Europe 1 6:22 p.m., April 14, 2017, modified at 3:06 p.m., April 4, 2023
This Easter weekend, chocolate eggs will bloom in the gardens to the delight of young (and old) gourmands. But where does this tradition of hunting eggs come from, and why do we eat them during this religious festival? Europe 1 takes stock.
If Easter is an essential religious festival in Christianity and Judaism, it is just as awaited by children for the traditional chocolate egg hunt. But why do we eat eggs at Easter, and why are they now made of chocolate? Europe 1 takes stock of this age-old tradition.
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When did this Easter egg tradition begin?
The custom of offering eggs already existed in Antiquity, in pagan traditions. The Persians, Romans and Egyptians celebrated the return of spring, the season when nature hatched, by offering painted and decorated eggs, explains
Sciences et Avenir
. Eggs symbolize fertility, renewal and creation. The tradition was then taken up by the Church, to celebrate the rebirth of Jesus Christ, resurrected on Easter Sunday.
Why do we eat eggs at Easter?
The consumption of eggs, like that of dairy products and meat, was prohibited by the Church in the 3rd century, during the institution of the Lenten fast, details
La Croix
. Although this measure was lifted in the 16th century by the Vatican, it remained widely followed by the population. And as the chickens continued to lay eggs during Lent, like all the rest of the year, the eggs were kept until the end of the 40-day fasting period.
Thus, on Easter Sunday, eggs abounded on the tables. Others were offered, sometimes integrated into recipes created for the occasion and which have become typically Easter, such as pâtés topped with Berry eggs, Breton fouesse (a star-shaped pastry) or even Vendée alise ( a brioche pancake). Eating eggs at Easter therefore symbolizes the end of deprivation.
Where does the egg hunt in gardens come from?
Since the Middle Ages, Christian tradition has prohibited the ringing of church bells between Maundy Thursday and Easter Sunday, as a sign of mourning. The children were told that the bells had gone to Rome to be blessed by the Pope. On their “return” on Sunday morning, the bells chime and “deposit” the famous eggs in the gardens as they pass, details
Sciences et Avenir
. Parents then began to organize the famous egg hunts for children in the gardens.
Why are eggs now chocolate?
It was in the 18th century that the idea of emptying eggs to fill them with chocolate took hold, explains
It interests me
. The entirely chocolate egg appeared in the following century: as cocoa became more popular, chocolatiers invented a mixture of sugar, cocoa butter and chocolate powder to create a malleable dough that could easily be poured into molds , adds
La Croix
.
The chocolate egg was then born, and other chocolate sculptures were subsequently created by confectioners, such as the chicken, the rabbit and even the bells. “The custom of offering chocolate eggs or rabbits is of commercial origin,” assures the Catholic Church of France on its site. Whatever the case, it is indeed the chocolatiers who benefit the most today: Easter is in fact one of the times when the French consume the most chocolate in the year.