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Easter traditions for an island newcomer

Date Posted: Thursday, March 29, 2007
Author: Christen Pears

I was 14 the last time I flew a kite and it was an unmitigated disaster. My friends and I spent more time assembling than flying it. On the few occasions we did manage to get it off the ground the string, which bore more than a passing resemblance to cheese wire, sliced into our hands until they were covered with red sores. Unfortunately I had recently read The Kite Runner and was so caught up in the romance of kite flying that I didn’t remember my aversion to the sport until I was deep into my project to make a kite for Good Friday.

Flying kites is a key part of Bermuda’s Easter celebrations and hundreds of people gather on Horseshoe Bay on Good Friday for the kite flying competition. According to stories, the tradition started when a Sunday school teacher used a kite to illustrate the resurrection of Christ. Bermuda kites range from simple two-stick versions to those with elaborate frames and intricate colour patterns. As it was my first I attempt, I decided to go for a fairly simple type, using four sticks. Make a wooden frame. Attach tissue paper. How hard can it be? Well, actually, not as easy as I’d thought.

I sat down with Frank Watlington’s seminal book: Bermuda Kites – how to make and fly them and worked out what material I would need. First of all there were the sticks. My mind immediately turned to the vegetable garden where there were plenty of bamboo canes. So what if the runner beans weren’t happy? I had the makings of my frame.

My euphoria was short –lived. As I attempted to cut the sticks to the length recommended by Mr Watlington, I realized that I should have recruited a kite-maker’s assistant. The hacksaw was blunt, the sticks wouldn’t stay still and I remembered just how useless I am when it comes to DIY-type tasks. But I persevered and eventually found myself with sticks of roughly the right size. All I had to do now was fix them together.

First of all I tried nails but I couldn’t get them through all the bits of wood. I realised that it would have been far more sensible to use flat pieces of wood instead of canes. My next attempt involved binding them together with string. It took a while but seemed to be pretty steady. Just to make sure I smothered the joints with glue and then attached the lengths of string around the edges that would complete the frame. Once that was done, it was time to make the covering.

I had bought a selection of coloured tissue paper, which I proceeded to cut and paste onto the frame. It was surprisingly fiddly, time-consuming work as the paper kept tearing and attaching itself to my sticky fingers. All that remained was to attach the tail, which I’d fashioned out of an old sheet.

I stood back and admired my work. It may not be a masterpiece of design and if I’m honest, it’s probably slightly lopsided, but it is all my own handiwork and on Friday I’ll be taking it down to Horseshoe Bay.

Easter food 

I may be a novice when it comes to kites but I fancy myself as a bit handy in the kitchen and will most certainly be trying my hand at Bermuda’s traditional Easter dishes – codfish cakes and hot cross buns.

I’m pretty familiar with hot cross buns which, despite their Christian symbolism, can actually be dated back to when the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans marked their bread with crosses in honour of their gods. The sweet, spiced bun is now traditionally eaten on Good Friday, although I'm usually found to be chomping them throughout Lent. I've already made a couple of batches this year but I'm less familiar with codfish cakes, although I have had them once or twice for Sunday breakfast.

Although they’re eaten all year round, codfish cakes are a favourite on Good Friday. The Bermudian fondness for salt cod dates back to the 18th century when Bermuda collected salt in the Turks & Caicos islands. The salt was then transported to Newfoundland, where it was exchanged for salt fish. Codfish was a staple of the diet of slaves and was also a popular dish with the Portuguese who came to Bermuda from Madeira and the Azores to farm the land. At some point it became customary for it to be eaten with potatoes before going to church on Sunday.

Each family has their own codfish cake recipe, which has been passed down from generation to generation. The basic ingredients are salt cod, potatoes, onions and eggs although some people add an assortment of flavourings ranging from fresh herbs to hot sauce.

A quick flick through a local recipe book or a search on the Internet reveals dozens of different recipes for codfish cakes. It's just a question of deciding which one I want to try.

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