What was the first; the egg or the chicken? It was the egg, obviously, but still, it makes you think, doesn’t it? Despite having been around for millions and millions of years, there is still a lot we can learn about eggs. For example, did you know that egg yolks get most of their color from the diet of chickens (as opposed to being yellow because chicks are yellow, as I thought)?
With Easter fast approaching, what better time to brush up on your egg knowledge? Here we will look at some world record breaking eggs, some unusual ways to eat eggs and other egg facts that you can surprise your friends with between bites of chocolate…
The biggest egg
It probably won’t surprise you, but the world’s largest eggs are laid by the world’s largest birds. Ostrich eggs are 15 cm long and weigh approximately 1.5 kg, more than 20 times the weight of a chicken egg. They may be huge, but interestingly, they are the smallest compared to the size of the bird (ostriches are so huge that the egg makes up only 1-4% of their body weight). The prize for the highest egg-to-layer ratio goes to the kiwis from New Zealand, who somehow manage to pull out an egg that is a quarter of their size.
Madagascar elephant bird
If you want to make a gigantic omelet, ostrich eggs are the biggest eggs out there. However, if you just want to see a large egg and not eat it, you can always try to find one from the Madagascar elephant bird. these birds they became extinct about 300 years ago, but when they were alive they produced eggs of more than a meter in circumference, the largest in history. One of these eggs sold for more than £66,000 at auction in 2013Although, if you’re desperate, there seem to be examples for as little as £2-3,000 available on eBay (excluding postage).
The smallest egg
It’s probably no surprise, but the world’s smallest eggs are laid by one of the world’s smallest birds. The verbena hummingbird, native to the Caribbean, is the second smallest bird (after the bee hummingbird) and lays eggs of apenalties 1 cm in lengthtoo small to be worth cooking and eating.
Small quail eggs
If MasterChef is to be believed, quail eggs are the smallest (of bird) that people bother to eat. The eggs are considered a bit finicky, but they are the same price as regular chicken eggs, so you don’t have to be posh to eat them. That said, they are tiny and snow quail lay 28 eggs at a time (more than any other species), so they should be even cheaper.
Smartest egg
It’s not easy to say this, but some people really believe that they can use eggs to predict the future. Is named oomancywhich sounds pretty creepy, and involves dropping an egg white into hot water and then “reading” the shapes it makes while cooking. If you are going to try it at home, remember that you should only use the white of the egg, you cannot predict the future with the yolk.
It may seem especially ridiculous for someone to try to see into the future by looking at a boiled egg, but it’s really no more foolish than any other kind of fortune telling. In some ways it’s less silly: There are roughly 6.4 billion chickens on the planet, so statistically one of them is bound to lay a psychic egg sooner or later.
The tastiest egg
Eggs can be cooked in many different ways, and everyone has a favorite. I personally like scrambled eggs, although fried eggs are also very good. And boiled. Thinking about it, I also like poached eggs. It’s hard to pick a favourite, right?
Scotch eggs
I’ve never really liked Scotch eggs (or the people who eat them), but they seem to be quite popular. In 2011 it was built in London world’s largest scotch egg: an ostrich egg surrounded by 6 kg of sausage meat. Depending on your point of view, this is either a delicious achievement or a terrible waste of food.
Another type of boiled egg that I’m not sure about is a balut
It is a duck egg that is boiled and eaten directly from the shell; which sounds good, apart from the fact that the egg has been fertilized and allowed to partially develop. Balut is a very popular street food in the Philippines and is also widespread in Vietnam, where they prefer the duck embryo to have “ripened” for 19-21 days before chewing. I know it’s important not to be too judgmental here, and try to comment sensitively on cultures and traditions I don’t fully understand, but in this case I think it’s fair to say “Eurgh…disgusting”.
Most valuable egg
Although the £66,000 elephant bird egg may be a bit pricey, it’s a bargain compared to the amounts people pay for Fabergé imperial eggs. Only fifty of these intricate jeweled eggs exist, and this rarity drives their price up: in 2007, the “Rothschild egg” was sold at auction for £8.9mwhich, I’m sure you’ll agree, is a very expensive egg.
Fabergé eggs contain a special surprise inside their glamorous exterior
In this sense (and this sense only) they are very similar to Kinder Eggs, except that the “surprise” is usually a miniature clock bird or gold palace, rather than a plastic race car. cheap.
most of imperial eggs were created by Peter Fabergé for the Russian royal family; at the end of the century 19th it became a tradition for the Tsar to give one of these eggs to his wife at Easter. Of course, the tsars were extremely wealthy and could afford unique diamond-encrusted eggs; If all you get on Easter morning is a tinfoil-covered Nestlé effort, it doesn’t mean your husband doesn’t love you.