Icelandic Easter egg, not only a chocolate egg.
Icelandic Easter eggs are quite something else and very dear to Icelanders. So we at centerhotels decided that they would be worthy of their own Newsfeed and gathered some fun quirky facts about the Icelandic Easter egg aka Páskaegg.
Icelandic Easter eggs are made out of sweet icelandic chocolate, traditionally given to children but also exchanged by adults.
The eggs are not only made out of chocolate but they are filled with Icelandic candy.
Like in some other cultures, some parents hide the egg either in the home or outside in the yard for the kids to find.
They usually have a yellow Easter chick perched on top for obvious reasons but newer variations offer a plastic smurf or other random plastic cartoon figures on top for a more obscure reason.
They come in variety of sizes from size 2 to a size 10, depending on the size and appetite of the individual you are offering it to. And it is not uncommon that children get more than one.
Last but not least, inside the choloclate egg you will find a small note with an Icelandic proverb which is simular to a fortune that you get in a fortune cookie. The proverbs are derived from Icelandic medieval sagas and despite the lure of the candy, the proverb is often times the first thing most people look for when they crack their eggs open. Many people collect them and it's not uncommon that people around you inquire what proverb you got and share theirs. Here are a couple of examples of these quirky proverbs:
Neyðin kennir naktri konu að spinna (“Necessity teaches naked woman to spin thread.”)
This is one of the most famous Icelandic proverbs and for a good reason: anyone caught naked in Iceland will very quickly think of clothes; if for no other reason then because it can get really, really cold!
Margur verður af aurum api ("Wealth turns many men into monkeys")
This one hardly needs explanation but wealth has often made people do silly stuff.
Happy Easter!!