[1] Chocolate Easter eggs with traditional Ukranian Easter egg designs (all photos © Chocolat Moderne).

[2] A close-up of the Easter egg designs.

[3] Other options include speckled, hand-painted Easter eggs.

[4] Bright red eggs, a tradition in the Eastern Orthodox church. The red represents the blood and sacrifice of Christ on the cross, and the egg symbolizes rebirth.

One of our favorite artisan chocolatiers, Chocolat Moderne, has created a Ukrainian Easter Egg Collection to show support and empathy to Ukraine (photo #1). For lovers of gourmet Easter chocolate, this is one way to show your support.

Ten percent of proceeds will be donated to World Central Kitchen, a relief fund founded in 2010 by Chef Jose Andrés to deliver relief to disaster areas via quality cooked meals.

The organization has served one million meals to families across Ukraine, Poland, Romania, Moldova, and Hungary, and additional meals to Cambodia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Nicaragua, Peru, Uganda, and Zambia.
 
 
THE UKRANIAN COLLECTION: PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS


The Pursuit of Happiness bonbons are petite, filled dark chocolate topped with renditions of Ukrainian Easter art designs (photo #2).  

Chocolat Moderne Easter Eggs blend traditional and innovative flavors. The ingredients are all-natural and the chocolate is the finest couverture from Valrhona.

The collection contains six flavors (all gluten-free):

 
Although it was originally created as part of the company’s seasonal collection, Chocolat Moderne will continue to sell The Pursuit of Happiness and donate to the World Central Kitchen beyond Easter.  

 
 
MORE DELUXE EASTER EGG COLLECTIONS

In addition to The Pursuit of Happiness, Chocolat Moderne offers five additional Easter Egg Collections, available in dark and milk chocolate.

 
Each of these beautifully-designed collections can be purchased until April 29th at ChocolatModerne.com, h www.chocolatmoderne.com or in person at their shop at 27 West 20th Street in New York City. Prices range from $12 for one egg to $33 for three eggs, and $65.00 for a six-piece gift box.

Whatever you get, we promise it will be delicious.

March 25th is International Waffle Day (also called World Waffle Day), a holiday with religious significance in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. March 25th is the Feast of the Annunciation, upon which waffles are typically eaten.

The day celebrates waffles and their history, and we’ve got sweet and savory waffle recipes below—for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert.

First, a fun fact: The religious aspect to Waffle Day occurred because the Swedish Vårfrudagen, meaning “Our Lady’s Day” (the Feast of the Annunciation*), sounds similar to Våffeldagen (“waffle day”) when spoken quickly. Over time, Swedes began calling March 25th Waffle Day, and celebrating by eating waffles.

The pun engendered a nationwide act of devotion to the Virgin even as far back as the 17th century. Both Catholics and Lutherans indulge in eating waffles [source].

Denmark and Norway joined in.

In the U.S., Waffle Day is August 24th.
 
 
> Waffle History
 
> Waffle Iron History

> The Different Types Of Waffles

> How To Make Better Waffles

> 10 Additional Uses For A Waffle Iron
 
 
READY FOR SOME DELICIOUS WAFFLE RECIPES?

Savory Waffles

 
Also: Waffles Benedict: Eggs Benedict with waffles instead of an English muffin.
 
Sweet Waffles

It’s easy to make a waffle sundae with any flavor of ice cream, topped with whipped cream, nuts, and optional dessert sauces. Here are some of our other favorite sweet waffle recipes:

 
 
 
 
________________

*More feasts on the Catholic liturgical calendar: almond biscotti on the Feast of St. Francis’ Transitus (October 3rd), hot-cross buns on St. Clair’s feast day (August 11th), sfinge (zeppole) on St. Joseph’s feast Day (March 19th), honey cakes on St. Abigail’s feast day (February 11th), chocolates on St. Valentine’s Day (February 14th), croissants on Our Lady of the Rosary and anniversary of the Battle of Lepanto (October 7th), and cuccia porridge (a sweet, rice pudding-like mixture of wheatberries in ricotta) on St. Lucy’s feast day (December 13th) [source].

[1] Pecans or pistachios can gracesavory waffles or sweet waffles. For sweet waffles, caramelize the nuts (photo © Taylor Kiser | Unsplash).

[2] Pumpkin pancakes with sliced bananas (photo © Colavita).

[3] Pizza waffles. Here’s the recipe (photo © Emily Ellyn).

[4] Don’t forget chicken and waffles—for breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner (photo © Honey Butter Fried Chicken | Chicago).

[1] These shimmering Easter eggs are filled with chocolate ganache. They are currently available online (photo © Markham + Fitz).

[2] Your local artisan chocolatier may sell beautiful rabbits like this one from Woodhouse Chocolate. This style is no longer available, but check out this rabbit couple on a motorcycle and this white rabbit with an umbrella (photo © Woodhouse Chocolate).

[3] This beautiful Easter egg comes in a variety of flavors, including Dulce de Leche, Milk Chocolate with Sea Salt, Milk Chocolate Pão de Mel (after a Brazilian dessert made with honey and spices), and Two Rivers single origin 70% cacao (photo © Mission Chocolate).

[4] This stunner from Parisian confectioner Pierre Hermé is our favorite from Easter past, but check out this year’s sculpted chocolate Easter eggs (photo © Pierre Hermé).

[5] An elegant bunny sold out quickly, but check your local artisan chocolatiers for equally elegant options (photo © Chocolat By Adam Turoni).

[6] A beautiful Easter basket designed for a sophisticated grown-up. Here are 21 more designs from Martha Stewart (photo © Martha Stewart).

[7] We also love a moss Easter basket. It can be filled with seasonal items year-round. We keep ours on the table near the front door for keys, gloves, etc. (photo © Good Housekeeping).

Ah, the days when we were satisfied with a Cadbury buttercream Easter egg, available at just about any store that sold chocolate. Today, only gourmet chocolate Easter eggs please our palate.

Take these gourmet chocolate Easter eggs (photo #1) from Markham + Fitz Chocolate Makers in Bentonville, Arkansas (birthplace and headquarters of Walmart).

Two University of Arkansas alumni pooled their savings in 2014 to buy their first pieces of chocolate-making equipment.

The result: beautiful chocolate of the highest quality. Their Easter BonBons are shiny examples of the artisan’s craft: colored chocolate shells with different fillings:

 
All are gluten- and soy-free. Golden Egg is also dairy-free.

Easter BonBons are sold in boxes of 15 (BYO nest). Get yours at MarkhamAndFitz.com.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF EASTER CANDY & THE EASTER BASKET

Easter is the second-bestselling candy holiday in America after Halloween—and Easter candy is often much better than that which is collected by trick-or-treating.

While spring lamb, dyed eggs, and hot cross buns all trace their origins to the pagan spring festivals of ancient times, candy is a newcomer, dating back just to the 1800s.

It was then that European candy-makers first hand-crafted chocolate eggs for the holiday. They were wildly popular.

Each Easter in our youth, we’d look forward to an Easter basket chock-full of candy: chocolate eggs filled with buttercream and marzipan, chocolate bunnies, jelly beans, marshmallow chicks, and other goodies, nestled in shredded paper “grass” and tied with a big bow.

Children around the world received Easter baskets like this. As the tradition evolved, even adults got Easter gifts.

But how did the tradition begin? Let’s start way back.

To ancient cultures, the spring equinox marked the transition from the cold, dark days of winter to the warmer, sunny days of spring.

Farmers planted their crops (most people were farmers or hunters, or otherwise relied on those who were) and prayed to their gods for a bountiful harvest.

There would be rituals and festivities honoring the gods. Anglo-Saxons, for example, held feasts in honor of the goddess of spring and fertility, Eostre. The Christian holiday of Easter was named for her.

In early Christianity, fasting was common practice. The tradition of Lent evolved, a fasting period leading up to Easter.

As Christianity spread through Western Europe from the fifth through 12th centuries, the observance of Lent did as well [source].

As some Christians gave up sweets as their Lenten sacrifice, the return to eating them after 40 days without it was a nice reward. The stage was set for Easter sweets.

Easter basket. The symbolism of the basket stretches back thousands of years prior to the Easter celebration of the Ressurection of Jesus Christ.

In an eighth-century book “The Reckoning of Time,” Eostre was depicted cradling a woven basket in the crook of her arm—the beginning of the Easter basket tradition.

The concept of Easter baskets and the Easter bunny (called Easter hare, Osterhase, in German) was brought to America in the 18th century by German immigrants.

Easter baskets began a widespread tradition in the late 19th century, around the same time as the German “Osterhase” became the Easter Bunny.

Easter eggs. Eggs have historically been mythological motifs for new life. Ancient Egyptians, Asians, and Greeks all believed in the premise of the world being born from a cosmic egg.

According to many sources, the Christian custom of Easter eggs was adopted from Persian tradition following the early Christians of Mesopotamia, who stained them red in memory of the blood of Christ.

When they are cracked open, the eggs are said to represent Jesus’ emergence from the tomb and His resurrection.

The Christian Church officially adopted the custom [source].

Easter rabbit. The Easter Bunny has been the recognizable symbol of Easter since the 1700s [source].

Originally called a hare, from medieval times the prolific rabbit was a symbol of fertility.

German immigrants continued the concept of the egg-delivering white hare, along with the tradition that children would prepare nests in which the hare could leave brightly colored eggs.

The rabbit’s Easter morning deliveries expanded to include chocolate and other types of candy and gifts, while decorated baskets replaced nests [source 1] [source 2].

Jelly beans. The modern jelly bean is believed to have been invented in the U.S., sometime after 1850. Due to its egg shape and festive colors, it became an Easter tradition in the 1930s. Here’s the history of jelly beans.

Easter egg hunt. The custom of the Easter egg hunt comes from Germany. Its origins may date to the late 16th century, when the Protestant reformer Martin Luther organized egg hunts for his congregation.

The men would hide the eggs for the women and children to find [source].

In Germany and then in the U.S., children would leave out stockings and hats to be filled by the Easter Bunny. Children also built nests out of leaves and sticks.

This brought the tradition outdoors—and later engendered the Easter egg hunt in the U.S. [source].
 
 
MODERN EASTER CANDY

German immigrants were also the originators of the candy Easter egg, which was first made of sugar and pastry in the mid-1800s.

Candy eggs became wildly popular in the mid-1800s.

By the late 1800s, U.S. candy makers sold hollow and filled chocolate eggs, jelly eggs, and exquisite panorama sugar eggs, hollow egg-shaped sugar shell with an open end that revealed an Easter panorama made from paper [source].

By the early 20th century, improvements in equipment and processes led chocolate makers to produce Easter candy on a much larger scale: molded rabbits, birds, nests, and other designs appeared.

Soon, Easter candies of every description were being mass-produced: rabbits and chicks in every pose, for starters, became Easter basket staples, and affordable to most consumers.

Malted milk eggs, peanut butter eggs, marshmallow eggs, white chocolate carrots colored orange…so many Easter treats, so little time.

The early 20th century also saw jelly beans be added to the Easter basket.

While chocolate-covered marshmallow eggs had existed for some time, in 1953, Peeps marshmallow chicks in yellow and white debuted in Brooklyn.

With the 21st century, big snack brands got the message and began to produce, for example, Almond Joy, Cadbury, Hershey’s, M&Ms, Nerds, Oreos, Reese’s and Tootsie Rolls in Easter colors and/or wrappers.

And the rest is history (although our history is to stick with artisan chocolate).
 
 
________________

*We’re not totally snobby. While we dislike most mass-marketed chocolate because it’s overly sweet, we have two exceptions: York Peppermint Patties and Twix bars.

March 24th is National Cocktail Day, a day we’re using to revisit cocktail garnishes. Many standard garnishes have been used since the advent of the particular cocktail—they’re what that first bartender used when he mixed the first Sazerac (America’s first cocktail) or Gin Fizz. We’ll look at them as well as modern cocktail garnishes.

Citrus garnishes, perhaps the most popular (or the most available), took different forms depending on the bartender: twist, slice, wedge, wheel. Still other garnishes have evolved to modern forms—blue cheese- and jalapeño-stuffed olives in a Martini, for example.

Here’s what you’d need for a retro cocktail party (we’ve included some new “classics” with the old).

> The world’s Top 10 most popular cocktails.

> The history of the cocktail.
 
 
CLASSIC COCKTAIL GARNISHES

 
 
MODERN COCKTAIL GARNISHES

Today, bartenders are called mixologists, and they’re expected to be creative in both new cocktail recipes and cocktail garnishes. Now, the garnish lineup can include:

 
 
Cocktail picks have evolved from holding 2 or 3 olives, cocktail onions or blueberries to skewers with sky-high combinations of cheese, gherkins, ham, shrimp and the more unusual, such as the Japanese California roll and dumplings atop a Bloody Mary in photo #5.

Also see the mini cheeseburger Bloody Mary skewers in photo #7, below.
 
 
A BRIEF HISTORY OF COCKTAILS

Cocktails, as we know them today, have existed since the early 1800s. A reader wrote to “The Balance and Columbian Repository,” a newspaper in Hudson, New York, asking “What is a cocktail?”

The reply, published in the May 13, 1806 edition: “Cock-tail is a stimulating liquor, composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water, and bitters—it is vulgarly called bittered sling….”

The first published bartenders’ guide with cocktail recipes was “How to Mix Drinks; or, The Bon Vivant’s Companion,” by “Professor” Jerry Thomas, in 1862. In addition to recipes for “cocktails,” there are cobblers, flips, punches, shrubs, slings, and toddies. Bitters was a key ingredient that differentiated cocktail recipes.

Bitters are combinations of herbs, fruits, spices and/or roots, distilled in a base liquor. As with spirits, they began as medicinal tonics. Classic cocktails with bitters include the Manhattan, Negroni, Old Fashioned, Pisco Sour, Rob Roy, Rum Swizzle, Sazerac, and Singapore Sling. The recent renaissance in artisan bitters has led to more of their use in new creations.

[1] This Aperol Spritz still has the orange slice, but tops the cocktail with a cucumber ribbon (photo © Nerai Restaurant | NYC).

[2] A Tajin spice rim and jalapeños add some spice to a sweet cocktail (photo © STK | Los Angeles).

[3] Fresh herbs are beautiful and aromatic. Look in farmers markets for flowering herbs, like this purple basil (photo © Sid Wainer & Sons).

[4] Edible flowers scattered on a frozen Margarita (photo © Discover California Wines).

[5] This Bloody Mary garnish serves as an appetizer as well, with a slice of California roll and some gyoza dumplings (photo © Campbell Soup Company).

While the record is mum on the subject, the cocktail event may have followed the Sunday church service. Now there’s an idea ready for revival: church followed by cocktails with friends
 
 

[6] Serving cocktails in wine glasses makes it easy to show off multiple garnishes (photo © Pasta Eater | NYC).

[7] How about a pair of mini bacon cheeseburgers atop your Bloody Mary (photo © Johnsonville Foodservice).
 
 

[1] You can have these tamales shipped to you: Beef Tenderloin, Ancho Chile Pork, and Chicken Tomatillo (photo © Mackenzie Limited).

[2] The masa filling is wrapped in a corn husk or banana leaf. In a pinch, in the old days, even tree bark was used (photo © Broken Spanish | Los Angeles).

[3] Open the husk and savor the aroma. These pork tamales with red chile guajillo sauce are among the most popular varieties (photos #3 and #4 © Allen Brothers).

[4] A chicken tamale with a side of green mole sauce.

[5] Cooking tamales old-school (today we personally use the microwave (photo © Adolfo Teran Teller | CC0 Public Domain).

[6] Two vegan tamales at CDT Cocina in Fresno, California (photo © Kat D. via Yelp).

[7] Chicken poblano tamale from CDT Cocina in Fresno, California (photo © CDC Cocina).

[8] A chocolate tamale from CDT Cocina in Fresno, California (photo via Happy Cow).

March 23rd is National Tamale Day, and if we had to pick, tamales might be our favorite Mexican food. And what an ancient food it is! Tamales originated in Mesoamerica as early as 8000 to 5000 B.C.E. The history of tamales follows, but first:

What exactly is a tamale? It’s a firm dough filling of masa, which is nixtamalized corn*. The ground masa is mixed with water, and other ingredients can be mixed in or used as toppings (photos #3 and #4).

The masa is then wrapped in corn husks (or banana leaves) and steamed.

In fact, the tamale gets its name from the word tamalli, a Náhuatl (Aztec language) word meaning wrapped.

Language lesson: Tamales is plural. One is a tamal in Spanish, although we Americans call it a tamale.
 
 
TAMALE FILLINGS

Beans, cheeses, fish and seafood, meat and poultry, vegetables, chiles, herbs, and spices—just about anything that suits the tastes of the cook and her family.

Pork tamales with red chile sauce are one of the most popular, but beef, black beans, and chicken are also menu favorites.

Different types of sauces are typically served with tamales—enchilada sauce, green and red chile sauces, mole, or whatever the cook wants to pair with the particular filling.

Other toppings are those used for much Mexican and Tex/Mex cuisine: cotija/queso fresco, guacamole, marinated onions, pickled jalapeños, pico de gallo and other salsas, sour cream, and queso.

There are also tamales dulces, sweet tamales. These are made with masa tinted pink with vegetable coloring. The most common recipe simply adds sugar and raisins to the masa.

But sweet tamales can be made with berries and other fruits, chocolate, and many fillings accented with anise seed, cinnamon, or other sweet spices.

Filling types can vary from family to family and from region to region.

Both the filling and the cooking liquid of tamales may be seasoned (source).
 
 
THE HISTORY OF TAMALES

Tamales were the first dish made from corn in Mesoamerica (women were the cooks). Evidence of tamales dates back to the ancient civilizations of [what is now] Mexico, as early as 8000 B.C.E.

Although the exact beginnings are not known for certain, many historians believe that tamales were first made by the Aztecs. In the millennia preceding cookware, tamales were cooked over hot ashes in a buried fire.

Tamales are thus thought to predate the tortilla, which requires a griddle.

Later, when Spanish conquistadors brought pots and pans, steaming the husk-wrapped tamale packets became a more reliable option for cooking.

The Spanish also introduced more ingredients, adding chicken, pork, and lard to the list of possible fillings.

In the pre-Columbian era, Aztecs filled their tamales with whatever foods were available: beans, fish, flamingo, frog, fruits, gopher, honey, rabbit, salamander, turkey, turkey eggs, and squash [source]. Sometimes the masa was eaten plain, with no added filling.

The Aztec and Maya civilizations, as well as the Olmec and Toltec before them, valued tamales as easily portable food. They ate them at the home hearth, of course, but also packed them for hunting trips, for traveling, and for their armies.

Tamales were also considered sacred, the food of the gods. Tamales played a large part in rituals and festivals.

For thousands of years, the Mayans worshiped the maize god, Hun Hunahpu. According to the Maya creation story, mankind was actually created from maize dough [source].

Aztec, Maya, Olmeca, and Tolteca civilizations all considered themselves to be “people of the corn.”

Maize was the most important food source in Mesoamerica, and still is a large part of the Central American diet in the form of tamales and tortillas.

And corn still plays an important religious and spiritual role in the lives of the Maya people.

Tamales may have first crossed the border into the U.S. with American soldiers returning from the One historian believes that Mexican migrants brought tamales to Mississippi when they came to pick cotton in the early 1900s. Another historian writes that tamales hitched a ride with US soldiers returning from the Mexican American War in 1848. By the 1870s, there were many street carts with tamales on the streets of Los Angeles [source].

The easily portable food was also brought to the U.S. by migrant workers beginning around the 1890s, who came to the Southwest for agriculture, mining, and other work. The tasty food spread across the southern states [source].

In the latter half of the 20th century, Mexican cuisine moved to the northern part of the U.S., and now there are tamales for everyone, every day!
 
 
TAMALES TODAY

With the movement towards more plant-based foods, vegetarian and vegan tamales are on the rise. The menu at CDC Cocina (formerly Casa de Tomales) in Fresno, California features:
 
The Classics

 
Vegetarian

 
Vegan

 
It was the Blueberry & Cream Cheese tamale that started the business on its way, in its first incarnation as Casa de Tomale.

In the fall, the popular Pumpkin Pie tamale, made with pumpkin puree blended with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger, makes its appearance. It uses sweet masa with a shaved carrot for added texture and is topped with gluten-free graham crackers.

This should give you the inspiration to create your own tamales, whether on National Tamale Day or any other day of the year.

To start you off, here are recipes for the Pumpkin Pie Tamales and Tomatillo Chicken Tamale with Roasted Corn Salsa (scroll down).

*Nixtamalization is a process that prepares the maize/corn, in which the grain is soaked and boiled in an alkaline solution, usually limewater (calcium hydroxide), and hulled. The nixtamalized corn becomes softer and more flavorful, and when ground, the masa or dough has binding properties that make for great corn tortillas or tamales. Nixtamalization provides several nutritional benefits including increased bioavailability of vitamin B3 niacin, which reduces the risk of pellagra disease. It also engenders increased calcium intake, due to its absorption by the kernels during the steeping process [source 1][source 2].