Easter Food Traditions Around The World

American children will be expecting an Easter weekend filled with marshmallow Peeps, candy baskets, Easter egg hunts, and a decadent dinner of roast ham and spring vegetables. However, that's not the case for the rest of the world. From Lebanese ma'amoul cookies, to Greek lamb soup, we've taken a look at the many and varied Easter food traditions all around the world.

Easter Food Traditions Around the World (Slideshow)

Easter is an important holiday in all Christian countries, and every Easter weekend centers around decadent foods, and a celebratory meal. All over the world, a vast range of dishes are made and enjoyed over the Easter season. Often, they are specialty sweets and meals, which are not made or seen at any other point during the year.

From Shrove Tuesday to Easter Monday, Easter is an incredibly symbolic time, and the food traditions which have come to be firmly associated with this holiday demonstrate this. Whether the Easter meal is simply celebrating the beginning of spring, or whether the dessert represents Christ's punishing time on the cross, there is an explanation and story behind every Easter food.

Sweet, fruit breads, eggs, and lamb are common Easter foods. They appear in various forms, cooked with different flavors, in so many countries. Whether these food traditions are eaten to mark the start of Lent, the end of the fasting period, or to celebrate Christ rising from the cross, there's always a reason behind their annual Easter existence. From Ecuador to Italy, we've looked at what — and the reasons why — the world will be eating over this holiday.