Cascarones are confetti-filled eggs that you crack on peoples' heads in the time of Easter. Many people think they come from Latin America, but they really originate in China. When Marco Polo brought them to Italy, they were filled with perfumed powder and given as gifts. They were brought from Italy to Spain to Mexico, where the powder was replaced with confetti. The Spanish word for eggshell is
cáscara, which names the eggs. It is said that having a confetti egg cracked over your head means good luck, so eggs are sometimes cracked on special occasions such as birthdays and weddings (where they may be filled with bird seed).
Cascarones are made by hollowing out the egg and stuffing it with confetti. First, you take a paring knife and make a small hole in the egg. After rinsing it out and letting it dry, the shells are dyed and decorated. The egg is filled with confetti and covered with paper. If you don't want to make the eggs, you can often buy them at roadside stands or grocery stores in the time of Easter. Hide the eggs and hunt for them, or just sneak up on a friend and smash one (gently) on their head. It's a great way to celebrate Easter!
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| Cascarones, in all of their colorful glory |
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ReplyDelete-Felix!
Yeah, we usually don't physically crack them on each others head, but crush them above each others heads, because my brother would hit a little to hard. Also my Grandma came out with us yesterday, so she definitively was not capable of crushing it on top of someones head.
ReplyDelete-Los Spurs
Interesting how cascarones came about. I like how you added some culture and history to the blog. PRETTY COOL YO.
ReplyDelete-Fly on the Wall
Agreed! I learned something today
ReplyDeleteThat's cool, I never knew the history behind cascarones. It would be awesome if they still had perfumed powder in them..
ReplyDelete-Clyde
I love cascarones, we always had them at my elementary school's carnival, but we couldn't crack them inside (though, somehow confetti always ended up in the hallways)! :)
ReplyDelete-Cheesecake (Chaaru)
Ah..the joyful days of youth and freedom. Now I'm just a grizzled old man with a cowboy hat and a whip.
ReplyDeleteSeeing as the egg is a fertility symbol dating back to pagan Roman times I think it would be more appropriate if they were filled with more eggs to symbolize the rebirth of other things... and stuff.
ReplyDeleteI remember we had so much fun with cascarones in middle school. I love this blog post, it was really interesting to read :)
ReplyDelete~Shweta
Pretty!(:
ReplyDelete--Vandana