Italians like to give chocolate eggs as Easter gifts. The eggs are hollow and contain a small surprise inside. The surprise can be a little toy for a child or a piece of jewelry for a loved one.
Pastry shops make custom eggs to order, so people can have names and sugar decorations applied to the exterior of the egg, just like one would do for a birthday cake.
But why eggs? And when did this tradition start?
Eggs are a symbol of life and have been used since Roman times to celebrate the arrival of Spring. The chocolate egg tradition is, instead, very recent.
There is a famous saying in Italian related to Easter: “Natale con i tuoi, Pasqua con chi vuoi”.
That means that you are expected to spend Christmas Day with your family and relatives, and when you do so, you can spend Easter Sunday with whomever you want, and you will not offend your family members (since you have already honored them during Christmas).