What's it got to do with Easter? Part 3: Chocolate

 

Which came first, the chocolate or the egg?

 Well in this case definitely the egg! Eggs had been used for hundreds of years as a symbol of Easter, starting out as real eggs, then being a paper mache shell in which you could hide a gift, and finally a confection.

 The first chocolate eggs appeared in France and Germany in the 19th Century, but they were bitter and hard. Cadbury’s first chocolate egg was made in1875 and they very quickly became popular and remain a favourite tradition with chocolate-lovers today. But over the last 50 years we weren’t content with just having chocolate eggs, and so all sorts of chocolate shapes are now given at Easter time. You can get a chocolate bunny, dinosaur, sloth or unicorn, chocolates of every size and design. 10% of the chocolate produced each year is given at Easter. But what has this got to do with Jesus?

For those who choose to fast during Lent chocolate is often one of the rich indulgent dairy items that is off limits, meaning that when Easter Sunday arrives people are excited to once again treat themselves.

For those who don’t fast during Lent, Easter Sunday is still a feast day in celebration of Christ’s resurrection, and the giving of celebratory chocolate is one way of marking this.