The Versatile Egg | Flash Post 442

Button, you like your eggs fried crisp along the edges, right?

Absolutely.

Have you tried eggs cooked any other way?

I like just that. Nothing else. There’s a word for it.

You mean “sunny side-up”? You know that eggs can be eaten boiled, poached, half-boiled, scrambled and even raw. You can also make omelettes with eggs.

Raw! Who eats raw eggs?

Raw eggs are pure protein and many people prefer to eat it raw, especially the Japanese, I’ve been told. Even Dost used to many years back.

Worth a try?

In my time, we ate the whole egg because we were ignorant, I guess, about the yellow being high in cholesterol and therefore bad for heart health. When people were told about this, those who believed and could afford it, started eating only the whites and discarded the yellow that were passed on to their pets as if it was okay to give pets what was not good for them! The spiel now is that eggs—all of it—are powerhouses for overall health and the yellow has no role in raising cholesterol levels.

I love the gooey yellow that oozes out from fried eggs and refuse to listen to what the so-called health gurus have to say.

They are also used for baking, to make pancakes, waffles, custard, mayonnaise and cakes—all of which you love. On lazy evenings especially when I am totally engrossed in watching a great movie or show, the humble egg has always come to my rescue like a knight in shining armour.

Aren’t eggs a major ingredient in shampoos and good for skin too.

I will now share a list to show you how eggs are used in multiple ways. Egg white whisked with a few drops of water makes for an excellent skin-firming face mask. They can also be used as glue for sticking paper—I wasn’t aware of this! Crushed egg shells are rich in calcium and can be used as soil fertiliser. Eggs are used to clean leather products. The yolk of egg mixed with olive oil is a great hair conditioner. And here’s a tip from grandmothers: Put eggshells in a small pouch and add it with the laundry for whiter whites.

Kya bath hai!

Button, an eternal question that continues to still flummox the universe is—what came first? The chicken or the egg. What’s your take?

Just give me a second. I’m just trying to work it out in my head but not getting anywhere!

Chicken first or egg first?

Obviously, chicken first because the chicken laid the egg.

Then the egg would come first because the chicken came from the egg.

That’s also correct. Now?

Since I don’t have an answer either, I looked up Wikipedia and, one of the theories is that if the question refers to eggs in general, the egg came first. The first amniotic egg—that is, a hard-shelled egg that could be laid on land, rather than remaining in water like the eggs of fish or amphibians—appeared around 312 million years ago. In contrast, chickens are domesticated descendants of the red jungle fowl and probably arrived a little more than eight thousand years ago, at most.

You are doing the math on the basis of the egg being older than the chicken. But where did the 312 million year old egg come from? It would have come from a chicken. How does that answer your question?

Button, let’s open up the question to our readers and see what they have to say! I am positive we’ll get some interesting feedback.

This post is especially dedicated to my egg-crazy daughter who can eat the gooey preparation at any time of day!