Contents
The egg is a phenomenon of nature! All the substances needed to create a new life are stored under the shell: essential amino acids, fats, vitamins and minerals. We will not find a second product of the same nature in which there are so many bioactive ingredients. 21 days is enough for a fertilized egg under favorable conditions (heated at 40 degrees Celsius) to turn into a new life – a chick.
Why is it worth eating eggs?
The World Health Organization has recognized egg white as an international standard for the amino acid composition. This means that the egg is the most valuable in terms of protein content, compared to other foods such as meat, dairy and plants. Egg protein also has the best absorption rate. One 60 g egg contains about 7 g of protein.
Eggs are a rich source of vitamins A, E, D and K. In addition, they contain the entire set of B vitamins, including the important vitamin B 12, which is needed, among others. in the metabolism of fats and sugars. Eating just two eggs a day covers our needs for this vitamin.
Eggs contain lecithin, which plays an important role in the formation of cell walls and prevents the build-up of atherosclerotic plaques inside the blood vessels.
Eggs are also a rich source of choline, the deficiency of which can cause anxiety disorders and the malfunction of the entire body, including liver problems.
Chickens that eat food enriched with linseed or algae lay eggs rich in omega-3 fatty acids necessary for our body, which we consume far too little nowadays.
Eggs contain a set of minerals such as zinc, iron, selenium, magnesium, phosphorus, sodium, potassium and calcium, the most of which is found in the eggshell. People at risk of osteoporosis can consume egg shells prepared for dietary supplements. More information on this can be found here.
Egg yolk contains carotenoids: lutein and zeaxanthin, which keep our eyes in good condition and protect against macular degeneration, ensuring better vision.
The chief “eggologist” of our country – professor Tadeusz Trziszka, jokingly referred to by his colleagues and friends as “the ovarian” 😉 assures that we do not have to be afraid of eggs because of cholesterol, as we were once told. The professor urges Poles to eat eggs because we look pale compared to other nations.
Poles eat about 160 eggs a year, while the Japanese eat twice as much, Germans – on average 235, Italians and French – 215 eggs a year. Mexico is the leader in egg consumption, with an average annual egg consumption of 370 eggs per person. Belgians eat large amounts of eggs around Easter, except that they are mostly chocolate eggs.
Even in the 70s, there was propaganda in which doctors promoted limiting the consumption of eggs to two a week. Currently, the AHA – American Heart Association promotes the consumption of eggs per day (or two proteins per day). Prof. Trziszka, who has been studying eggs for over 40 years, eats about 30 eggs a week.
How many eggs can you eat according to the professor? – “As much as you want!” – answers prof. Tadeusz Trziszka. Eggs are a cheap and nutritious superfood. We do not have to be afraid of cholesterol from eggs, because it is not dangerous for us and it does not accumulate in our arteries, causing cardiovascular diseases – emphasizes the professor. Such a claim is a great misunderstanding.
Since we do not need to be afraid of eggs anymore and we like to eat eggs (I hope so), it is worth knowing a little more about them.
13 interesting facts with an egg in the lead role
1. Folk medicine recommended rolling an egg over the patient’s body in order to remove the disease from the patient’s body.
2. The egg shell is full of collagen and hyaluronic acid. An old Egyptian custom was to put it on a wound for faster healing. The Wrocław research project Ovocura is working on medicinal preparations that use not only whole eggs but also subcellular membranes.
3. A country hen with an unlimited range can eat literally anything it comes across, including diesel fuel and artificial fertilizer. Some studies confirm heavy metal accumulation in eggs from rural chickens.
4. The minimum number of eggs a hen can lay annually is 200. Under favorable conditions it is even about 300 eggs. The hens intended for egg production are record holders and lay a maximum of 340 eggs per year.
5. The largest scientific conference in the world on the health-promoting properties of eggs in the world, with the participation of scientists from around the world, is organized by the University of Alberta every few years in the town of Banff in western Canada.
6. In the Roman Empire, meals began with eggs and end with apples. Ab ovo usque ad mala, Horace used to say, from egg to apple. The fruit was supposed to provide the vitamin C missing in the eggs.
7. For the construction of the Charles Bridge in Prague, eggs were used, namely proteins, which were a component of the mortar that strengthened the structure of the bridge.
8. In his youth, Arnold Schwarzenegger ate 10 to 15 eggs a day to effectively increase muscle mass.
9. Howard Helmer is an undisputed “ovarian” 😊 from America, to whom 3 Guinness Book records belong. First one for making 427 omelets in 30 minutes. The second record is the fastest single omelette preparation, which took him 42 seconds. The third record was for tossing omelettes in a pan. Howard made 30 shots in 34 seconds.
10. Egg yolk takes the longest time – from 8 to 9 days. Egg white is only formed in 3-4 hours. The shell is produced within 25 hours. The hen has only the left ovary, which can potentially produce up to 4 eggs, but during its four-year life, the hen achieves a tenth of its capacity – these interesting facts are revealed by Prof. Trziszka.
11. A hen’s egg shell is full of holes and has from 7 to even 17 pores that would allow the growing embryo to breathe.
12. Easter Eggs in pop culture is a reference to the game of searching for hidden Easter eggs. Easter Eggs were created in computer games, now they are fashionable in movies, songs, on social networks, and they mean a hidden media message taken from another work, used by the creators in order to play with the viewers. An Easter egg can be anything – an element of a Batman’s costume used in a completely different story, a poster hanging on the wall, a character encountered, an object in the interior.
13. Architecture uses the shape of an egg as an inspiration for the design of buildings. Examples include the National Theater in Beijing, Cybernetic Egg in Bombay, Torre Agbar in Barcelona, and OVO apartments in Wrocław, which allude to the oval form of an egg (“ovo” in Latin means “egg”). These are just some of the examples.
Eggs in our kitchen
More about this extraordinary knowledge about ordinary eggs, let’s take a look at eggs, eggs and eggs from the tastier, culinary side, because the wealth of dishes with eggs in the lead role is truly stunning. We can make delicious and nutritious dishes from eggs: scrambled eggs, omelettes, fritata, hard-boiled or soft-boiled eggs, shakshouki, egg spreads for sandwiches, salads, fried eggs, Scotch, Benedictine, stuffed eggs in a hundred ways. Anything else I forgot? Each of us has our favorite way to prepare eggs, except maybe vegans 😉
Michel Roux was an outstanding French chef whose eggs were so fascinating that he developed a cookbook containing recipes with their participation. He respected the egg as brilliant in all its forms, so they were a very important element in his kitchen. He used to say that eggs are an underrated product, often replaced with expensive luxury ingredients. In the cookbook “Eggs”, Michel Roux introduces us 130 recipes with eggs, from the classic and simple to the completely modern, in which the master has reached the heights of creativity.
An unusual recipe for eggs by a French chef
Soft-boiled eggs with caramel! Doesn’t that sound unconventional and intriguing?
The recipe comes from the aforementioned book by Michel Roux, “Eggs”.
Ingredients:
To make caramel eggs, you need four eggs, two vanilla pods, toast or croissants.
For the caramel sauce, you will use about 100 g of sugar and a teaspoon of lemon juice.
Przygotowanie:
1. Put raw eggs in the fridge for 24 hours in a tightly closed container with the vanilla sticks cut along the length. The point is for the eggs to be soaked with the vanilla flavor. The storage time of eggs with vanilla can be slightly extended to increase the intensity of the aroma.
2. Dissolve the sugar in a saucepan on a little gas, stirring all the time. When it turns light caramel, take it off the heat and add 100 ml of boiling water with lemon juice. Then place it over the gas and heat it for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. When the caramel becomes a thick syrup, add the hollow grains of fresh vanilla.
3. Cut the bread into small pieces in the shape of bars, from which to prepare toasts or serve French croissants (which can be preheated in the oven).
4. Soft boil the eggs for about 4 – 5 minutes. When they are ready, put them into glasses. We eat it with a teaspoon, and reaching the liquid yolk, pour caramel over it, dipping the selected type of bread in it. We enjoy the new, luxurious taste and…. we rise to the heights of culinary delight or find it nothing special. I myself am very curious about such a combination.
If you have not tried eggs in such a caramel-vanilla version yet, I recommend you test the recipe.
* If someone does not want to make caramel from sugar, they can replace it with keto caramel.
Summation
Eggs for Easter are a must have. By getting to know their nutritional values, maybe we will raise the Polish average in egg consumption, and although it will be hard to catch up with Mexico, it is worth reaching for eggs more often and eating them more willingly. Happy Holidays, Tasty Egg and Wet Dyngus to all of us 😊