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Discover our interesting egg facts: all about eggs from A to Z.
Astronomy. What shape is the universe? In 2006, during a NASA Probe Mission, the announcement was made: “the universe could be in the shape of an egg”.
Beluga caviar, or roe from the endangered Beluga sturgeon, is the world’s most expensive (edible) egg: price per kilo ranges from $5,000 in the US to a low of around $250 in Kazakhstan, its major production centre.
Chicken or the egg: which came first? This is just one of the famous proverbs that features eggs: click here to see more… A scientist has tried to answer this question: click here to see his findings.
Dalì. Salvador Dalì was literally obsessed by eggs, which he often used in his paintings. The roof of the Dalì museum in his birthplace of Figueres, Spain, is lined with gigantic eggs. In 1500s, much before the Surrealists, the Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch filled his dreamlike painting, Garden of Delights with eggs. Just try and count them…
Easter. Eggs are the main symbol of Christian Easter: in the period leading up to the holiday, eggs are cooked, decorated and exchanged as gifts. The origins of this practice come from the symbolic value of the egg, which is tied to life, re-birth, Christ and springtime.
Fabergé eggs. Commissioned for the first time by Russian Tsar Alexander III for his wife Maria Fyodorovna, the 57 jewelled eggs of the Imperial collection were made by the goldsmith Peter Carl Fabergé. His Rothschild egg became the most expensive lot ever purchased at a Russian art auction when it was sold by Christie’s for $16.5 million in 2007.
Games. The egg features in many popular games around the world: egg hunt, egg toss, egg rolling, egg tapping.
Hollandaise sauce. A rich, lemony sauce thickened with egg yolks. Most likely invented in France in the late 17th Century, and named for the country of Holland, which was famous for its butter – another of the sauce’s key ingredients.
Inexpensive beauty treatment: because they are naturally drying, egg whites have long been used as a homemade facial.
Joseph Coyle. He was a newspaper editor from British Columbia and invented the egg carton in 1911 to solve a dispute between two locals about broken eggs.
Kosher. Considered neutral under Kosher dietary laws, eggs may be eaten with both milk and meat.
Lady Gaga. Miss Germanotta made her entrance at 2011 Grammy awards enclosed in a gigantic egg: she “walked” the red carpet carried by four men.
Meringue, A foam of beaten egg whites and sugar. The name ‘meringue’ came from a pastry chef named Gasparini in the Swiss town of Merhrinyghen in 1720.
Nutrients. eggs are one of the most complete foods on earth, containing every single essential vitamin (except for C) and all the amino acids.
Omelette. The ancient Romans supposedly made the first omelette, which they sweetened with honey, calling it ovemele (eggs and honey). The name may also come from the French word, “allumelette” meaning blade, which describes the long, flat shape of an omelette.
Pala di Brera. In this painting the author, the Italian Renaissance master Piero della Francesca, depicts the Virgin with an egg hanging over her head: as in other artistic representations, the egg symbolises life and birth.
Quail eggs. Popular as street food in Vietnam and the Philippines. In South America, a single hard-boiled quail egg is a common hamburger topping.
Recipes. It is said that a chef’s hat, the toque, has one pleat for each of the ways you can cook an egg. Eggs are one of the most versatile ingredients in your kitchen.
Size. The main factor that determines the size of an egg, is the age of the hen. The commercial categories are calculated on the basis of weight. In the US there are 6 categories (from 35 g. “peewee” to 71 g. “jumbo”), 4 in Europe (from 53 g. to over 73 g.), 8 in New Zealand (45 g – 75 g). In Australia, only the categories L, XL and Jumbo are recognised.
Temperature of a freshly-laid egg: 160°F.
Uncooked egg yolks are an excellent, easily digested protein drink that athletes have used for generations. Remember Rocky?
Vitamin D. Eggs are one of the few foods that naturally contain the “sunshine” vitamin.
World egg. Also called the “cosmic egg”, it’s the mythological representation – among many religions and cultures – of creation. The symbol of birth, life and beginnings, the egg is considered the origin of all that exists. According to mythology, primordial chaos was transformed into the universe with the breaking of an egg.
Xanthophylls. Is the yellow-orange pigment found in plants eaten by hens that gives yolks their colour. Yolk. Contains all the fat in the egg and half of proteins: the yolk of an egg contains about 55 calories.
Zillion-dollar frittata. Is the most expensive omelette in the world: actually costs $1,000 and is served at Norma’s at the Le Parker Meridien hotel in NYC. It’s made with six eggs, an entire lobster and 10 oz. of sevruga caviar.
After learning the alphabet, discover the science of eggs: all the secrets for the perfect fried egg.
It's not enough? There's a lot you can do. Read a selection of the funniest egg proverbs from all over the world, or choose which cool egg application you prefer to download.
