In this country we tend to think of eggs as the ultimate, or at least penultimate, breakfast food. We eat them scrambled, fried, poached, and soft-boiled. Less frequently we have soufflés for breakfast or we'll eat them coddled or shirred. And they deserve their place in our hierarchy of breakfast foods because they're an excellent source of protein and cook in mere minutes with a minimum of preparation. We include them as an ingredient in our pancakes and grab them on muffins, biscuits, or croissants at fast food joints on our way to the office.
But we also eat eggs in quiches and flans, they hold our bread puddings together and bind stratas. We enjoy omelets both French and western. Egg salad remains a hugely popular sandwich filling and deviled eggs a beloved feature at picnics and church suppers.
There's a lot of lore associated with eggs. In Chinese mythology the universe began as an egg containing the god Pangu and in Finnish myths the world was created from fragments of duck egg. Eggs also feature in the creation stories of other cultures around the world from Africa to Polynesia.
The most obvious example of eggs in modern American symbolism is the use of dyed eggs during Easter. But the tradition of decorating eggs goes back at least 2500 years to Persia where painted eggs became a symbol of spring during the Persian new year celebration, Nourouz. Besides Easter eggs, Easter feasts featuring breads with a high egg content are found from Portugal to Russia and both the Greeks and Serbians bake breads containing whole eggs in the shell (dyed red) at Easter.
Few ingredients are used as equally in sweet and savory dishes as eggs. They're often a key component in Chocolate Mousse and Salmon Mousse, in Quiche Lorraine and Cherry Clafoutis, in a Spinach Souffle and a Peach Souffle.
And for those of you still remembering the cholesterol scare associated with eggs, we know now that most cholesterol in our veins we produce ourselves and doesn't come from outside sources and most of the cholesterol in eggs is HDL which is healthy cholesterol and counteracts LDL cholesterol which is most guilty at clogging arteries.
Symbolism or not, eggs are pretty extraordinary little packages. The average chicken egg provides 75 calories and contains 6.3 grams of protein, 0.6 grams of carbohydrates, 5 total grams of fat of which only 1.6 grams are saturated fat, and 120 milligrams of cholesterol. In addition, it contains calcium, iron, potassium, phosphorus, and zinc. It is a near-primordial sack of nutrients that enables what began as a single cell to differentiate over 21 days into an infant chicken.
With the exception of protein, most of an egg's nutrition is contained in the yolk, which contains 3/4 of the calories and most of the nutrients. The white, on the other hand, is mostly water (one of it's purposes is providing water to the growing embryo) and proteins. The white also serves as a cushion protecting the yolk/embryo and has both anti-bacterial and anti-viral characteristics - providing a cushion against microscopic predators. In fact, so long as an egg isn't contaminated prior to the shell forming, eggs will keep safely for two or three days without refrigeration and as long as a month if refrigerated.
So eat your eggs without guilt and enjoy this nearly perfect food.