It's another of the paradoxes of the coronavirus emergency, which has already been changing our lifestyle and food habits for a few weeks: not even Easter will be like it used to be. After the news that we will also spend Easter and Easter Monday at home, some estimates have arrived on how Italians will behave to celebrate, despite everything, the much-loved holiday: it emerged that "real" eggs, i.e. those used to make omelettes, doughs, sweets, sauces, for the first time they will be more purchased than chocolate onestypical of the period.
The estimate emerges from an analysis by Coldiretti based on the orders taken by the Unione Italiana Food in the last week: with a record increase of 45% in purchases, real eggs are therefore the real stars of the Easter cart, clearly beating those of chocolate which recorded a drop of 30-40%. In short, two phenomena intersect: on the one hand, the economic crisis which it forces families to tighten their belts and give up too many goodies, on the other hand the boom already mentioned several times of the return of Italians to the kitchen, forced to stay at home by the anti-contagion regulations which will be extended until April 13 (and probably even beyond).
With the need to spend time at home, we have returned to preparing cakes, bread and homemade pasta, and eggs are often a key ingredient, according to a tradition that today fascinates almost one family out of three (32%), according to the Coldiretti Ixè survey. The trend is therefore accentuating as Holy Week approaches, during which well over 400 million "free-range" eggs will be consumed traditionally boiled for breakfast, hand-painted to embellish homes and set tables or used in traditional recipes or in handcrafted and industrial products.
A tradition, that of "natural" eggs, which has endured over time, for example with dishes such as "vovi e sparasi" in Veneto, the Easter cake in Liguria, the pastiera in Campania and the scarcedda in Basilicata continue to remain present on the Easter tables. The custom of considering the egg as a symbol of rebirth and good luck dates back to 1176 in the West, when King Louis VII returned to Paris after the Second Crusade and to celebrate it, the head of the Abbey of St. Germain des Près gave him half of the products of his lands, including a large number of eggs which were then painted and distributed to the people.
A custom handed down by the Persians which, already five thousand years ago, they celebrated the arrival of spring with the exchange of eggs "portabene" against plagues and famines according to a rite that still resists today.
