Eggs

An ivory box without hinges or lid, but inside a golden treasure is hid.

As every Tolkien afficionado knows, the answer to this Hobbit riddle is ‘eggses,’ the calcium-coated chicken ovum eaten all the world over.   

Chickens were reputedly domesticated more than 8000 years ago, and chicken eggs are a nearly ubiquitous element of human culture. Hundreds of different varieties of chickens have been bred, some with exotic feathers just for show, others for meat production, and still others – like Leghorns and Rhode Island Reds – for superior egg production.   

Most small-flock local egg producers choose varieties with mixed characteristics, including Plymouth Barred Rocks and Wyandottes that are consistent layers but also look pretty. Araucana chickens are also popular with home egg producers as they lay those crowd-pleasing blue to olive-green eggs, which is so much fun that it’s well worth the fact that they don’t lay as consistently as something like a Rhode Island Red.  Contrary to legend, it is not necessary to have a rooster in order for chickens to lay eggs – but many home egg producers keep a rooster nearby anyway, believing that it gives the hens “encouragement.” 

Happy Chickens Make the Best Eggs

Chickens are inexpensive to raise, and, weather permitting, can roam and forage on their own through the day in many different environments, then come home at night to roost in nearly any snug dry place, laying their eggs in the morning right where you can find them before heading out to forage again.  Happy chickens are sociable creatures, seem to enjoy human company and make a full range of ‘chitchat’ sounds that are downright conversational.  

I have seen chickens kept under tiny residential stairwells in a small white stucco town high in Spain’s Andalusian mountains, and stashed into basement window ledges of modern urban buildings in Karachi, New Delhi, and Islamabad. In the Middle East and India, hard boiled eggs are sold by street vendors the way pretzels or nuts are sold in New York City.  The egg comes wrapped in a newspaper cone, with your choice of spice mixture at the bottom to dip it in, from herbed salt to firey hot pepper melange. 

Here in Addison County we suffer from an embarrassment of riches when it comes to eggs.  While folks in urban areas have to make do with bland, less-than-fresh eggs from their supermarket shelves, we have a local commercial egg producer, Maple Meadow, just down the road, as well as numerous small farm and home producers that grow eggs for personal use or farmer’s market and natural food co-op sale. 

Fresh eggs from healthy chickens who eat a varied diet and are free to walk around are distinctly different from factory-farm eggs. The fresh ones usually have thicker shells, brighter yolks, and a thicker, ‘meatier’ feel. There is one small disadvantage to fresher eggs though – the shells often stick to the whites after they are hardboiled, so if egg salad won’t do and lovely deviled eggs are absolutely necessary, you can always swap a dozen fresh local organic eggs with a dozen someone has bought from a  supermarket, and rest assured they’ll be better off for it.  Or just stick a dozen local eggs in the back of the fridge for a few weeks, and then make your deviled eggs.

Nutritional Treasure

Like meat, eggs contain complete protein.  At only 70 calories per single large egg, they also pack a nutritional wallop, including 15% of the RDA of Riboflavin and Folate, and 30% of the RDA of vitamin B-12 as well as significant amounts of vitamins A, D, and E.  Nutritional controversy rages, however, over eggs cholesterol content.  For several decades, nutritional guidelines have recommended stringently restricting the intake of dietary cholesterol on the theory that dietary cholesterol intake corresponded with blood cholesterol levels, and high blood cholesterol was associated with heart attack risk.  More recent studies call this correlation into question, and in 1999 the Harvard School of Medicine published an extremely extensive study in the Journal of American Medical Association indicating that of 177,000 people studied for 8 years, no difference whatsoever in heart attack incidences was found between those who ate less than one egg a week and those who ate more than one egg a day.  (JAMA 1999;281:1387-1394) If you are unconvinced, or your predisposition to heart disease makes you reasonably cautious, skip or minimize egg yolks: the white contains many of the positive nutritional components of eggs, but has no cholesterol.  With the rich, meaty texture of fresh eggs, you can easily make an omelet or scrambled eggs with three or four egg whites and perhaps one yolk, and not miss a thing.

Other recent nutrition news suggests that eating eggs has other previously unknown advantages. Dietary studies show that eggs for breakfast provide such a nice filled-up feeling that dieters tend to eat significantly fewer calories through the rest of the day.  And egg yolks have recently been discovered to be great sources of lutein and zeaxanthin, two substances that reduce the risk of cataracts and macular degeneration.  These nutrients are also present in green leafy vegetables, but may be more easily absorbed into the bloodstream when consumed in eggs.  Best yet, combine leafy greens and eggs in a wilted greens salad or spinach and broccoli quiche, and double your nutritional punch.

WILTED SPINACH SALAD

2 large bunches of fresh spinach

2 hard boiled eggs

2 tablespoons chopped chives or green onions

1 tomato

2 tablespoons crumbled strong blue cheese

juice of one lemon

2 tablespoons olive oil

optional – 1 tsp capers, or crumbled crisp bacon or tofu bacon substitute

fresh black pepper and sea salt to taste

Rinse spinach; place in large pot with just the water that clings to the leaves.  Heat on medium low just until wilted but still bright green.  Remove from pot, squeeze out excess water, and place in salad bowl.  Peel and chop hard boiled eggs.  Cut tomato in half, squeeze out and discard seeds, and chop the pulp.  Add eggs, tomatoes, and all remaining ingredients to wilted spinach and turn with two wooden spoons until well mixed.  Serve while still slightly warm.