Mirror Magazine

Mirror Magazine

The story of the Easter egg
By Marisa de Silva
The egg has been acknowledged as a symbol of continuing life and resurrection since pre-Christian spring celebrations.

It is the influence of the traditional spring rites that made Easter so 'egg-special'.

Myths coming down to us from an incredibly distant past have shown man's relationship with the egg to be a very deep one.

There is an old Latin proverb: Omne vivum ex ovo, "all life comes from an egg".

There are also different myths of the whole universe being created out of an egg. Thus it is not unusual that in almost all ancient cultures, eggs have been considered a symbol of life.

Given as gifts by the ancient Greeks, Persians, and Chinese at their spring festivals, the egg also appears in pagan mythology, where we read of the Sun-Bird being hatched from the World Egg. In some pagan customs, Heaven and Earth were thought to have been formed from the two halves of an egg. As the egg was an obvious symbol to early Christians of Jesus Christ's Resurrection, it was felt to be a most appropriate and holy part of the Eastertide celebration.

Later, during the Christian period, it was believed that eggs laid on Good Friday, if kept for a hundred years, would have their yolks turn to a diamond. Furthermore, if Good Friday eggs were cooked on Easter they would promote the fertility of trees and crops and protect against sudden deaths. And if you find two yolks in an Easter egg, you can be sure you're going to be rich soon.

Easter eggs were often dyed red to symbolize the memory of a joyous Easter celebration or to honour the blood that Christ shed for mankind.

Recipes obtained by kind courtesy of The Colombo Hilton

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A simply delicious Easter egg recipe
The Mould
An eggshell is a cheap and easy mould to make. First break the top of an egg, pour out the egg and wash the inside of the empty shell with warm water and leave it to dry thoroughly. (When there is moisture within the shell, the chocolate will stick to the shell, making it difficult to peel off.)

Ingredients (Approx. 20 eggs)
Filling (Ganache):-
1 kg cooking chocolate (melted)
200ml cream (liquid)
100 ml brandy
*Add chopped nuts for variation (optional)
Outer coating:-
Melted chocolate

Method
Coat the dry eggshell twice with melted chocolate and leave to dry. Thereafter, mix the 1kg melted chocolate, cream, brandy and nuts into a smooth, thick paste and pipe into the chocolate-coated shell, until 1/2 full. Complete the egg shape by pouring melted chocolate over the shell-less section of the egg and freeze it (you can use an egg tray), for about 10 minutes. Once hardened, take it out and peel off the eggshell as you would a hard-boiled egg. Voila! You have your Easter Egg.

Decorative Easter eggs dyed the natural way
Instead of using artificial colours to decorate the eggshell, some people use some natural dyes, made from easy to find natural resources. Usually, the more of the natural ingredient you use and the longer the egg soaks (maybe even overnight), the darker the colour will be. Here are some ideas.

General directions:

Wash and rinse egg.

a.Boil eggs for 3 hours, if you wish to keep them longer. (If the eggs do not crack over time the contents will dry inside the shell.)
b.Boil the plant material until you have a good rich colour.
c.Strain the dye, discard the plant material and return the dye to the pot.
d.Use an enamel or Teflon-coated pot for dyeing. (Metals such as tin, aluminum, and iron will change the colour of the dye.)
e.After the eggs dry, use a vegetable oil and soft cloth to polish them.
The range of colours you could easily create are;

Red
Use red onion skins and boil with the eggs for 1/2 to 1 hour. Remember the more skins you use and the longer you soak the darker the colour will be. A smaller amount of skins will produce a lavender hue.

Pink
Soak the hardboiled eggs in pickled beetroot juice.

Yellow
To a cup of hot water, add 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons of turmeric (saffron) and 1/2 teaspoon vinegar.

Brown
To a cup of hot water, add 1 tablespoon of instant coffee, and 1/2 teaspoon vinegar.

Caution:
Not all of these eggs will be safe to eat. Do not eat eggs that sit in hot water for many hours or overnight. Save those for decorations. Remember that some dyes are toxic. If you experiment with other plant material, please do NOT eat the eggs without verifying the safety of the dye. Dyeing eggs with vegetable material takes more time than using commercial egg dyes, but it is truly amazing to see the colours hidden in the plants around us.

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