About Bird Eggs

Bird eggs, long honored as symbols of fertility and life, have been part of our diet for thousands of years. All bird eggs are edible and highly nutritious, and neatly packaged in their own shells. An egg contains everything needed to sustain the life of a new chick.

Eggs are one of the most versatile prepared foods. In their most basic form, they can be cooked and eaten on their own - fried, scrambled, poached, and boiled. The unique properties of eggs also make them an invaluable ingredient in many prepared dishes. The many uses of eggs in food preparation include:

• Giving structure to cakes and meringues
• Thickening custards and puddings
• Adding color to lemon meringue pie and eggnog
• Emulsifying mayonnaise and hollandaise sauce
• Leavening souffles and popovers
• Binding ingredients in casseroles
• Coating foods prior to breading
• Glazing pastries and breads
• Clarifying liquids for soups

A solid understanding of these various roles requires a knowledge of an egg’s components.