Magiritsa

The story

Magiritsa is the soup Greek families eat in the small hours of Easter morning. Greek Orthodox Lent ends with the Anastasi, the Resurrection service held at midnight on Holy Saturday, and magiritsa is the first meat dish on the table when people come home, so it marks the end of the forty-day fast. In 2027 that night falls between May 1 and Orthodox Easter Sunday, May 2. The soup is cooked on Holy Saturday afternoon from lamb offal: the liver, heart and intestines, often with the head and neck. Lettuce, scallions and plenty of dill go in with the meat, and the pot is finished with avgolemono, eggs beaten with lemon juice and warmed with hot broth so the soup turns creamy without curdling. Greek City Times describes it as served in almost every household in Greece that night. Cooks vary it: the Peloponnesian version adds grated tomato, only some regions add rice, and meatless versions with mushrooms are common. Make the broth and dice the meat on Saturday morning, then add the rice and the egg-lemon finish just before serving.