Spinach and fish

Austrians eat traditionally during Holy Week

Many households in Austria eat spinach on Maundy Thursday.

(Bild: msl33 - stock.adobe.com)

Easter is associated with traditional foods such as spinach, fish, ham and Easter eggs. This is also a way of life, as a recent iglo trend study of 1015 respondents* shows. According to the study, more than half eat spinach at least occasionally on Maundy Thursday.

For 28 percent of respondents, it is always on the table on this day, and for a further 29 percent at least from time to time. However, spinach is not a tradition for four out of ten people, especially 18 to 29-year-olds. Every second person in this age group does not eat spinach on Maundy Thursday. Broken down by region, the green vegetable is not eaten in Vienna, Vorarlberg and Tyrol in particular. However, people in Carinthia and Styria eat a lot of spinach.

Fish less common on Good Friday
Fish on Good Friday is slightly less common. In the survey, however, 22 percent of Austrians state that they eat fish at least occasionally, and for more than one in five people (22 percent) the tradition is fixed. According to iglo, more fish is eaten during Lent than usual. "During Lent 2023, 19 percent more frozen fish was bought than during the rest of the year," says Iris Ruschak, Marketing Director at iglo, in a press release. 

*For the survey, 1015 Austrians between the ages of 18 and 69 were interviewed online by Integral Markt- und Meinungsforschung. They are representative of the target group.