Easter Egg Food Recipes Cooking International Guide
Easter Egg Decorating Across The World
By Katerina Octanova
You would be hard-pressed to find anyone around the world who
does not know what an Easter egg is, although the phrase may conjure
up different images in different countries. In Bucharest, Romania,
eggs are painted with artistic portraits of Jesus, such as Him
wearing the crown of thorns, hanging on the cross, as an infant
with Mary or appearing after the resurrection.
In Greece, you may see solid red eggs that symbolize the redeeming
blood of Christ. In Ukraine, Easter eggs are handcrafted like
gifts, intricately designed using brilliantly colored paint done
up in square, diamond or other geometric patterns. These are just
a few of the ways people review their options and say Happy Easter
with an egg.
The Divine Golden Egg
Believe it or not, symbolism of the egg appears in many cultures.
In Hinduism, Brahma splits a divine golden egg to make heaven
(the shell), earth (the meat), the space and water (the white),
and Vishnu (the yolk). In Egyptian tradition, the god Osiris is
also born from an egg, which is why priests never ate eggs. Christians,
too, saw the egg as a symbol of God’s mystery of birth and rebirth.
Early Anglo-Saxons celebrated the egg as a sign of fertility
and pagans exchanged eggs around the beginning of the year to
suggest one’s intentions to be reborn around spring equinox time.
The Easter egg tradition has evolved over the years, blossoming
from religious philosophical meanings into the edible contents
of one’s Easter basket.
Easter Bunny Lays Colored Eggs
In 14th Century Germany, children were told if they were good,
the Easter Bunny would lay colored eggs in the nests they had
hidden around the yard. Children would design their Easter baskets
out of hats, bonnets, straw, sticks or hay and anxiously await
the coming of "Oschterhase."
The Easter egg was sometimes wrapped in a golden leaf or dyed
with vinegar and food coloring. Some parts of Germany exchanged
green eggs, while other regions decorated hollow eggs. By the
1800s, Easter eggs not only came in the traditional form, but
came as egg-shaped chocolate morsels too.
Most Famous Types Of Easter Eggs
One of the most famous types of the Easter egg comes from Russia,
where Fabergé eggs are made. In 1885, Peter Carl Fabergé handcrafted
his first golden egg commissioned by Tsar Alexander III as an
Easter gift for his wife Maria Fyodorovna. Inside the elaborate
white-gold egg, she was surprised to find a golden yolk, which
opened up to reveal a golden hen, which wore a tiny crown with
rubies hanging from it.
She was so delighted that the imperial eggs were commissioned
each year from 1885 to 1917, as Fabergé and his artisans handcrafted
sixty-eight more jeweled eggs made of precious stones and metals
for Alexander III, but also Nicholas II and the prestigious Kelch
family of Moscow.
Replicas of the opulent eggs have been valued between $1,000
and $2,000 and the 1913 Fabergé "Winter Egg" sold for
$9.6 million in 2002. The largest collection of these magnificent,
imperial eggs remains in Moscow.
The Easter Egg Roll
Traditions associated with Easter eggs go far beyond decorating.
The British began something called "the Easter egg roll,"
where contestants roll their eggs down a hill to the finish line,
hopefully without breaking them! Similarly, there is an annual
egg roll on the White House lawn each Easter Monday, which began
with Dolly Madison in the 1800s and persists even today.
In Northern England, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Hungary, Croatia,
Lebanon, Macedonia, Serbia, Ukraine and Southern Louisiana, "Egg
Jarping" (sometimes called "Egg Tapping," "Egg
Dumping," "Ostereiertitschen," "Eierpecken,"
"Tucanje" or "Pocking Eggs") contests abound,
where contestants try to smash each others’ eggs, with the loser
eating the smashed consolation prize. In Lancashire, Britain,
children go "pace-egging," which is like trick-or-treating
with songs, but for egg collecting!
About the Author:
Katerina Octanova has written a number of articles on Easter, food and cooking including
Easter,
Easter Eggs,
Easter Traditions,
The Passover,
Easter Stories,
Seder.
Keep a lookout for more of her articles on this website.
Did You Know?
Easter is a holiday that is celebrated all across the world by
Christians. It marks the time when Jesus Christ arose from the
grave. Many families gather together for the modern custom of
having a family meal and hiding eggs for the children to find.
Often there are small gifts exchanged in baskets. If you are
wondering what to put in your child’s basket, you have a
wide variety of choices ranging from small religious icons to
chocolates. You can do all of your shopping from the comfort of
your own home.
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