At first sight, we know everything about eggs. Buy, cook, and eat. But it’s only at first sight. If you go deeper, you can find out a lot of useful and interesting information.

First of all, let’s start with good news.

Unsurprisingly, this product has its own holiday. Yes, a holiday. And it’s called – World Egg Day. It’s held annually on the second Sunday of October. It was established by the International Egg Commission and is designed to popularize the product, as well as help fight against myths about it. This day, people tell about the benefits of eggs and prepare interesting dishes from this product.

The most popular and consumed product in our country is, of course, chicken egg. People started eating it since ancient times. In those days, eggs were not considered any kind of serious and satisfying meal. Instead, it was some pampering, which rich gentlemen and small children could afford.

Eggs became an independent dish several centuries ago. But their size was different from those modern ones – 2 times smaller than now. Therefore, to cook a meal, one or two eggs were not enough. As a result, for many people, eggs were a luxury then. At that time, eggs also belonged to “modest” food, i.e., the one that was forbidden during church fasting. Hence, many eggs were accumulated in the Great Easter fast, and there is even a version that for this reason, we have a tradition to give painted eggs to relatives and friends for Easter.

For quite a long time, it was popular not to mix eggs with other food products, so people ate them separately from other meals. But, in the 18^th century, people started adding eggs to the dough for flour dishes, as well as casseroles, omelettes, and various desserts. There was even a dessert made of eggs and sugar – Kogel Mogel, which became a favourite treat for children and teenagers, and, for adults, it became real salvation from loss of voice and hoarseness.

What makes chicken eggs so healthful?

According to their composition of valuable components, eggs can be compared with vitamin-rich fruits and berries. They contain vitamins of groups D, A, B2 and B12, and are a source of such minerals as folates and iodine. Egg white contains more than half of the total amount of protein. It’s rich also in selenium, zinc, iron, and copper. Egg yolk is an excellent source of vitamins, such as D, E, K, and vitamin A with lecithin. Even eggshell is of great value. It supplies calcium and contains all the minor nutrients necessary for our bodies, such as copper, fluorine, manganese, molybdenum, iron, phosphorus, sulphur, silicon, zinc, and many others.

In its nutritional benefits, an egg replaces two hundred grams of milk and fifty grams of meat. Nutritionists often recommend eggs in their therapeutic diets and stress on their aid in good digestion.

However, not only a chicken egg can feed a man. At the moment, this series can be supplemented with other types. Such eggs actually have many advantages – from shorter cooking time to a wider range of nutrients. Well, their taste is very unusual too, and some also surprise with their size and unusual colour. Here are the most common types of eggs.

1. Quail eggs.

These are very small eggs, but taste like chicken ones. Quail eggs have a lot of B vitamins and useful elements – phosphorus, calcium, and iron. This type of egg is considered a very dietary product, especially for children and teenagers. You can give them to children after six months because they cause absolutely no allergies.

2. Duck eggs.

This type of egg is richer in vitamins and minerals and is considered the most high-calorie because of its higher fat content. In some countries, duck eggs are considered an expensive delicacy. They have pale yellow yolks, but, after cooking, the white in these eggs turns blue, and the yolk – bright orange. These eggs are also actively used in cosmetology.

3. Goose eggs.

They are also very rich in vitamins and minerals. They have a pleasant and somewhat creamy taste. The consumption of these eggs has a beneficial effect on brain activity, improves memory, and helps eliminate toxins.

4. Ostrich eggs.

These are the largest eggs that we have nowadays. One ostrich egg can house 25-40 chicken eggs and weighs from 450 g to 1800 g. Ostriches lay eggs only in the summer, so you can buy it only at this time. It takes at least two hours to cook it, and such an egg will surely feed a large company. Besides, it’s very dietary since the content of fat and cholesterol in an ostrich egg is much lower than in a chicken one.

5. Turkey eggs.

Such an egg is very rare, so when you’re lucky to get a turkey egg, it becomes a real treat. In size, it’s almost the same as a goose one, and the taste is no worse than of a chicken one. Yolk makes up half of the whole egg mass, which makes it a very healthful product. This egg has an alkaline composition, so it’s prescribed for the treatment of stomach and intestines diseases.

We’d like to add some interesting information about the egg colour. The colour of any egg depends only on the colour of the bird’s plumage. It applies to all types of eggs. For example, a chicken with white plumage always lays white eggs, and the one with brown plumage – brown eggs. White ostriches will lay white eggs, but an Australian emu, having a dark colour, always lays eggs of dark green (almost black) colour.

As you can see, the world of eggs is very diverse in taste and colour, size and value. Therefore, choose what suits you and enjoy!!!