HOT CROSS BUNS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22391, 11 April 1936, Page 12

HOT CROSS BUNS

LARGE PUBLIC DEMAND FOODS AND FESTIVALS Auckland bakers and pastrycooks on Thursday did a brisk trade in hot cross buns. One enterprising Queen Street firm set up a stall in the entrance to its premises and from it sold large quantities of the buns already done up in bags at Is a bagful. The origin of hot cross buns is lost in the mists of the remote past. It is generally held that the custom was pagan, and with many others was retained after the advent of Christianity in Western Europe, the small cakes being then marked with the Christian symbol to show that their old heathen significance had been abolished. It was probably associated with the festival of Eostre, or Ostara, the Teutonic goddess of spring, which became the Christian Easter or festival of the Resurrection, but why it became attached to Good Friday, the most solemn fast-day of the Church's year, remains a mystery. Particular foods have been associated with festivals since primitive times. Surviving examples are the Christmas pudding, Shrove-Tuosday pancakes and birthday and wedding cakes. Turkey and cranberry sauce are an essential part of Thanksgiving Day, as celebrated in America for nearly 150 years past.