SPRING 2015 Easter


fertility. Translating this into the Christian message of Easter, the egg symbolises the empty tomb, from which new life hatches. As Christianity became predominant, eggs, along with many other foods, became important because of the abstinence of Lent. While we think of Lent at 40 days and 40 nights, in fact, it used to be a six-week fast, from Shrove Tuesday to Mardi Gras, when people were required to give up not just meat, but also eggs, dairy products and even conjugal relations! As you can imagine, the Easter Sunday feast was very significant, a day when all could be indulged and that, of course, included eggs. The concept of decorated eggs and Easter egg hunts dates back to the Middle Ages. When people were unable to eat eggs during the Lenten period they began to decorate and store them for Easter Sunday and so


the tradition of the egg hunt was born. The first chocolate Easter eggs were made in France and Germany in the early 19th Century using a type of eating chocolate that had been invented a few years earlier but it could not be successfully moulded, so eggs had to be made individually and some were completely solid. In 1873 the first British chocolate Easter egg was produced by Fry’s. Cadbury quickly followed, producing a chocolate egg in 1875 and by 1892 produced 19 different types of chocolate eggs. Today, sales of Easter Eggs account for 10% of the extremely lucrative chocolate confectionary market, with over 90 million eggs sold annually. Cadbury’s Crème Eggs first appeared in 1971 and, despite only being available for a limited time, sell in excess of 200 million eggs annually.


Simnel Cake also dates back to the medieval period. This traditional Easter cake is a light fruit cake with a layer of marzipan in the middle and on top. Traditionally the top of the cake is decorated with 11 small marzipan balls – representing 11 of the 12 apostles (Judas is absent).


Sometimes a 12th ball is put in the centre of the top to symbolise Jesus. But where does the Easter Bunny come from? Well, as they say on Facebook, it’s complicated. The Easter Bunny is far more popular and active in the USA than he is on this side of the Atlantic. Rabbits and hares are ancient symbols of fertility and new life and hares were part of Eostre’s spring festival. Magical hares are ingrained in folklore and fairy stories and it is likely that the precursor of the Easter Bunny can be foaund in folklore but his origins are not clear.


Some historians believe the Easter Bunny arrived in America in the 1700s along with German immigrants who had a tradition of an egg-laying hare (like I said, complicated!). Children made nests for this creature who left coloured eggs there. As the United States grew the tradition spread and by the last century the coloured eggs had been replaced by sweets and candy. In the USA jelly beans are as synonymous with Easter as chocolate eggs are with American’s consuming over 16 million of the small sugary treats over the Easter ‘holiday’. While the Easter Bunny isn’t as popular on this side of the Atlantic, chocolate bunnies are. Apparently most people eat the ears first. Apparently most people eat the ears first but whatever bit you bite off first don’t forget the Spring Goddess and her magical hare without which there would be no Easter.


Northern Ireland


9


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24