The 46-day Lenten fast for Serbians is strict. Western Christians, for whom Sundays are exempt, fast for 40 days unlike Orthodox Christians who also fast on the six Sundays in Lent.
Not only is meat not eaten for the entire 46 days, but eggs and dairy products also are forbidden. Now is the time for vegetarian "sarma."
First and foremost, Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but it's also the opportunity to break the fast with great quantities of food.
Easter church services are followed by families having their baskets of colored eggs blessed by the parish priest. Usually the eggs are red symbolizing happiness, joy, rebirth and the blood of Christ. Families exchange eggs and say, "Hristos Voskrese" (Christ is risen). The response is "Voistinu Voskrese" (Indeed He is risen).
Only then do the festivities begin. Families have their favorite dishes, but traditionaly the meal begins with hors d'oeuvres of smoked meats and cheeses, boiled eggs and red wine.
Then, on a table set with the finest hand-crocheted tablecloth, china, crystal and silver, and with a candelabra of three beeswax candles representing the Holy Trinity, the dinner is laid.
The meal starts with chicken noodle or lamb vegetable soup ("chorba od janjetina") followed by spit-roasted lamb. Many Serbian Orthodox churches have a community spit where each family has its spring lamb cooked.
The offerings are rounded out by meat "sarma," numerous salads, vegetables, bread, "gibanica" (a savory strudel using aged "kajmak"), and pastries and tortes of all types for dessert.
