Food

Easter Treats and Beyond

Heavenly bites of tradition are around the corner

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When we think Easter, we think chocolate bunnies, and far be it from me to deny you the satisfaction of lopping one of their ears off with your incisors, as I’ll be at it too. Instead, I’m arguing for a more complete observance. Easter has more to offer than just bunnies, and Rhode Island knows how to bake it. Touring the Portuguese-American, Italian-American and full melted American bakeries of the East Bay for Easter is to travel across the old world in an hour, fat and happy.

We begin this tour in Italy, at Vienna Bakery (110 Maple Avenue, Barrington. 401-245-2355) and Scialo’s Bakery (202 Willett Avenue, Riverside. 401-437-1555). While both offer all the more standard pastels you would expect of Easter, in the form of bunnies, eggs, checkerboard cake and cupcakes, traditional Italian fare is where you’ll find something more unique. Around Easter unsurprisingly, we find Easter pie, a rice and ricotta pie, with or without pineapple. This is the sort of dish that everyone swears their nonna makes best, and can vary from savory to quite sweet. Our local takes tend toward the sweeter side.

We leave Italy for Portugal, by way of East Providence. Rhode Island’s Portuguese-speaking (including Azorean and mainland Portugal) heritage is writ large on its bakeries. There are more than can be named in one article, but Taunton Avenue Bakery (208 Taunton Avenue, East Providence. 401-401-434-3450) and Morning Star Bakery (1106 South Broadway, East Providence. 401-434-1970) are great representatives, with many local regulars, portugueses e brasileiros. For these Portuguese bakeries, Easter can be the busiest week of the year. The reason is folar de pascoa, their Easter sweet bread. Sweet Bread is a Portuguese mainstay, but for Easter, as with its Italian equivalent, hard-boiled eggs are braided into its crown. Custom orders start pouring in leading up to the Easter season, as the tradition is to order bread with an egg for each member of the family. While not for specifically for Easter, you’d be foolish to miss out on the range of different pasteis on offer. These beautiful, and very affordable little pastries range from egg custards to bean-based and almond-based cakes; if you can point at it in a glass case, you’ll be glad to eat it.

Lastly, we have those free agents, the melted part of the melting pot, making a nod to other Easter traditions from the old world. Just once a year before Easter, Olga’s Cup & Saucer (103 Point Street, Providence. 401-831-6666), who sell at the Aquidneck and Coastal Growers Market make columba de pasqua, or “Easter Dove,” a dove-shaped traditional Italian Easter bread that’s somewhere on the way from Panettone to cake, with candied orange and topped with almonds. Seven Stars on the other hand is the only place I could find on the Bay that represents my Easter tradition: the hot cross bun. No, it’s not just a song: it’s a lightly glazed English sweet bun made for Good Friday, with raisins, peel and a striking white cross on top, which Seven Stars does with icing.

Regardless of preference, there’s something for everyone in these traditional Easter favorites as well as everything else you’ll encounter at these local bakeries. Even if you aren’t observant, you might find a bit of heaven in a bite of pastry. All are welcome; the only heretics are the gluten-free.

the bay, easter specials

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