There once was an egg named Sideris, this is his story.
One of the many traditions on this day is the egg tapping, where everyone at the table chooses a red-dyed egg and attempts to out-tap the others. The person whose egg remains intact in the end wins.
Well, let me tell you about the legend of Sideris. Sideris somewhat translates to Iron Man in Greek, (sidero=iron). Sideris was also the name of a famous Greek footballer, um soccer player, Giorgos Sideris who played for Olympiakos. Yes, the Iron Man played for the red-and-whites, but I digress.
Anyhow, Sideris was the name I had given this strongest of red eggs, one I had chosen with great care after meticulous inspection, feeling the shell for hairline cracks and putting it up close to my ear for hollow corners, this egg was perfect. My holding of the egg was on point too, careful not to let anyone cheat by hitting us on the side, firm but gentle my grip was, swift and accurate were my taps.
The sun was high and the breeze was gentle under the pergola, home-made wine was flowing and the food was spread out on the cheap vinyl tablecloth, while the coals were still crackling under the spit. Ideal conditions indeed.
And so it was meant to be, we just had to step up to occasion: Sideris beat 22 other eggs at the table that day, a historic performance that friends and family still talk about to this day, twenty years later. That egg was on a… roll! A roll that was only stopped by my drunken stupor, yes Sideris could’ve submitted 10 or 20 more eggs but I failed him, the wine overpowered me and I took my eye off the ball, or the egg in this case, for one split second just to have some miscreant uncle side-swipe us.
Devastated, crushed, quite literally in this case, all I could do to honor his performance was peel the shell off Sideris and cut him in two with the dullest knife, drizzle some hand-picked sea salt from the nearby Alykes (salt flats) and bite into the vivid country-egg yellow yolk, washing it down with more wine.
What a day to be alive! Happy Greek Easter everybody! Hristos Anesti!