This weekend May 5th, 2024 Greece celebrated the Easter. Greeks follows the Orthodox calendar, which is usually a couple of weeks after the Western churches.
It is an important holiday in Greece and we learned that they have some traditions
Greek Easter Candles
This is traditional gift for easter time. There are some versions with a gift attached like a keychain, or some decoration. You can see those on sell all around Greece.
The red dyed eggs
Red Easter eggs are traditionally dyed on Holy Thursday, but in the end it is part of game that will take place on Sunday.
Some symbolism around the colour and the egg itself where the red symbolizes the blood of Christ and the egg symbolizes rebirth and on Sunday a game called Tsougrisma is played.
Tsougrisma game
Each player holds a red egg, they should hit the end of her or his egg against the end of the other player’s egg. When one egg’s end is cracked, the person with the unbroken egg uses the same side of the egg and try to crack the unbroken side of the opponent’s egg.
Basically, the player will have 2 shots. The one who cracks both sides of the “opponent’s” egg is the winner and the prize is good luck during the year
Ah, the eggs are boiled and when the game is finished they are pilled and eaten with bread. So no waste !
Bread (Tsoureki)
This is also a traditional bread called Tsoureki, you can find them also with the red eggs.
You can find the recipe here
