community to welcome Easter morning.

There are over 100 Greek Orthodox churches in the UK, and I've come to one of the grandest of them all, St Sophia's in West London, to find out more.

- I'm so pleased to meet you.

- Father Savvas.

What a beautiful church.

- Thank you very much.

- Thank you for welcoming me.

- You're welcome.

♪ Hallelujah ♪ - Gracious!

It is magnificent.

This stunning cathedral was built nearly 140 years ago, and has one of the biggest Greek Orthodox congregations in the country.

Father, I hear that Easter is a pretty big deal here.

- It is.

It is, always.

Easter is the greatest feast of the Orthodox Church.

♪ Hallelujah ♪ - [Mary] At Midnight Mass on Holy Saturday, the thousand-strong congregation gather and light candles to usher in Easter Sunday.

- [Father] It is the light of life, the light of Jesus, the light of the Resurrection.

- I cannot imagine a thousand people out there, all holding candles.

It must be very moving.

- Yes, it is, it's very emotional, it's very touching, you know?

After the Holy Communion, we give them tsoureki.

Tsoureki is the Easter sweet bread, it's like brioche bread, but sweet, and traditional for this, as well.

- [Mary] The Orthodox tradition is to take a lit candle back home and use it to bless the house.

- Here you are taking the whole light.

- Thank you.

The Greek Easter foods are just as important as the traditions around them.

So, Father Savvas is taking me to meet his cousin, who is busy baking next door, and I'm looking forward to a lesson in tsoureki.

- Hello.

- Hello!

Hi, Mary.

- Hello.

- [Father] This is my cousin, Katerina.

- Very nice to see you.

- Nice to see you.

I can see you're very busy!

I have brought the light from the church, from Jerusalem.

- Thank you very much.

- And it didn't blow out on the way.

- I can see that, that's great, thank you.

- [Mary] This delicately-flavored Greek Easter bread is full of religious symbolism.

And across the Greek community, households make it every Easter to break the Lenten fast.

- So, we prepare them in advance, and then, on the Holy Saturday, after Mass, we can have as many as we like.

- Food is very important to you.

- It is, yeah.

I think, for Greece, it's important because, you know, we've been through German occupation, as well, and there was starvation back then, so we are very appreciative of food in general.

- Gosh, so it must be very exciting when Easter Sunday comes and you can have all the wonderful foods then.

- That's right, it builds the anticipation.

- [Mary] Katerina's family recipe is made with a dough enriched with butter and eggs.

- So, it's very sweet, but it's also very aromatic.

We have two very much distinctive flavors in there, and that's because we use two spices, mastika and mahlepi.

So, I have this here for you.

So, this is tree sap, that is sun-dried.

- [Mary] Mastika is made from a tree resin, and mahlepi comes from tiny wild cherry stones that are ground up and give the bread a hint of almond.

Katerina splits the dough into three sections, and plaits them together.

- The braid symbolizes the Holy Trinity.

Three is quite a magical and a sacred number for us, and traditionally that's what my grandmother used to prepare, so... - I can see that you love to hand down the tradition from generation to generation, which is lovely.

So, what happens to these three?

- Now, a key decoration, if you like, is the red egg, and this is something that we will place here.

We like to dye them red, because red symbolizes the blood of Christ, and also, egg is a symbol for new life.

- Yeah.

- So, we'll add one here, at the top, and then we're gonna brush the tsoureki with a bit of egg yolk.

- Shall I do that?

- Yes, absolutely.

- [Mary] That'll give a lovely shine.

- [Katerina] Exactly.

- [Mary] Tsoureki is known as the shining bread, a glorious reference to the moment Christ is risen.

- So, we'll just decorate.

- [Mary] Katerina finishes off with black sesame seeds, then pops it in the oven until it's golden brown.

- When we go to church on Saturday, I do get goose bumps when the priest says, "Christ is risen," because it's very emotional, it's a very moving week, and everyone has, you know, fasted, they have done their preparations, and they are ready to celebrate.

It's a reaffirmation of who I am, of my identity as a Greek.

- This special bread is made with real affection.

It'll be a wonderful addition to my Easter feast.

Can we have it while it's a little bit warm?

- Absolutely.

Let's give it a try.

Every time I smell it, it reminds me of Greek Easter.

- It's a lovely crumb, there, and a glorious color, and as soft as butter.

Mm!

There's nothing quite like it.

That is wonderful.

- Thank you.

- In fact, I'm going in for some more.

I love being with all my grandchildren at Easter, and Katerina's tsoureki has inspired me to make an Easter recipe I know they'll love.

It, too, features bread and an egg.

And I've come to show my daughter Annabel and granddaughter Atalanta how to make it.

This is a recipe that I fell in love with simply yonks ago, when I was in Holland.

I was lucky enough to be there at Easter time, and I was looking in all the shop windows, in the bakeries, and there were these little men made out of bread, and I was fascinated by them, and so I learnt how to make them.

These little Easter men, or Paas Mannetjes, as they're known in Holland, are made from a basic bread dough with a whole egg that cooks at the same time as the dough bakes.

Perfect to break the fast on Easter morning.

The dough needs to prove until it's doubled its size.

Unlike many other Easter breads, there's only one rising, very few ingredients, so easy for children to make.

I've got one here that I made earlier.

There you are, Attie, look.

- Oh, yes.

- Can you see the eyes and the nose and mouth, Atalanta?

- Mouth, nose, eyes.

- And are you going to have a go at doing that?

Shall I show you how to do it?

Right, well, I'm going to cut some for the head.

That's his head, there.

This is going to be his arms.

Like that.

And then he's gonna have some legs.

Now, it's very difficult to imagine, but you watch.

Let's first of all make his head.

There it is.

Can you see that?

I'll make it round.

Let me see your face.

Absolutely round, that's it.

And then we've got arms, and I want to...

The arms have got to wrap round the egg.

Can you stretch that arm a little bit?

Just make it into a little point at the end.

That's it.

Perfect.

Yours is better than mine, on that side.

Now, shall we put the egg in the middle?

We put it there, in the middle.

In there.

- So, that's the raw egg that will cook with the bread.

- Raw egg that will cook with the bread.

- Very clever.

- And then you just put that on top, and then there are the arms folded over the top, like that.

- [Annabel] He's hugging them, isn't he, Attie?

- He's hugging the egg.

Can you do a little face up there?

Shall I just put...

I'll put a little bit of egg there to make it stick.

There we are.

That's one eye.

Two eyes.

And does it need a nose?

Do you think two for the nose?

You have the nose where you like.

That's right.

And could we have one with a big smile?

And we need to brush that all over to give a lovely shine.

Can you brush all over?

That's right, all over.

Not over the face, because if you do it over the face, the eyes will fall off.

I remember doing these on Easter morning for breakfast, and everybody getting up really early.

- I remember doing a lot of baking with you in the kitchen, and the naughty boys.

Always roast lamb, a redcurrant jelly, fresh mint sauce.

The chopping of the mint.

- Absolutely.

- And I remember being down in Devon, and we'd have Easter egg hunts on the rocks.

Like you did, you were in Cornwall last year for Easter, weren't you?

- When we were in Cornwall, we had an Easter egg hunt.

- Did you enjoy that?

And, of course, painting eggs, we did, didn't we?

Have you ever done any painting of eggs yet?

I don't think you have done any painted eggs!

Well, maybe this year will be the first.

Well done.

I think you've done really well.

So, what do you think about that?

What do you like?

- The egg!

- You like the egg.

So, you can't wait.

So, we now bake this in a hot oven, and they develop their character in the oven.

Sometimes they lean over, sometimes one arm slips.

We'll wait and see what happens to this little chap.

These little dough men hugging an egg are so easy to make, everyone can have a go.

Hello.

- Come in!

- Hi.

- It's action Easter men.

Right... Like Katerina's tsoureki, this is a recipe made with affection.

And it's a great way to get the whole family together on Easter morning.

To shine the face... You've got to egg the face.

- Louis, just the face.

- What?

- Just the face.

- You can do the face with currants, sultanas.

You could put a cherry in a big smile, but it must be a happy face, cause this is for Easter morning, Sunday, and everybody's happy.

- You can even put chocolate eggs on.

- What do you think would happen if you put a chocolate egg on top?

- Melt.

- It would melt, and it would have a chocolate face.

Well, why not?

Louis, you seem to have got egg and currants everywhere.

- A bit.

- But yours looks a bit like Star Wars!

I don't think it'll get muddled with all the others, but it'll taste just as good.

The Easter men need about 25 minutes in the oven, then they're ready.

There's no doubt who that one belongs to.

- [Annabel] Oh, wow!

They're huge!

- So, happy Easter, everyone!

- Aw, and a very happy Easter, Mum.

Happy Easter.

- Happy Easter.

- Happy Easter!

- So many of the Easter recipes I'm learning involve bread, full of the religious symbolism of Christ, the bread of life.

But, with preparations apace for the great feast at my local church hall, what I need now are the centerpieces, the spectacular roast.

And I want to learn about a meat dish with influences from further afield.

Mae grew up in the Philippines.

She's one of around 200,000 citizens with Filipino heritage here in Britain, and, like her, many are Catholic.

Mae, welcome.

Come in.

- Thank you.

I've invited her to show me a recipe no Filipino Easter would be complete without.

Mae, I'm very excited, I'm looking at all these different ingredients here.

You are renowned for your Easter feast.

- Yes, and I'm going to show you how to make lechon today.

- Lechon.

- Yes.

It's usually a whole hog roast, slow-roasted for six to eight hours, with lots of fragrance inside the pork belly, so, it's gonna be crisp.

- [Mary] Lechon and Catholicism are both part of a strong legacy from 300 years of Spanish rule in the Philippines.

Their Easter customs reflect the mass scale of their faith, and Mae brings a flavor of those celebrations to the UK with her lechon.

To start off, a wonderful piece of pork belly has been soaking in brine with onion, bay leaves, lemon grass and garlic.

Has it still got the skin on?

- Yes, it still has the skin on.

It's the most important part of it, actually, because if it's not crispy, you've done something a little bit wrong there.

So, all we need to do now is take it out, dry it completely with a towel so that it will crisp up once it's in the oven.

- And these are the other ingredients.

So, first of all, I thought they were all spring onions, but this is lemon grass.

Now, I grow lemon grass at home, and it's got much more leaf to it.

- Yeah, I remember when I was living in the Philippines, we would just have it in the back garden, and I would just go out, you know, my dad would ask me get some lemon grass, and I would go...

But, yeah, it's really leafy and really fragrant.

- And that looks to me like a lot of garlic.

- Yes, we love our garlic.

Onions and garlic, we love.

To make sure that it's really flavorsome, add a little bit more salt to it.

A little pepper.

Okay, so, we need to cut the end of the spring onions, and cut it in half so that the flavors will come out.

- So, this, to me, is a frightfully interesting recipe.

I haven't seen anything like it before.

- So, the next thing we'll do with the lemon grass, we have to crush this.

- You're enjoying doing that, aren't you?

- Actually.

Sorry!

Stress free.

- Bashing it really does get the flavor out of it.

- Yeah, definitely, and you want that in your pork.

- So, to infuse the meat with flavor, Mae places lemon grass and spring onion, bay leaves and finely-chopped garlic.

And then she rolls the pork belly tightly, and secures it.

So, there's your string, get going.

- Here's my string.

Tie it on there.

If you could hold that for me, I'll tie it again to keep it in place.

- As long as there's two people, you don't need to do any fancy butcher's knots.

- Yes!

- That looks good.

I can see, the way you're doing this, you just love food.

Was it your mother or your father, who inspired you?

Or your grandmother?

Who inspired you?

- My father inspired me.

Growing up in the Philippines, my dad stayed in the Philippines while my mum worked abroad, so he was sort of the mother and the father at the same time.

So, he said, "Okay, I'm gonna teach you how to cook."

I have a photo to show you, actually.

In the Philippines, you probably will have a whole hog, and that's my father, there, Pepe, cooking it.

- [Mary] And it's sort of on a rail either side.

So, somebody is turning it.

- [Mae] Yes!

So, the idea is to copy that and put it in a slow oven, 100, for six hours, and keep an eye on it.

Well, I think we should get that straight in the oven right now.

Just as Mae's father did, across the Philippines, whole hogs are spit-roasted so the entire community can come together and eat.

Mae's miniature but still substantial version will be a stunning centerpiece for my feast.

It looks fantastic.

It's ready.

You should be very proud of that.

I think it looks- - Oh, that looks beautiful!

- [Mary] So, it's all yours.

- [Mae] It's all ready.

All right!

- I've never known anything so crisp!

With long, long slow-cooking, it's certainly got- - [Mae] I think it's worth the wait, don't you think?

- I think it's fantastic.

Watching this, it's very difficult not to just stretch across and pinch a bit.

Can I?

There's an extra fork here.

- Yes!

Go, go, go for it.

- There's no sign of any fat, here.

That is so tender.

- It's beautiful.

- Beautifully tender.

It's not stringy in any way, it's beautifully tender.

And that crackling, I think I might even break my teeth on it.

Look!

Well, I would have thought, after Easter Sunday, the dentists would be in business, because it is very, very crisp.

But, oh, so good.

- [Mae] That's a feast already, on its own, don't you think?

- That looks absolutely wonderful.

Informal, lovely.

- [Mae] Yes.

- Your specialty, lechon, this wonderful roast pork.

Would you be kind enough to bring it along to my feast to share with everybody else?

- It would be my pleasure.

- We'll see you then.

- Okay.

- [Mary] It's a real surprise to discover how significant pork is to the Filipino Easter table.

Mae's exotic lechon will be a wonderful complement to the more familiar Easter roast lamb at my special feast.

But what is it about lamb that makes it special at Easter?

I'm off to lunch with the Archbishop of York.

He's one of only two archbishops in the Church of England, second only to the Archbishop of Canterbury.

He's also a very keen cook.

- Oh, hello, Mary.

Welcome, welcome, welcome.

- It's a sheer pleasure to meet you.

- The sun is out for us, wonderful.

Please.

- Thank you.

A former political prisoner in Uganda, John Sentamu came to the UK 42 years ago, having fled the regime of dictator Idi Amin.

This is truly magnificent.

Do you really live here?

- By the grace of God, I do!

It's a wonderful, wonderful place, and people have worshiped here since 1241.

So, a lot of prayers have been said in this place.

- It feels very peaceful and very restful, but I'm sure at Easter time it's really, really busy for you.

- Wonderful.

A lot of prayers, again, are said, a lot of hymns are sung.

But I want to invite you to come to my apartment upstairs and we'll do some cooking, because cooking is one of those great things that helps me to relax.

- I would love to do that, and I'm especially thrilled that it's you that's doing the cooking!

- Well, you're going to help me quite a lot!

I'm using your recipe, which you may not remember very well, but it's called Rutland lamb.

Do you remember it?

Ah!

- I do remember.

- [Mary] Well, I hope I remember!

It's a recipe from almost 30 years ago, but I'm flattered he's still using it.

It's a part-boned leg of lamb with rosemary, and I'm told the archbishop has some touches of his own.

His wife, Margaret, is also joining us in the kitchen.

- Welcome!

Good to meet you.

- Margaret.

Welcome to Bishopthorpe.

- [Mary] What a view you've got here, too!

- It's amazing.

I love the window cause I see everything that's going on!

- I see an apron there.

I thought I'd come here to see you cooking, but I've got to put it on.

- No, no, you know very well, as well as us, that you can't come in the kitchen and just simply look.

You've got to cook, and you've got wonderful words.

- What does that say?

- Have faith in my cooking!

- Well, you certainly did have faith in my cooking!

- Yeah!

So, I hope what we'll produce will be exactly after your old recipe.

- Well, it looks a very good joint, it's a leg of lamb.

- Yeah, a leg of lamb.

Come from an organic butcher.

If you don't mind, please, what we've got to do is to actually get all that rosemary taken off these stalks, and you're going to cut it into little pieces.

- So, when you had the original recipe, I bet it was dried rosemary, cause back all those years ago, I used dried rosemary, and now I use fresh.

- No, I think it was actually fresh.

The recipe said fresh.

- Oh, was it?

- Oh, I was ahead of my time, there.

(John laughing) - And the thing is, this leg of lamb has got to be deboned.

You take the bone out... - Yes.

The main bone.

- The main bone has got to be taken out.

- If I remember, the bone comes out, and then you make a sort of sausage of ham, with herbs, rolling it... - Yeah.

- And then you put it in where the bone was.

- That's exactly what we're going to do.

- And then, when you cook it, it comes through in slices.

- In slices.

Beautiful, beautiful.

We are nearly there.

- Great memory.

- But tell me, Archbishop, why do we have, always, lamb at Easter?

I mean, automatically I've done it for years and years, in different ways, but why do we have lamb?

- Well, Jesus, John the Baptist, when he first sees him, he says, "Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world."

So, you remember the death and resurrection of Jesus, but also you remember the Passover, that, actually, this is the Passover of the Lord, when we, who've been in death, can now experience new life.

I think I've done enough.

Okay.

- [Mary] You've made a very good job of that.

- Are you nearly there?

- How about that?

- Mm, that won't be enough, but Margaret will do some more while you- - No, I'll do some more.

I'm sorry I've failed you!

Is that really not enough?

- Well, you get four slices of this.

If you remember, four slices of this... - Yes.

- And you've got to sprinkle a little rosemary on there, if you remember very well, and then, if I can have some of that- - [Mary] And then another slice?

- No, you need to put some garlic on that.

Have you forgotten?

- It's a few years back.

And I haven't seen the recipe since.

- Well, there you are, there you are.

So, there you are.

- I think we're making a good team.

- Yes, we are, yes, we are.

- [Mary] There we are, it's just about the same size.

Gosh, that'll be delicious.

- [John] Well, I hope so!

- [Mary] So, where did your passion and love of cooking come from?

- My mother.

- [Mary] Your mother.

- She had 13 children.

- 13 children?

- Yes.

Four girls.

- Margaret, can you imagine that?

You've got two, haven't you?

- Well, mine had 10, so I'm one of 10.

- And so your mother... - She was a good cook, and loved cooking, and taught us all how to cook.

And I'm very glad she did, cause I love eating.

What I varied with your recipe, I put tarragon in the base.

- Tarragon, I love tarragon!

- The reason being that it actually gives you fantastic flavor for your gravy.

Those are the base... - A layer of tarragon, then a layer of sliced onion... - Yeah.

It's marvelous.

Then this goes in here, exactly like that, and this is the trick, this was your trick.

- [Mary] Wow.

- Do you remember?

Dry white wine.

And, did I say as much wine as that?

- You said it must come up to the onions.

- This is going to be particularly good gravy.

- There we go.

Cover it.

And then it goes into the Aga.

- He's been well trained.

The lamb goes into a hot oven for a couple of hours.

So, Archbishop, when you were a child in Uganda, how did you celebrate Easter?

Would you have had lamb?

- Definitely my dad would insist on having lamb, because, you know, the reference back to Jesus as the lamb of God.

- Mm-hm.

- We would have some goat curry, some beef curry, some chicken curry.

- This is a whale of a feast, isn't it?!

- It is a whale of a feast!

And then there is matoke, which is a banana, which you cook, so, it's meant for steaming and cooking.

It was really a very big feast!

Easter is really a feast, a feast of new life for all of us.

Not just the Christians, everybody.

This is a wonderful feast of new life.

So, we should celebrate and rejoice.

- Absolutely.

- Hallelujah, this is rejoicing.

We've not been able to sing the Gloria, Glory to God, now we can sing Glory to God, so it's wonderful.

- More hallelujahs.

- More hallelujahs!

- [Mary] While the lamb roasts, we take advantage of the glorious garden.

I want to talk more about the Resurrection and the hope it gives.

It was a great comfort to me after we lost our son 27 years ago in a car accident.

And for the Archbishop, who was imprisoned and tortured, there's great solace in the Easter message.

- Whatever pain and difficulty we all go through, an innocent man, without sin, Jesus Christ, is crucified, and everything looks as if it is the end, but actually he rises, which actually means- - He rises again.

- Again, which really means, in the end, that whatever pain, whatever difficulty we go through, that God, who is very much like Jesus, tells us he is with us in the midst of all our pain, our suffering, and there will be resurrection.

- And, of course, he had, Christ had, such pain, himself.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, I mean, I... You know, and this is why, you know, meeting people like you, who lost a son, William, at the age of 19, in the end, my hope is... - Oh, I will see him again.

- You will see him again.

Why?

Because what Jesus has done is not just for the Christian, he has done it for the whole of the world.

- And I think, when tragedy hits you, and you have faith, you have reason to go on and be strong.

- Oh yeah.

And you go on, not because you are strong, or courageous, or wonderful, but God gives you himself.

The Holy Spirit actually comes to live in you, with you and gives you this amazing reality.

It is incredible.

- [Mary] Back in the kitchen, the lamb is ready to serve, and I can't wait.

- What do you think?

- That's the wine.

(Margaret laughing) Wonderful gravy.

- Risen and ascended Lord, we thank you for our friendship, thank you for this food.

Bless it while using us in your service.

In your name we pray, amen.

- [Mary] Amen.

It does look magnificent, doesn't it?

- [John] There is plenty of it.

- Absolutely massive.

- [John] Is that enough?

- Perfect.

- [John] You don't want another little piece?

- [Mary] And the gravy.

- There we are, dear.

We prayed, if you've got everything, please just start.

In we go.

It's superb.

This is my Rutland lamb of all those years ago with an Archbishop's twist.

- So now, when you write another book, you've really got to put it in.

- It will have a revival but with your twist.

- Thank you.

(gentle music) - [Mary] Before Easter lunch in our household, there's one tradition that is without doubt our grandchildren's favorite.

Easter just wouldn't be Easter without it.

Our much-loved custom of Easter egg hunting is thought to date back 500 years when monks in Europe used eggs, a symbol of rebirth, to re-enact the discovery of Christ's empty tomb.

- Okay, children, it's the moment you've been waiting for.

- [Mary] Are you excited?

- Okay, so are we ready for the Easter egg hunt?

- [All] Yes!

- What are we waiting for?

Are there any rules, Annabel?

- There's only one rule, which is if all the big girls and boys get many more chocolates than the little ones, that they share.

- I'm tiny.

- You're not tiny, you're pretty big.

Come on.

Off you go.

- On your marks, get set, go.

("Brimful Of Asha" by Cornershop) - Found one!

Found one!

Found one!

Found one!

- [Annabel] How many have you got?

- I say, who got the most?

- Me!

- Me!

- Me!

I did, I did.

- Did you?

How many did you get, Atalanta?

- I think we should share them.

Shall we go inside in the nice warm?

- Come on, we'll go and share.

It's time for my traditional Easter roast, and though it was such fun to rediscover my 30-year-old recipe, I've got a new favorite.

It was lovely to spend a day with the Archbishop of York in those glorious surroundings.

Now, he does leg of lamb, but for Easter Sunday, I have always done shoulder of lamb.

It's a wonderful cut and I slow roast it with potatoes and onions that soak up all the juices.

And it couldn't be easier.

So to begin with, I'm going to put some garlic into the lamb.

So what you do is make holes in the lamb like that all over.

Some people put rosemary in as well.

I'm not.

I'm just having garlic and my lot absolutely love garlic.

So poke it down.

You can imagine that really does flavor the meat.

Slow roasting also is good because the meat is so tender and the carving is very, very quick because it's just falling off the bone.

There it is.

That wasn't too difficult, was it?

I've got a big roasting tin here and I'm gonna start off by browning the meat and so I'm going to put a little bit of pepper and salt on the top there just like that.

A little bit of pepper.

Then I'm going to put the top side, where I've done the garlic, underneath like that.

A little bit more pepper and salt over there.

No need to brush it with oil or anything like that because it's a fairly fatty cut of meat.

So I'm going to brown that in a hot oven.

It'll take 20 or 30 minutes and you can do that early in the day because the whole cooking time is three-and-a-half hours.

In the meantime, parboil the onions and potatoes.

Then once the meat is nice and brown and the right side up, add them to the roasting tin with a pint of good, hot lamb or beef stock.

Cover with foil and then back in the oven at 140 fan for about three hours.

When it's almost ready, take it out of the oven and drain off the flavorsome stock.

That looks good.

I'm really pleased.

The smell is good, it looks lovely, and the knife goes in just like butter.

The onions will have given a really good flavor to that stock and it'll make a beautiful gravy.

Now look at those potatoes and onions.

I'm going to put them back in the oven just to brown while I'm making the gravy.

I'm married to a gravy man and I always have to make more gravy than you think you need.

I love a rich gravy, so I use the fat from the lamb, skimmed off the top of the stock.

So that's melted and I'm adding 50 grams, that's a couple of tablespoons.

So in goes the flour.

I'm never too fussed whether it's self-raising or plain.

Whichever's nearest.

Then, with a whisk, whisk it, and you've got what is in the trade called a roux.

Then I'm going to add the stock.

In it goes, then a good splash of red wine.

After all, it is Easter, isn't it?

If you haven't opened a bottle or you haven't got any, you could always add a little Madeira to it, a little sherry or a little port.

Then a dash of Worcester sauce, some redcurrant jelly to bring out the flavor, and it may be a bit old-fashioned, but I like a bit of gravy browning to enrich the color.

There's plenty there for everyone to serve with the lamb.

The lamb has been browning beautifully.

That's pretty exciting.

Gorgeous color, roasted garlic in between there.

There we go.

While it rests, I can get on with the veg.

As it's Easter, I'm going for a medley of green beans with a fresh mint and caper butter.

I've got some mangetout there, some beans, and some shelled broad beans.

So, there's my traditional family roast.

This is a perfect centerpiece for my Easter Sunday feast.

And I'm looking forward to seeing what everybody else is bringing too.

I feel a bit cheeky doing this.

It doesn't get better than this.

I've found all sorts of inspirational recipes for my Easter feast, and for one last stop on my travels, I'm visiting an Italian Catholic church in East London in search of an Easter cake that's as symbolic as it is rich.

St Peter's was built to look after a growing Italian community at the end of the 19th century.

It was a time of economic upheaval in Italy and so many came and made the area home.

It was nicknamed Little Italy.

♪ Libiamo libiamo ne'lieti calici ♪ ♪ Che la belleza infiora ♪ - [Mary] They brought with them a strong sense of identity through their food and Roman Catholic traditions, which continue to this day.

♪ Libiamo ne'dolci fremiti ♪ - Behind the scenes of the church, volunteers cook for the priest, and Maria has even cooked for visiting cardinals of Rome.

Today, she is showing me colomba di Pasqua, the Easter dove cake.

Soft and fragrant, the colomba is a rich bread-like cake in the shape of a dove.

A Christian symbol that dates back to the fourth century.

So this colomba is a very important part of Easter.

- Yes.

- And will you find it in almost every Italian family?

- Yes, because it's traditional.

It's like a panettone for Christmas.

The same thing.

- Or as we have, hot cross buns.

- Yes, yes, exactly, yes.

- It seems to me, Maria, looking at Easter, it's nearly always a very enriched bread.

All of them seem to take a long time to make but it gives you time to contemplate, to think.

What do you fill your mind with?

- The colomba embodies the story of Christ.

We need peace in the world and it's a little bit of a peace and tranquility.

- So it's giving you time to think about the world.

- Yes.

What I do now, I keep on sifting the flour in but I will put in the 100 grams of butter.

- Right.

- Basically, we go back soggy again and we have to build it up with the flour.

- [Mary] It is a labor of love.

- It is.

Let's face it, like you say, labor of love.

We love cooking so it goes without saying.

We like it, don't we?

- Do you have people coming down those stairs and seeing what you are up to and dying to know how to make it?

- Well, if I'm in a good mood I will probably tell them but if I'm not in a good mood, I'm not giving up my stuff.

- Well, you're in a very good mood at the moment, so I'll hang on.

Maria's colomba takes a lot of preparation.

The dough needs to be left in a warm place for a whopping 12 hours.

- We sit in front of the oven and do the knitting.

- You speak for yourself.

I'm not a great knitter.

Let me see.

That looks a beautiful consistency now.

But 12 hours.

It takes so much planning, so much time.

I think I'd find a quicker way.

But I trust Maria.

While we wait for the next stage, it's a chance to see front of house.

Oh, Maria, this is magnificent church.

- [Maria] Yes, it is.

- [Mary] What does it mean to you?

- All my youth I was here and then I got married here.

Then I formed the family.

And a few years went by when I was living somewhere else and then I came back.

The faith to me is everything.

Because of the experiences I have had in my life, because of all sorts of things and the faith has always helped me in difficult situations, always.

- [Mary] Easter Sunday, are there even more people here?

- Wherever you look, you see people.

- All with a smile on their faces.

- All of them, yes.

- And when would you have the colomba which we are interested in?

When do they have that?

- The colomba is for tea-time, after lunch.

Well, I know that you had the priest to come and bless the oven.

- Three times.

- Three times?

Good gracious me.

I think we should go back to see if all of those blessings have come to fruition.

Now it's time to add the fruit and candied orange peel.

- This is a special cake.

You don't do it every day and when you do it, you just have to take the time.

Even more so now.

- That is beginning to get the shape of a dove.

- Yes.

- And this is a mold for it.

- And this is the mold.

Usually they have ordinary molds as well but I suppose this one is the more convenient one.

- [Mary] Topping the colomba is a lovely almond icing with crushed sugar, which will give it a sweet, crisp crust.

- [Maria] I think that's enough.

- [Mary] Then it's into the oven to bake for an hour, before we share her wonderful cake with the priests.

- Colomba.

- Italiana.

- [Maria] Di Pasqua.

- Bella.

Bellissima.

(speaking in foreign language) - Voila.

- Congratulations for your lovely colomba.

Perfect.

Happy Easter.

Happy Easter.

- Buona Pasqua.

- Buona Pasqua.

- It was a real labor of love for you.

All those hours and hours of waiting for it to come but it's well worth while.

The sugar on the top and the almonds and that lovely glaze.

- [Man] It's very special.

- It goes well with the wine.

Cheers, everybody.

Buona Pasqua.

- Buona Pasqua.

- Buona Pasqua.

- It's been wonderful for me to try recipes I've never heard of, and indeed to learn about other cultures' Easter traditions.

In this series, I've encountered everything from Russian paska and Polish babka, to the aromatic Filipino lechon.

Each and every dish has been a real inspiration for my feast.

And while no Italian home is complete without colomba di Pasqua, in our house, we love something fresh, and this lemony pud is just the ticket.

Made with plenty of eggs, it's a fitting finale for my Easter feast.

This is a real old favorite of mine and I'm looking forward to sharing it with them.

I'm using five eggs.

Obviously, for a meringue it's always the whites, and the yolks I'm going to use for lemon curd, so there'll be no waste.

Separate the yolks from the egg whites.

The memories of my mother when she was always separating the yolks and whites was always getting the last little bit out, you know, with her finger at the end.

That's it.

Waste not, want not.

Whisk on full speed until the egg whites look like clouds.

Then add 275 grams caster sugar, a tablespoonful at a time, until it becomes stiff and glossy.

That looks perfect.

Let me show you.

It's absolutely firm.

I could even put it over the top of my head if I wanted to.

Do you trust me?

Firm as firm.

Line the tin with nonstick paper.

It's a good idea to grease the tin as well to keep it from slipping.

Do you know what?

I'm totally in my comfort zone making meringue roulades.

When Annabel was married, we made them all in advance, we froze them, and that was the pud.

And the ones that I'm doing today with cream and lemon curd freeze beautifully.

Sprinkle the meringue with chopped pistachios.

Then it's into the oven for eight minutes at 180 fan until it's a lovely golden brown.

Turn it down to 140 for another 15 minutes.

And while that's baking, you can make the lemon curd.

It's very simple.

Just melt 100 grams of butter with 225 grams of caster sugar.

Then in goes the lemon juice, in here.

And this lemon zest.

I've done that beautifully finely.

Lastly, add the egg yolks.

Sort of glorious color, that is.

Stirring all the time.

And you just keep this above simmering water and keep stirring from time to time, until it coats the back of the spoon, and that is lemon curd.

Finished.

The meringue is ready to come out.

I sprinkle icing sugar on a sheet of nonstick paper to stop it sticking when I turn it out.

And as I do it, you'll notice that a whole lot of icing sugar will in fact shoot all over the table, a bit like clouds.

So just tip it up like that.

Then you need to take the paper off.

And providing you've used nonstick paper, it will come off.

If you use something like old-fashioned grease-proof or foil, it'll stick.

Then just peel that back...

While that cools, make the filling.

And I'm now going to spread it with cream and lemon curd that we've made.

And I'm just going to put a little in here.

About two good tablespoons.

I can smell the lemons now, coming up.

Marble the lemon curd lightly through the cream.

Then just spread that to the edges.

All the way down.

Now it's ready to roll.

You want to get a tight roll, like a Catherine wheel, and it's very easy just to flop it over there, flop it over again, and you don't get a nice roll, so you've got to just cut bravely at the beginning.

So, take a knife and just press right the way, almost to the bottom.

And then just crack it over, and, yes, it will break.

So, push that over, using your fingers, and that will give the middle.

You see what I've done?

I've actually broken and cracked it.

Then let the paper do the work and start rolling.

Push it like that and, as I lift the paper, there will be cracks all over.

The cracks are part of its charm.

So turn that over, like that, all the way along.

And there'll most likely be a big, bold crack in the middle.

Lift it up on the paper and push that over like that.

Pull the paper away.

Put it on the dish.

It does look absolutely mammoth, doesn't it?

Now, coming to the decoration, you can do all sorts of things.

I'm going to decorate it with little Easter eggs and a few primroses.

You can go for edible flowers, but these primroses are just for decoration.

So there you have it, my lemon and pistachio meringue roulade.

I can't wait to take that to the feast.

(upbeat music) At last, the day of my great feast has arrived.

Preparations are in full swing to decorate our local church hall.

And our grandchildren are making sure it's looking its very best.

I'm in the kitchen finishing off my new Russian-inspired canapes.

As well as my traditional favorites, of course.

Just doing the finishing touches to the cake.

I'm so excited.

We've got the canapes done, lots of simnel cakes, lamb's in the oven.

All we've got to do is be ready by lunchtime, and we will be, too.

With the last touches to add, everybody's lending a hand.

What I'm looking forward to most is seeing my new friends again and all our different Easter dishes filling the table.

Oh, Damian.

- Hello!

Here we go.

- Lovely to see you again.

- I so enjoyed Damian showing me how to make his Polish specialty, babka.

I think that looks so original, something quite, quite different.

And he's brought the cake, along with his whole family, to join the celebrations.

Come and meet my family.

I visited Karina, who showed me her Russian deviled eggs.

- It's actually a wonderful opportunity to share what we used to have over Easter and to share our Russian feast in front of everyone else.

- [Mary] And Father Peter is here too with the Sisterhood of Saint Xenia, who showed us their paska.

As more of my new friends arrive, there's a sense of anticipation to try each other's Easter foods.

From Russian kulich, to Greek tsoureki, and Italian colomba di Pasqua.

- I've heard there's some really good hot cross buns, so, that's gonna be my highlight, I think.

- Nice to see you.

- And Karina.

And I copied your idea, cause you did the wonderful dove crest.

This was very simple, something I could do.

- That is lovely.

- Cause your bread is very skilled work.

- Good to see you.

- Good gracious me!

Beautiful basket.

I think everyone's arrived now and everybody seems to have walked in the door with their own special Easter treat.

We've got wonderful lamb and pork, it's all beautifully hot, it's in the oven, just coming out now.

I think everybody will be really pleased.

- [Boy] Buy one, get one free.

- [Man] You sure?

- Yeah.

- I think it's buy one, eat one free.

- [Mary] After our Russian-themed canapes, May's Filipino lechon and my roast lamb are ready for us to gather round the table.

Annabel, shoulder of lamb, slow roasted, look at those crunchy potatoes.

- Oh, wow, can't wait.

- That's brilliant.

- I want to thank you all for welcoming me into your own homes, into your churches, to taste your Easter specialty recipes, and I want you to come now and enjoy my feast.

- So, let us pray.

Gracious Father, we bless you for Easter.

We thank you for the Cross and the Resurrection that draws all Christian peoples into one.

In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and our savior, amen.

- [All] Amen.

- Thank you, Mike.

And now, happy Easter, everyone.

Just enjoy it.

(applause) Here we are.

- Thank you.

- You must have the sauce, it's the best part.

♪ Oh happy day ♪ ♪ Oh happy day ♪ ♪ When Jesus washed ♪ - Lemon grass, that they put it right down the middle, I remember.

It is delicious.

- Hot.

- [Man] Hot.

There we go, young man.

- [Woman] Do you want some gravy?

♪ Oh happy day ♪ ♪ Oh happy day ♪ - It's just cooked to perfection and it's very, very tender.

- Pork's good.

- Those spices really come through with the lemon grass.

I've never had it with lemon grass before.

- I think it's fantastic and very nice sauce.

- I enjoyed every single morsel.

♪ He taught me how ♪ - [Mary] It's really fitting that we've come together from all different Christian churches to share a common feast.

There's a great sense of unity amongst us.

- So, how about challenging each other to say happy Easter in different languages?

- Okay, so in Polish, it's Wesolych Swiat Wielkanocnych.

- Ooh.

- It's a lot.

In Russian, Xristos Voskres.

And yours?

- Buona Pasqua!

- [All] Buona Pasqua!

♪ Oh happy day ♪ ♪ Oh happy day ♪ - [Mary] At last, those rich sweet puds that we've all been waiting for.

♪ Oh happy day ♪ - Who's next?

- I think I've got my eye on that.

- [Woman] Do you know what it is?

- Christos Anesti.

- All right.

- Oh!

I'm the loser.

- I think all the different cultures and food bringing together in one room was fantastic.

- This was one in a million.

I met a lot of lovely people.

- It's great to know what other cultures do during Easter, but to meet them all at the same table was amazing.

- Definitely, yes.

It was lovely meeting you.

- I will tell everything to my priest, what he missed!

- I couldn't have wished for a more poignant finish.

Today has been a very fitting ending to my journey.

I started off knowing very little, I visited two archbishops, many churches, lots of families, lots of cultures, I've had a wonderful time and, for me, this was the grand finale.

♪ Oh happy day ♪ ♪ Thank you for the days ♪ ♪ Those endless days those sacred days you gave me ♪ ♪ I'm thinking of the days ♪ ♪ I won't forget a single day ♪ ♪ Believe me ♪ ♪ I bless the light ♪ ♪ I bless the light that lights on you believe me ♪