As Easter is approaching, the demand for lamb is rising, driven by this year’s simultaneous celebration of Orthodox and Catholic Easter and which in turn is fueling exports of the high-quality Greek lamb to foreign markets leaving Greeks with a limited -and rather expensive- supply of the traditional Easter meat.
Prices for lamb (and goat) are higher this year, compared to previous ones due to various factors impacting supply and demand -the most significant being that Orthodox and Catholic Easter coincide on Sunday, April 20.
Greek lambs have been gaining ground in exports to foreign markets, especially to Europe, due to their good quality.
“There’s a big preference from foreign countries for the Greek lamb, which has gained a good spot within European markets,” says Nikolaos Mpalampanidis, President of the Butcher Association of Thessaloniki, with most lambs exported to Italy and Spain, especially during Easter. “The largest quantities of lamb in Europe is consumed during Easter. That’s when 70-80 percent of our lambs are exported. There’s still demand during the rest of the year, but it is lower,” he adds.
Mpalampanidis explains that Greek baby lambs are of a high gastronomical value because they have a superior taste, aroma and tenderness. “Greek breeds have the advantage that they have intramuscular fat, which makes them more juicy and tender.”
But this year, Greeks may be left with a very limited number of lambs or pay a hefty price in order to include it on the Easter table.
“There’s no lamb this year,” says Myrto Lyka, Vice-President of the Panhellenic Union of Livestock Breeders, which will affect the selling price of lamb. Except for the exports, according to Lyka, a lot of animals had to be slaughtered because of disease.
“Italy takes the small lambs, around 5-6 kilos, so the small lambs are gone. Whatever is left, is too small to be slaughtered while many breeders will keep what they have left for breeding,” she adds.
As a result, lamb prices in Greece during Holy Week are expected to rise to as much as 15-17 euros per kilo ($16.5-18), about 20 percent more expensive compared to 2024. Most are imported from Romania, where thousands are bred each year for Easter consumption.
On Easter Sunday, Greeks are known for roasting an entire lamb on the spit over charcoal. Catholics eat lamb, usually pieces of it, as the main course of the Easter meal.
Greeks roast a whole lamb on Easter Sunday as Orthodox and Catholic Easter this year coincide
The picture of a whole lamb slowly turning on the spit over charcoal and the smell that accompanies it spells Easter Sunday for Greek people across the world.
Yet, this is not a simple culinary tradition. On the contrary, there is rich religious symbolism for the particular meat.
John, the author of one of the four Gospels, called Jesus the Lamb of God in John 1:29 and John 1:36. In the story, Abraham had to sacrifice an animal, such as a lamb or a ram, as an important part of the Jewish religion. People offered God restitution for the sins they committed.
However, Christians no longer need to engage in sacrifice because Christ died on the cross for their sins, thus becoming the sacrificial lamb.
Since Pascha, or Easter, is the day when we commemorate Jesus’ sacrifice, we eat lamb in remembrance of this selfless act.
The symbolism of the lamb goes back to the Old Testament and the Jewish Passover. It’s associated with the exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt.
Before setting out on their great exodus, God, through Moses, requested Jews to gather in small groups; each family would have to sacrifice a lamb.
Families were to mark their doorposts with the animal’s blood so that they would not be exterminated by an angel of God, who on that night would bring pestilence to the firstborn of each family if the home was not marked with lamb’s blood.
That night, each Jewish family offered a lamb for the salvation of all people as a sacrifice to God. They consumed the lamb without breaking its bones together with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They then marked their doors with the lamb’s blood.
Later on, Christians adopted the symbol of the sacrificial lamb, as John the Baptist likened Jesus Christ to the “Lamb of God” who would free the world of their sins with his sacrifice.
Today, Greeks spend Easter Sunday morning slow-roasting the lamb and then the whole family gathers on the table to eat. The whole preparation and turning the spit is a communal experience that bonds people in the holy day.
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