5 Hungarian traditional egg decorating techniques

Easter is here. During important holidays which bear many traditions I always think about how much of the old tradition is actually being kept. It is more likely for the tradition to last in the countryside than in the big city, so if you’d like to see girls in traditional clothing and boys sprinkling them with fresh water from the well, you’ll probably need to travel to some smaller village.

Nevertheless, I see in my surroundings that families with children reach out to the tradition more and more these days. It is a good feeling to sit down with the girls and colour eggs, dress up in nice clothes and get ready for Easter. It is also a great program for the boys to go sprinkling with dad.

Every year we see some new and unexpectedly fun decorated eggs but there are some old techniques that are very special and not many people are experts in them. Here are 5 Hungarian traditional egg decorating techniques:

– egg-writing

Pattern is drawn with hot wax with the help of a special tool. After that eggs are dipped in color. When eggs are colored wax is melted and drawn pattern remains.

– egg scratching

These are done the other way around – pattern is scratched into the eggshell after it’s been colored.

– egg shoeing

Metal decoration (often horseshoe form) is nailed to the blown-out eggshell. Unfortunately, this method is dying out.

– egg lace

Probably the most demanding decorating technique, usually done on goose eggs because they are bigger and thicker than chicken eggs.

– egg stitching

And here are some videos:

Would you try this at home?

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