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Eggs. We know where they came from (or started … or was it the chicken?), so I won’t bore you with those details. Instead, here are some amazing facts and figures concerning the incredible, edible egg.
• First, a little nutrition information. The health value of the egg has been exhaustively debated over the past few decades (cholesterol content, whether one should just consume the whites, etc). But the facts remain: though the yolk makes up roughly 34% of an egg’s liquid weight, contains all of the fat and a bit less than half of the protein, it also contains a higher proportion of the egg’s vitamins, including B6 and B12, folic acid, pantothenic acid and thiamin. Vitamins A, D, E and K are exclusive to the yolk.
• Keeping eggs in cartons is the best way to keep them fresh. An egg’s shell is actually porous (with about 17,000 tiny individual pores) so that it absorbs flavors and odors around it.
• Here’s an “egg counter” for you: A hen requires 24 to 26 hours to produce an egg. Thirty minutes later, she starts all over again. There are nearly 280 million laying birds in the U.S., each of whom produces 250-300 eggs per year, totally around 75 billions eggs - about 10% of the world’s supply.
• At a slight 105 lbs, Sonya Thomas (pictured) holds the record for competitive eating in hard boiled eggs: 65 Hard Boiled Eggs in 6 minutes, 40 seconds!
• “Omelet King” Howard Helmer, Senior National Representative for the American Egg Board, holds three Guinness World Records for omelet making: fastest omelet-maker (427 omelets in 30 minutes); fastest single omelet (42 seconds from whole egg to omelet); and omelet flipping (30 flips in 34 seconds). My mornings would go a great deal faster with him on board.
• Humpty Dumpty may be the most famous egg … but is there evidence to support his being an egg at all? In the original nursery rhyme, there is no mention of Humpty’s egg-ness. While there are various versions of stories of what Humpty Dumpty may represent, the poem might have simply been a riddle whose answer was that Humpty was indeed an egg.
• An “Easter Egg” is often code to mean a surprise. “The first Imperial Easter egg was ordered in 1885 by Czar Alexander II. The monarch gave it to his wife, Maria Feodorovna. Inside it contained a surprise: a golden hen, a small ruby Easter egg, and a diamond replica of the Czar’s crown.” There are only 50 Imperial Easter Eggs in the world, and range in auction price from $80 million to $120 million in total. The most expensive Faberge egg was sold at a Christie’s auction in 2007 for £8.9 million ($16.5 million).
• And finally, for all those who wondered, there is no discernible difference in nutrition, taste, or any other factor than color between a brown egg and a white egg. The color difference is due to the specific breed of hen, according to the Egg Nutrition Center. Hens with white feathers and white earlobes will lay white eggs, whereas hens with red feathers and matching-colored earlobes give us brown eggs.
You know what I’m going to ask … what’s your favorite way to eat an egg?
[Previous Dietribes: Strawberries, Macaroni & Cheese, McIntosh Apples, Smoothies, Coffee and The Sweet Potato.]
‘Dietribes’ appears every Wednesday. Food photos taken by Johanna Beyenbach. You might remember that name from our post about her colorful diet.
Comments (47)
Comment
Growing up with chickens was great–nothing tastes or cooks better than an just laid egg. I love em “dippin” style, just the white cooked and two pieces of toast.
And eggs aren’t just brown and white, there are also green eggs.
posted by a_mama on 3-12-2008 at 9:29 am
My favorite way to eat eggs: Pickled!
Not just pickled, though. They have to have jalapenos and some other veggies added added. Nice and spicy!
I even got my wife to try them soon after we met. Now whenever we get back to Michigan’s UP, we pick up a 3-dozen jar at one of the bars and bring them home.
posted by Empty Jay on 3-12-2008 at 9:51 am
I’ll argue the point about keeping eggs in cartons is the best way to keep them fresh. Actually, you can keep eggs fresh for months (some say close to a year) at ROOM TEMPERATURE (!!!) by dipping them in a “water glass” (sodium silicate) solution. The solution seals the pores in the eggshells, keeping air and bacteria out. This method was really common in the years before household refrigerators were common, but you can still do it, especially if for some reason you can’t refrigerate them. Not sure how how long they’ll stay fresh if you do it WITH refrigeration, but it’s gotta help…
posted by Sid Morrison on 3-12-2008 at 9:57 am
Wait… Hens have earlobes?
posted by Bucko on 3-12-2008 at 10:06 am
I love them every way and probably eat them way too much. I make them for supper a lot. Cheap, easy, and delicious–good stuff for a single gal. Someday I’ll get married and probably starve my family because I’ll only be able to make eggs and pb&j’s. :)
Sid, that is really interesting. I never heard of that–our ancestors were really very smart!
posted by kate on 3-12-2008 at 10:22 am
Mmmm… fried with the yolk popped and cooked, eaten between two pieces of toast. Thanks for the dinner idea. :O)
posted by Tricia on 3-12-2008 at 10:25 am
Best way to eat an egg? Lightly beaten… then incorporated into pancake batter!
posted by Mary Sue on 3-12-2008 at 10:47 am
Scrambled with a little milk, and then with ketchup…mmm
posted by Cheri on 3-12-2008 at 10:53 am
Fried eggs with runny yolks over white rice (my family used Uncle Ben’s) with lots of salt and pepper. Supposedly it’s a Puerto Rican thing but it’s SO good (gracias, papi!). Total comfort food, as are poached eggs on toast.
posted by Jill on 3-12-2008 at 10:58 am
Egg in the Nest
1. Heat Pan
2. Take a slice of bread, I prefer something with a good density - like roman meal
3. Butter both sides
4. Use a knife (or Finger) to put a hole in the center
5. Put bread in Pan
6. Crack Egg and place in center hole
7. Heat 2-3 minutes per side
8. Salt and Pepper to taste
posted by Joel on 3-12-2008 at 11:06 am
Eggs are to be cooked over medium, served over a bed of well fried corned beef hash with a side of hashbrowns with onions and the entire affair drizzled in tobasco!!
I am so hungry right now. Great.
posted by EMStoveken on 3-12-2008 at 11:11 am
I love ‘em in an omelette (I make a mean one) or fried (over easy) or soft boiled (3 minutes, 33 seconds). Unfortunately I’ve developed an allergy to eggs. About 30 minutes after eating eggs, breathing becomes difficult, like being in a really smoky room. Things with eggs baked in them are usually ok, as long as the egg content is relatively low. I’m still mourning that loss.
That Sonya Thomas is quite the gurgitator; did you read her “bib sheet” (follow her link)? The bit at the end is especially funny;
“There is an century-old prophesy within the competitive eating community, dismissed by most, that foretells the rise of the One Eater…”
posted by Dave on 3-12-2008 at 11:12 am
Oh, almost forgot my kids’ favorite egg recipe: The Egg-In-A-Hole-In-A-Sandwich. Take a buttered piece of bread, punch a hole in the middle (a juice glass top works great, but cookie cutters work too), put the bread butter-down on a skillet, then crack an egg in the middle. Cook it up over-easy style & serve buttered side up.
My mouth is watering now.
And another old-time comfort-food fave is eggs over-easy on top of corned beef hash. Not exactly low fat/low cal, but mmmmmmmmmm.
posted by Dave on 3-12-2008 at 11:16 am
I must be in the minority - I HATE eggs! I have tried everything to eat them but I can’t deal with the taste (luckily this doesn’t extend to baked good - just “egg” things like quiche, omlettes, some soufles). I wish I could eat them - breakfast is very difficult, and going out for brunch and not ordering eggs I have found is not very socially acceptable! I have had omlettes with so much cheese and fillings that you wouldn’t even be able to tell there are eggs - but I know!
Any flossy suggestions to help me from being a social outcast?
posted by Katie on 3-12-2008 at 11:20 am
I could never understand why Humpty Dumpty was an egg. The rhyme doesn’t even explicitly say he is non-human.
posted by Zach on 3-12-2008 at 11:23 am
Sing it with me now… “If it ain’t eggs, it ain’t breakfast / I love eggs!”
posted by Ira on 3-12-2008 at 11:24 am
I’m a fan of the Denver omelet: lightly scrambled egg with ham, onions and green pepper. I like mine as a sandwich on toast dipped in some ketchup. Yum!
posted by Average Jane on 3-12-2008 at 11:28 am
Take the breakfast meat trilogy (bacon, ham, sausage) fry up in a pan, add onions and hash browns. Heat through and then just pour as many beaten eggs as you can over the whole thing. It like a friggin breakfast cake. Drizzle with ketchup and promptly have heart attack. You will die smiling.
posted by Dylon on 3-12-2008 at 11:38 am
I have to agree with the corned beef hash lovers out there delish! I enjoy a fried egg with the yolk pretty well cooked. How can you people eat runny raw yolk? Gross!!
posted by Sandy C on 3-12-2008 at 11:38 am
I’ve always eaten my eggs without the yolk. It isn’t even a health thing–I just hate the taste of the yolk. It irks me when I go to a resturant and ask for an egg-whites only omelet, and they try to give me Egg Beaters. Yuck!
posted by Heather on 3-12-2008 at 11:49 am
Scrambled with lots of cheese and a little garlic salt.
posted by Fruppi on 3-12-2008 at 12:01 pm
I love eggs over-easy, runny yolks with toast and ramen (Oriental flavor is best). Drain the broth, put some noodles and egg on the toast and ohmagawd SO good. My boyfriend introduced me to it.
Also, I friggin’ love egg salad sandwiches. Thanks for giving me an idea for lunch today!
posted by Jessica on 3-12-2008 at 12:22 pm
Don’t feel left out Katie, I hate eggs too! I specifically can’t stand cooked egg whites - maybe its a texture thing. Sometimes I can manage scrambled eggs or an omelet if its got lots of other things in it.
*sigh* stuck with cereal as my quick-meal food…
posted by Anne on 3-12-2008 at 12:33 pm
Eggs are awesome any way you cook them — scrambled, over medium, hard boiled. Migas area delicious way we get them here in Texas — scrambled up with fried strips of corn tortilla, tomatoes, jalepaños, etc. Also, I make a breakfast pie somtimes (sort of like a country quicke):
Frozen pie shell (I prefer deep dish)
Ground sauage (I use sage flaovered)
Frozen hash browns
Diced onion & bell pepper
Eggs (4 to 6) beaten w/ milk, garlic salt, pepper & cumin
Shredded cheddar
1. Brown & drain the sausage.
2. Put the sauage in the pie shell, followed by the potaotes, onion & bell pepper.
3. Pour in the egg mix (shoulf fill the shell)
4. Cover with shredded cheddar.
5. Bake at 350° until set.
Also, as to Humpty Dumpty — I think I heard it was a large cannon.
posted by Evan on 3-12-2008 at 12:58 pm
Yikes — spelling. Sorry.
somtimes = sometimes
quicke = quiche
sauage = sausage (x2)
flaovered = flavored
shoulf = should
Oh, I almost forgot: I’ve always heard the egg-in-toast called Toad-in-the-Hole.
posted by Evan on 3-12-2008 at 1:02 pm
Two eggs over hard with pea meal bacon
Yummmm
posted by Ann on 3-12-2008 at 1:13 pm
Joel - we used to call that bird-in-the-nest. Great way to eat eggs. BTW, I use a shot glass like a cookie cutter to make the hole in the middle. Yum Yum
posted by JaneM on 3-12-2008 at 1:15 pm
According to culinary legend, a toque has 100 pleats to symbolize the 100 different ways a chef should be able to cook an egg. August Escoffier is often credited with this saying, though I doubt it think that is a legend in itself.
as for me, I do enjoy a soft boiled egg, smeared onto a crusty peice of baguette and then covered with a thick slice of Emmentaler or Provolone.
posted by Florida on 3-12-2008 at 1:42 pm
Eggs and Scrapple.
That is all.
posted by burgeon on 3-12-2008 at 1:46 pm
So I’ve always been super picky, and stubborn, and now most of my adult life is me “re-trying” foods I “hate” but don’t remember ever trying… summer 06 was my first “re-try” of eggs- I love them! However, I only like them scrambled, preferably just whites, or a few whites and one yolk, with lots of spices… sometimes garlic salt, or red pepper flakes and hot sauce… yummo!
Also… they cannnnnot be runny! Ew!
posted by Kelly J on 3-12-2008 at 1:49 pm
What you all call bird in the nest or toad in the hole, I grew up calling “Billy Eggs.”
When my older brother Bill was little he read a book about them asked our mother to make them, and she dubbed them “Billy Eggs”.
I was 20 before I realized other people at them and they had a real or more universal name.
posted by Julianna on 3-12-2008 at 2:01 pm
Garbage omelet here: browned diced ham, green peppers, onion, mushrooms, a fresh jalapeno from the garden (when in season), what ever shredded cheeses are in the fridge, coarse ground black pepper mixed into eggs, and the whole thing covered with Frank’s “Red Hot” sauce, or liberal amounts of McIlhenny “Tabasco” sauce.
Good news for the wife, I’ll be doing the cooking tonight ;-)
Anybody else hungry?
posted by Phil on 3-12-2008 at 2:04 pm
I’m in the anti-egg minority too. I’ve tried eating quiches and frittatas, to no avail.
Oh well. That just means more for you egg fans. :)
posted by Melodye on 3-12-2008 at 2:28 pm
I can eat fifty eggs.
posted by TomH on 3-12-2008 at 2:40 pm
No, Florida, the pleats in a toque really ARE representative of the 101 ways to prepare eggs - but my husband could only name about 50+ (and he’s been a chef for 27 years!)
Also, Evan, there’s a Bisquik recipe very similar to what you make (but you don’t use a crust - you mix in Bisquik with everything) - very yummy!
My favorite way? Boiled eggs chopped up and mixed into a white gravy/cream sauce, and poured over toast - my college roomate says they had it every morning the week after Easter (good way to use up all those boiled eggs you might have around soon!)
And eggs raising your cholestrol? I have always had them 2-4 times/week, and my cholestrol is 90.
posted by rohobu on 3-12-2008 at 3:43 pm
My favourite way is to fry eggs in a little extra virgin olive oil with some olives — very good! I found it in an Italian cookbook once. Other than that I like basting them - they always turn out perfect. You can see a recipe here: www.stomachlove.blogspot.com
My dad always calls “toad-in-the-hole” a “red eye” - I think that’s what my Swedish grandfather dubbed it - he obviously ate it with ketchup!
posted by Sarah on 3-12-2008 at 3:45 pm
I only like eggs in quiche and in fritatas… no over easy, scrambled, or omlettes for me. Oh, I also like devilied eggs though. I am strange.
posted by Sarah on 3-12-2008 at 4:31 pm
I agree with Bucko. Chickens have Earlobes?
posted by Sally Villarreal on 3-12-2008 at 8:05 pm
Apparently chickens DO have earlobes … I didn’t go into it further, but I should have. Still, that’s what the article says!
Also, I’m a huge fan of eggs in any form … so I thought. I just came back from dinner at a sushi place where they did the most terrible thing to an egg that rendered it unrecognizable (and TERRIBLE) in taste. anyone familiar with this? I don’t know what it’s called.
posted by InternAllison on 3-12-2008 at 9:08 pm
InternAllison: I think you mean tamago? Personally, I like the sweet flavor. However, given a choice, I’d rather have REAL sushi - the raw fish kind. Tamago seems more of a primer for sushi n00bs.
I like all the egg dishes mentioned above. Hafta try the egg-in-hole sometime. One of my favorites is a Korean dish -bi bim bap- it’s assorted Korean veggies and beef, with a cooked egg on top. Mmm!
posted by tona b. on 3-13-2008 at 12:09 am
I like my eggs with bread. I cut a hole in a slice of sandwitch bread and put butter around the hole (on both sides) then place the bread on a hot skilett and crack an egg into the hole. My family calls ‘em “Turtles”.
posted by Joanna on 3-13-2008 at 4:23 am
I like my eggs deviled, or fried on an english muffin with cheese, or veggie or cheese omlettes. As for Tamago, I understand that in Japan, people make their first impression of a new sushi restaurant by trying their tamago. That said, I’ve never tried tamago, although my daughter likes it.
posted by Stew on 3-13-2008 at 8:40 am
Sid, here in Tokyo eggs aren’t refrigerated in the stores at all — they’re just stocked in aisles same as canned goods. It’s weird to see, but I’ve never gotten sick from eating them. You have to refrigerate them once you get them home, though. Also, they’re sold in packages of 10 instead of 12.
Tamago is the Japanese word for egg. Stew, you’re right about people here judging sushi joints by their tamago. But I 100 percent agree with tona b. — I love eggs, but I want fish in my sushi!
posted by Karen on 3-13-2008 at 9:53 am
Favorite: Three eggs SSU, salted and dusted with cayenne pepper. Two thick slices of sourdough bread toasted nearly but not quite black and then slathered with sweet butter. Using fork, eat all around the yolks, then eat the yolks, and sop up the mess with the crunchy toast and eat that. Manage the work so the last of the yolk goes with the last of the toast.
Next favorite: Fry vegetables (spinach, green onions, etc.) in bubbling butter. Pour in whipped eggs with a little milk. Flip, wait, fold over grated mozzarella cheese and half a soft avocado. Top with hot sauce.
Next favorite: Soak two slices of wheat bread in one or two whipped eggs. Fry on flatgrill next to a mound of thin-sliced ham with Muenster or Swiss cheese on top. Hot mustard. Sandwich.
posted by Marco McClean on 3-13-2008 at 10:23 am
mmmyum… fav way 2 eat de eggs.
saute up sum garlic, onions, and bok choy w/ a small amount of olive oil and red wine vinegar. once golden brown, add 2 egg whites and scramble with sum soy sauce and cayenne pepper.mmmm…deliciouso!
posted by Niki Hildahl on 3-13-2008 at 2:25 pm
My favorite way to eat an egg is in chocolate chip cookies.
posted by Scotter on 3-13-2008 at 5:10 pm
So far I have heard “bird in the nest,” “toad in the hole,” and “Billy Eggs;” we used to call them “camel eyes.”
posted by Matty on 3-14-2008 at 2:42 pm