Sunday morning there is something in store which I have heard of before, but never engaged in. A competition involving Easter eggs. After doing a bit of digging, I discovered the practice (locally called "pocking" or with the French spelling "pacquing") is fairly widespread throughout Europe and even into the Middle East. Here's how it goes: knock the pointed end of a hard boiled egg against that of one's opponent. The one whose egg cracks is the loser. Other names for this include the English "egg jarping" and in German Eierkippen or Eierticken. The Cajun name for this seems to be a play on words. With the Anglophone spelling, pock, we have the implication of a smashed dimple in the shell, while the Francophone spelling, pacque, recalls the word for Easter: Paques. I rather like how the local French name transforms the noun into a verb: "to Easter", as it were. The preparation and decoration of the eggs is only the first step. Then, through their use in pocking, the eggs come into their fullness, having been duly Eastered.
No comments:
Post a Comment