LATVIAN EASTER EGGS

Tie Dyed Easter Eggs

      

           The egg has been a symbol of ‘new beginnings’ for tens of thousands of years, since archeologists have found decorated ostrich eggs in Africa.  Ancient Egyptians and Sumerians placed decorated eggs in graves and our Easter celebrations have evolved from colored chicken eggs to modern day inclusion of chocolate and jelly bean eggs to represent rebirth as well as the coming spring.

            Our slow arrival of spring this year makes me more anxious than usual to anticipate ‘new beginnings’, so I have been assiduously collecting for several months the dry skins of any and all onions used in my kitchen. Red onion skins are excellent and even the onion stems will contribute texture.  Since I am somewhat old fashioned and inclined to natural materials, the eggs at our house get colored each Easter the old fashioned Latvian way of my mother, which is tie dyed by boiling in onion skins.

            In Maine we are all fond of brown eggs, but for this purpose it is necessary to start with white eggs. If you are very careful, the process can be attempted with raw eggs, but if grandchildren are involved, it is safer to pre-boil the eggs for 5 minutes before wrapping the eggs. Before starting assemble on the table: as many 7 inch squares (a cut up old sheet or pillow case works) of thin cloth as the number of eggs to be colored, a spool of thread, lots of onion skins, a handful of barley or rice, a sprig of curly parsley or some other leaf.

            The process itself: place a small handful of onionskins in the center of the cloth square, place the egg on top of it, sprinkle a bit of barley on the side or place a bit of the green for a mottled effect.  Now bring up the corners and sides of the cloth wrapping everything in a ball form and while holding it with one hand use the spool of thread to wrap it all tightly going around and around with the thread (at least12 times), finally tying the ends. The thread will hold the contents of your egg package pressed against the eggshell and allow for transfer of color. When all eggs are thus prepared, place them in a large pot of boiling water with 2 tablespoons of white vinegar and boil gently for 15 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to a large baking dish and when sufficiently cool to handle, cut the thread and unwrap the eggs the variegated colored eggs.

            The cooled dry eggs will have a few white or light colored spots, which can be touched up with a tissue dipped in beet juice (red), brushed with cut red cabbage (purple) or lightly rubbed with a crushed spinach leaf (green). But the eggs look interesting and unique even with just the tie dye job and placed in a basket on your table will look like the real promise of  ‘new beginnings’.

            An old custom, which we still use on Easter morning before eating any of the tie dyed eggs, is that each person at the table takes their egg and has a symbolic ‘egg fight’ with their neighbor, which never fails to please the grandchildren. One person cup’s their egg in hand with pointed end up and the other person holding their egg the same way upside down bears it down on the point of the first person’s egg. The holder of the egg which does not break – wins and has another chance with the next person in line.

            A couple of hundred years ago in the countryside, the winner was allowed also to collect the broken egg for his own use and unsavory characters were known to use all kinds of tricks to ‘toughen’ up their eggs. Fortunately, at our table we each get to eat our own eggs and any leftovers make a lovely egg salad in a couple of days. 

 

            (I. Winicov Harrington lives in Waldoboro and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day: the Smart-Frugal Food Plan”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)