Easter traditions: why we eat chocolate – and why all the eggs, baby chicks, bunnies and pastel colours?

When we stuff ourselves with yummy chocolate eggs and bunnies at Easter, do we ever stop to think about why we actually eat them? Many religious celebrations come with a great dose of delicious goodies, all with a highly nutritional – and sacred – value. The egg represents life itself, and its key symbolism predates the rise of religion. As with many holidays, the origins of Easter traditions are rooted in paganism. The Ancient Romans were among the first to paint red freshly hatched eggs to hand out as gifts at lavish banquets to both adults and children to wish them well and chase away illness and jinx. “The colour red, recalling that of blood, stood as a symbol of potency and regeneration, while ever since the birth of humanity the egg has always represented fertility and a new beginning. An egg has a perfect shape that fascinates mankind, it’s a miracle of nature. It holds within the mystery and kernel of life both in terms of healthy nutrients concentrate and symbolically,” says Anna Maria Pellegrino, member of Italy’s prestigious Cuisine Academy. Valentine’s Day explainer: why do we give roses and chocolates, anyway? Spring is the season of “rebirth” when nature wakes up from the winter sleep and hens hatch the most eggs, so gifting one to friends and relatives, especially lavishly decorated, was a blessing. The end-product of the egg is … the baby chick. In the past peasants had a knack for examining eggs at night through candlelight to see if they had been fertilised, making these all the more precious. Hence today, ornamental cute chicks peek out of pastel-coloured hatched eggs and fake nests are full of tiny chocolate eggs. The pastel-colours hint at the fluffy sweetness and delicateness of spring and at the refreshing joy that comes with it, such as a ray of light after the darkness of winter. Why so blue? Maybe it’s the colour of the year While Italians celebrate Pasqua – recalling in name the Jewish Pasch (but which has nothing to do with Christ’s resurrection) – English-speaking people have Easter, hailing back to a north European pagan goddess. Is your smartphone better than your camera at colour accuracy? “Many scholars believe that Easter had its origins as an early Anglo-Saxon festival that celebrated the goddess Eostre, and the coming of spring, in a sense a resurrection of nature after winter. Apparently eggs were eaten at the festival and also possibly buried in the ground to encourage fertility”, says Carole Levin, professor of history and director of the Medieval and Renaissance Studies programme at the University of Nebraska. “All over the ancient world there were celebrations that involved eggs as symbol of fertility”, as far back in time as Egypt and Babylonia, where religious rituals featured dyed eggs. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kyra | To wander is to live (@kyraswanderlust) on Apr 14, 2017 at 6:40am PDT Pagan spring festivals were later made to coincide with key events in Christianity by means of “overlapping” dates, symbols and ritual, and were also used to facilitate early conversions by missionaries. “For Christians, eggs could represent the resurrection – think of the way the chick breaks out of the shell as a symbol of the way Christ did out of his tomb,” says Levin, recalling how during the Easter of 1290 King Edward I of England distributed 450 eggs covered in gold leaf to those attending his court. Who needs Viagra when you've got the sexiest sausage in the world? “In the Middle Ages it was a special treat to eat decorated eggs after mass on Easter Sunday, as a special treat after fasting through Lent”, says Carole Cusack, professor of Religious Studies at the University of Sydney. Chocolate eggs came at a much later stage, only after miraculous cocoa drinks imported from the Americas were transformed into solid chocolate tablets in the early 1800s by a Dutchman and then mass-produced in Switzerland where there was abundance of milk, says Pellegrino. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Gemma Summer (@gemmasummer_) on Apr 17, 2019 at 11:36am PDT According to Cusack, “we eat chocolate eggs and rabbits [because] in the 19th century the confectionery companies began to make novelty chocolates to eat at particular times [eggs and bunny shapes at Easter]. This is connected to the rise of the greeting card industry and cheap postage, so people could send cards at special times” decorated with bunnies, which became very popular. But why the jolly bouncing rabbits? Here’s the kinky, playful side of Easter. There are two reasons hares and rabbits are associated with Easter, says Cusack. “First, they are reputed to breed rapidly, a life affirming thing. Second, in European folklore hares were said either to lay eggs, or to hide the coloured eggs that children hunted for in the garden”. View this post on Instagram A post shared by 9NEWS (@9newsdenver) on Apr 7, 2020 at 3:15am PDT In fact, German protestant immigrants in Pennsylvania imported the bunny tradition into the United States through the Osterhase (Easter bunny) festival dedicated to children. “It was a sort of ‘spring Christmas’ – if the child had behaved well during the year he’d be gifted with a real bunny with an egg tied to his neck. Later on, both the egg and the rabbit turned into chocolate”, says Pellegrino. Where are Singapore noodles from? How are century eggs made? Are French fries improperly named? And what’s the final verdict on where tikka masala was created? With the Origins series, STYLE delves into the often surprising beginnings of iconic dishes or foods, how they’ve evolved over time and the many ways they’re enjoyed today. Want more stories like this? 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Easter traditions: why we eat chocolate – and why all the eggs, baby chicks, bunnies and pastel colours?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Spring is the season of ‘rebirth’, the egg represents life itself, but did you know there is a kinky side to the Easter bunny?

Spring is the season of ‘rebirth’, the egg represents life itself, but did you know there is a kinky side to the Easter bunny?