Easter in Greece🐣...cracking red eggs

tastes of Greece -

Red Easter eggs are a tradition of the Orthodox world, which symbolizes the blood of Christ and the Resurrection.

According to tradition, the hard shell of the egg symbolizes the sealed tomb of Christ, while the cracking means that the tomb has been broken and that Christ has resurrected.

Another explanation is that the Virgin took a basket of eggs and offered them to her Son's bodyguards, begging them to treat him well. Her tears painted the eggs red.

A similar legend says that when Christ, on the Cross, saw the eggs turn red from his blood, he asked the faithful to paint red eggs in memory of His sacrifice.

The custom of cracking the eggs takes place after the Resurrection on Easter Saturday after midnight and at the Easter table. It is a kind of game between two, in turns, called in Greek "tsougrisma". I usually prepare enough eggs so all the family members present can play till we have one winner who has "knocked out" all the rest with the strongest egg... 🥚💪

The eggs are painted on Holy Thursday, which is considered the day of the Last Supper, when Christ offered bread and wine as a symbol of His body and blood.

There are many ways of painting the eggs either using industrial dyes or ecological paints like beets, rose leaves or red onion slugs but vinegar is always part of the process as Christ also drank vinegar when he was crucified.

I have tried various ways of dyeing the eggs and I have to admit that it took me quite some years to manage well without braking them already during the boiling process.🙄

Here is how:

Ingredients:

30 eggs 1 tbsp. vinegar and water to boil the eggs 1 1/2 liters of water, lukewarm for the painting

3 gr. egg dye, red 50 gr. vinegar olive oil for polishing

Directions:

At first we wash very carefully all the eggs with a sponge and water to remove any dirt. We place a cloth napkin at the bottom of a saucepan and put the eggs in portions, 1 layer only. Fill with cold water until the eggs are covered, add the vinegar and simmer on low heat for 15 minutes without letting the water boil (this is a very important step which helps preventing the eggs from cracking while boiling). Let them cool after and follow the same procedure for all eggs.

In a bowl we put the water for painting, the vinegar, the red paint and mix well until the paint melts. Put the eggs in a layer in the bowl for 3-4 minutes. Remove with a spoon and leave to dry. With this amount we can paint up to 30 eggs.

To make the painted eggs shine, put a little olive oil on an absorbent paper and polish them.

Happy Orthodox Easter!

"Kalo' Pasxa"