LAFAYETTE, La. — Pocking. Paquéing. Knocking. Whatever you call it, it's one Cajun Easter tradition that brings generations together.
If you haven't heard of or participated in egg pocking before, you may be wondering what exactly it is.
"Pocking eggs is a game. It's a competition in which you take two boiled Easter eggs, and you knock them against each other," said Amanda LaFleur, a life-long egg pocker. "When I was a kid, that was what Easter was all about."
The first egg to crack loses, and the winning egg can be used again to further test its strength.
However, when looking at the history of the tradition, an abundance of dyed eggs isn't the only connection between Easter and pocking. At its roots, egg pocking was a very religious display.
"Egg pocking refers to a tradition which goes way back, way beyond Acadiana's days and actually goes back to Greece," said Kevin Rees, an interpretative guide at Vermilionville. "They were dyed red, which represented the blood of Christ, and when you cracked an egg—pocking eggs—that represented the rebirth of Christ."
Through recent generations and into today, pocking eggs has become a playful tradition—a game that brings together families and communities.
For Burnell Lemoine, the annual Easter egg knocking contest is an opportunity to return to his hometown and see old friends.
"The fun of it is the competition. I mean, it's competing, but even more so—like not living there anymore—what's fun about it, too, is you see people that you haven't seen in a long time," the life-long egg knocker said. "Every Easter morning, there'd be a large, large group of people there to take part in the Easter egg knocking contest."
So, make sure you grab your strongest eggs this Easter, and get to pocking.
