Boiled eggs. A staple of my childhood diet – with soldiers for breakfast, in asandwich for lunch or cut into slices or quarters accompanied with salad for dinner – we used to eat them on a regular basis. The countless times I watched and later helped my Mum make the batches of sandwiches for her darts team, with Egg and cress an arbitrary filling. They are the perfect picnic ingredient or snack (with or without the screw of salt) as they are encased in a shell and rarely get squished. Unlike sandwiches they don’t go soggy, all you have to do is tap, crack and go. Of course you have to get rid of the shell, but like all natural waste, it adds to rather than damages the environment.
It seems to me that the boiled egg has fallen down the eschelons of the food tables. I was trying to find an egg slicer today and I got laughed at in a shop when I dared asked if they stocked them. It was as if I was asking them for a chocolate teapot.
I know they are not extinct, yet, as I had found one in a pound shop in Camden, but the wires were slack and would have been as useful as a paper umbrella in a thunderstorm. You need them to be as robust as a harp, and yes, I kid you not, play a tinkling sound when running a thumb or finger down them.
A quick search on Amazon found a couple of options, but it still annoys me that I can’t buy a quality one on the high street. What happens if the wires are baggy – the internet returns hoops of fire rears its ugly head. Which for me, means that it will end up languishing in a cupboard until it gets donated to a charity shop.
Salmonella, Cholesterol & Stink Bombs
One of the reasons for the decline originates in the 1988 salmonella scare when Edwina Curry single-handedly killed the egg industry by stating, without robust evidence that most egg production in the UK suffered from salmonella. A nation of egg-lovers, over 30 million eggs per day, which plummeted by over 60% after her remarks.
The next nail in the egg coffin was the ingrained misconception that cholesterol levels were adversely affected by egg consumption and ought to be limited to 2 per week. The reason for this belief is that eggs contain more cholesterol than other foods, however, it is nutritional nonsense; we will never eat as much cholesterol that our body requires for all the essential jobs that cholesterol performs. This outdated advice was once and for all proved incorrect in research by Surrey University which uncovered that rather than increasing cholesterol levels, eating two eggs a day not only helped reduce weight, it also reduced cholesterol levels.
Also there are the issues of smell – how many of us had the misfortune to have an egg sandwich in our packed lunch on a sunny day? The resulting stinky egg jibes and not forgetting that stink bombs have that eau de rotten egg smell were probably enough to put a nation of kids off for life. And rarely are eggs placed in sandwiches without going through the mayo mill these days. Not being a fan of mayonnaise, I’ve always avoided this variation, preferring plain sliced egg and salad instead. Plus looking at mashed up egg in a sandwich shop is not exactly alluring, and as result of childhood conditioning there is always the salmonella/food poisoning messages in the back of my brain.
Nutrition and Buying Tips
- Eggs are excellent sources of nutrition. After whey they are the easiest form of protein to absorb by the body, excellent news for all you sports people out there.
- Eggs are high in zinc and can be rich in omega-3 fats, if the eggs you buy are from chicken fed with specific meal.
- Eggs are good sources of vitamin K and B vitamins including biotin, thiamine and B12.
- It is essential to the best eggs you can afford. Always, buy free-range or organic eggs. Do not compromise.
- Keep eggs in the fridge or cold cupboard, and eat within 2 weeks of purchase unless super fresh.
Eggs cost from £1.20 – £2.50 for ½ a dozen (6 eggs), depending on where you buy them. I by mine from Borough Market for £1.20/per 1/2 dozen and the average price in a supermarket is £1.80. If you can buy from a farmer, or friend/neighbour who keeps chickens, all the better.
images by zaimoku_woodpile and theilr
