A codfish lays ten thousand eggs in a single day, but it is done silently. A hen lays one egg and cackles. Nobody eats codfish eggs and nearly everybody eats chicken eggs. – George Bernard Shaw
The edible egg is very much in the news again. Egg prices go up and down like sea waves. Sometimes eggs are imported from India to meet the rising demand. Whatever the price, people consume eggs because they are versatile and nutritious. Eggs are served fried, boiled, poached, scrambled, baked and roasted. On certain occasions, eggs are used as a binding agent, as a sweet, a savoury and even in cosmetics.
The egg is supposed to be the simplest and most complete food. It is closely associated with fertility, creation and new life. For Christians, it has a symbolic importance when Christmas is celebrated to mark Jesus Christ’s resurrection. So, we have Easter eggs during the spring feast to mark Christ’s renewal or rebirth. Christians believe that eggs signify regeneration and renewal in a symbolic way.
Most eggs are edible and over consumption has driven certain species to extinction. For instance, turtle eggs and unfertilised eggs of the beluga sturgeon are available at an exorbitant price. Most people, however, are not asking for such rare delicacies. They want the common hen eggs available in abundance in many countries. India is an egg-producing country. We too have poultry farms, but they are not producing enough eggs to meet the rising demand.
Many uses
We savour eggs in many ways. Eggs are served with fried rice and nasigoreng. Hard-boiled eggs are steeped in sauce or chilli paste and served to consumers. In Thailand, egg yolk is cooked in sugar syrup and served at weddings as a gesture for wishing good luck for the newly married couple. At Malay weddings, guests are given a beautifully packed hard-boiled egg to bless the newly married couple with children. In China, hard-boiled eggs are served with noodles. In Sri Lanka, people consume egg-coffee in the morning.
The freshness of eggs has been a much debated issue. Imported eggs have a date stamp to indicate their freshness. However, locally produced eggs have no such date stamp. As a result consumers are compelled to buy even rotten eggs. However, you can assess the freshness of an egg by holding it against a strong light. Egg sellers do not provide such facilities for obvious reasons. Fresh eggs usually feel heavy in your hand because the shell is not filled with air. If you place a fresh egg in a glass of water, it will sink to the bottom. If the egg is not fresh, it will float in water. You should not buy such eggs. Again, egg sellers do not provide you with a glass of water to test the freshness of eggs. If you break a fresh egg, the yolk will be plump and firm. In a bad egg, the yolk and the white will be more liquid and colourless.
In Sri Lanka, eggs are sold in the open market. You cannot guarantee the freshness of such eggs. Therefore always buy eggs kept in refrigerators. After buying the eggs, keep them in a refrigerator. Eggs should be cleaned only when you are about to cook them. If you wash eggs immediately after buying them, the protective film will be damaged. As eggs can absorb various odours, always keep them in an airtight container. To eliminate salmonella, eggs should be cooked at least for five minutes at 60 degrees Celsius. To deactivate avian influenza virus on the shell and in the whites and the yolk, eggs should be cooked at temperatures above 70 degrees Celsius.
The innocent looking egg has enriched the human body and the English language as well. If someone in authority has eggs on their face, they have been made to look stupid by doing something embarrassing. We are always advised not to put all our eggs in one basket. It means that we should not depend completely on one thing or one course of action to be successful. A good egg is someone who you can depend on to be honest and very kind. Sometimes, there may be one or two eggheads in your class or workplace. They are very intelligent people who are only interested in ideas and books.
You should not kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. That means you should not destroy a reliable and valuable source of income. The allusion is to one of Aesop’s fables in which a man killed the goose which laid a single golden egg each day in the belief that he would find a number of eggs inside it and instead through greed lost his source of wealth. If you are extremely cautious about your words or actions, you are walking on egg shells. There is a proverbial saying that you cannot make an omelette without breaking eggs. It is used in the context of a regrettable political necessity which is said to be justified because it will benefit the majority. The proverb, ‘Don’t teach your grandmother to suck eggs,’ is a caution against offering advice to the wise and experienced.
Casting spells
After consuming eggs, we throw away the shell. In the distant past, egg shells were believed to be used in casting spells. Therefore, it was thought necessary to crush or break them. On the other hand, witches could sail in egg shells. It was traditionally believed that if a hen laid a very small egg, it was unlucky. It was sometimes called a cock’s egg and believed capable of hatching a cockatrice or basilisk. Superstition also attached to the question of which end of a boiled egg should be opened. Sir Thomas Browne in ‘Vulgar Errors’ (1650) notes that it was thought unlucky to crack an egg at the smaller end’
Oliver Herford, the well-known humourist, attended a dinner at which he was seated next to a very serious and soulful young lady.
“Tell me Mr Herford,” she asked, “Have you no other ambition beyond making people laugh?”
In the same serious vein, Herford replied, “Yes, I have. And some day I hope to gratify it.”
Eagerly the girl asked, “Please tell me. What is it?”
“I want to throw an egg into an electric fan,” replied Herford simply.
