Why do we Eat Chocolate on Easter?
It’s unlikely that you’ll be thinking about anything other than chocolate when you eat your Easter egg.
However, there is a fascinating reason for the egg’s association with Easter.
Eggs, at least in animal form, contain new life and can thus be symbolic of rebirth.
As a result, they were first given and received as presents to celebrate the entrance of spring – a custom that evolved into Easter over time.
Because Christians are not allowed to consume eggs or other fats throughout Lent, eating one on Easter Sunday was considered a rare pleasure.
The practice developed superstitious over time.
If you stored eggs deposited by chickens and other birds on Good Friday for 100 years, they were claimed to change into diamonds but this could have been a joke perpetrated by a prankster looking to cause a ruckus (both literally and metaphorically).
And it was thought that if your egg had two yolks, you will be wealthy soon.
Some people even believed that cooking your eggs on Good Friday and then eating them on Easter Sunday would improve your fertility and other health.
Easter eggs, like most seasonal chocolates, are a relatively new phenomenon.
However, they are about a century older than chocolate Advent calendars.
When did the chocolate Easter egg tradition originate?
Fry’s introduced the first British chocolate egg in 1873, and Cadbury’s followed suit two years later in 1875.
Dark chocolate was used to make Easter eggs in the beginning, and they were very basic.
Cadbury’s, on the other hand, debuted their Dairy Milk Chocolate in 1897, a recipe that quickly found its way into Easter eggs and became a hit.
Milk chocolate has become the primary flavor in modern Easter eggs, owing to its popularity.
