When we moved to South Texas ten years ago I had no idea what surprises were in store for us.
I knew about the heat. I was used to season-less years and looooong, hot summers.
I enjoyed and was quite familiar with Tex-Mex.
I may have even had a tamale once or twice before moving further south.
I had not, however, been introduced to the Easter cascarone tradition.
The origin of cascarones is a bit muddled, but apparently stems from the Italian Renaissance when Italian gentlemen would fill emptied eggs with beautiful perfumes and scented powder to give to their beloved. As with the pinata, the Italians allegedly got the practice, via Marco Polo, from the Chinese. The practice of making hollowed-out, surprise-filled eggs moved from Italy, into Austria, France, then to Spain and eventually to Mexico.
In Mexico people replaced the perfumed powder with confetti. It was then when Mexicans labeled the egg shells Cascarones which derives from the word "Cascara" or shell.
Beaming someone with a confetti egg is meant as a sign of affection. Some even say it brings good luck.
If so, I must be quite lucky today as I was beamed with more than my fair share of the 100 eggs we shared.
For the uninitiated, the proper way to use a cascarone is to break it above your victim's head and let the confetti rain down, NOT to break it ON the head. I cannot seem to explain this sufficiently to my three children {my third child is pictured in the top right}.
It is a festive tradition that takes place at our house between church and brunch.
Yes, it is a huge mess and I pull bits of shell out of my bra for the rest of the day.
Yes, we all go to brunch with confetti in our hair.
And yes, I clean confetti out of the house, yard, and showers for weeks.
But it is now part of our Easter tradition and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Have you ever seen a cascarone? Or does it sound entirely insane that my family pummels each other with confetti eggs immediately following our Easter service?!
