Trivia Junction

A Compendium of trivia I find interesting
...for the curious

Easter Egg or Birth certificate

Eggs great for record keeping and eating

April, 2007

I can't think of Easter without thinking of eggs. Elaborately decorated eggs predate Easter by centuries. From earliest times, eggs have symbolized birth and resurrection. Egyptians buried eggs in their tombs, and Greeks placed eggs on graves.

Soon after the Christian church began celebrating the resurrection, in the second century, the ancient symbolism of the egg was incorporated into the festival.

Before the 20th century, Easter eggs were most often purely decorative, never intended to be eaten. In the Ukraine the word for Easter egg, pysanky, derives from a word that means to write.

In parts of Germany as late as the 1880s, Easter eggs were an acceptable substitute for birth certificates. An egg was dyed, and a design that included the owner's name and date of birth was etched into the shell. These Easter eggs were honored in courts of law as evidence of identity and age.

In my mother's house, deviled eggs were part of every Easter menu. This is a recipe I developed for people who want to reduce their fat and cholesterol consumption. Sometimes instead of using halves of boiled eggs, I scoop out halves of plum tomatoes and stuff them instead. Happy Easter.

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