This is part of Egg, an attempt to explain why Americans have absolutely lost their minds over egg prices. The Eggsplainer briefly considers some of our weirdest behaviors around eggs.
We’ve all seen a stray ostrich egg at Whole Foods and thought, What if? Maybe you’ve even cooked one. But what is the most unusual egg people eat regularly?
If you can think of it, we probably eat it. So the answer to this question really just depends on where you live. In the U.S., we might find it strange that people in the U.K. eat black-headed gull eggs (they’re considered a delicacy). People in the U.K. might find it strange that people in Taiwan eat pigeon eggs, while people in Taiwan might find it strange that people in the Falkland Islands eat penguin eggs. What might be gourmet in one country is head-turning in another.
Similarly, some eggs may seem odd to the average American not for their species, but for the way they are prepared. Balut, a popular Filipino street food, refers to a fertilized duck egg which contains the remains of an entire baby duckling—revolting to some foreigners, yet a much-loved delicacy to those who are familiar. Century eggs from China, which can be made with duck, chicken, or quail eggs, aren’t 100 years old, but they are cured in mud for weeks to months, taking on potentially belly-turning hues. Iron eggs from Taiwan are cooked multiple times in soy sauce or tea until they turn chewy and chocolate-colored.
That being said, what do all the above eggs have in common? They’re all bird eggs. Humans have long gravitated toward the eggs of birds, with ostrich egg consumption in South Africa possibly dating back 60,000 years. (Chicken egg consumption is relatively much newer, likely originating around 3,000 years ago in Tuscany.) We eat eggs from geese, quail, emus, guineafowl, pheasants, and peahens (which can cost $50 a pop). Wild bird eggs—including those of songbirds—are usually protected, but are still edible, as demonstrated in that disturbing moment in Shrek when Fiona accidentally explodes a songbird and then fries its children for breakfast.
But we also eat eggs from reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Roe, or fish eggs (a group that includes caviar, which comes from sturgeon, and tobiko, which comes from flying fish), is a modern-day delicacy in much of the world. While fish eggs have crossed cultural borders, others remain more restricted to certain regions. There are sea urchin eggs (an orange luxury in Japan), octopus eggs (served as sushi in Japan), shark eggs (hot in the Maldives), crocodile eggs (popular among the Australian Aboriginal population, as well as Filipinos, who turn them into ice cream), and turtle eggs (popular in Nicaragua, but illegal to sell in the U.S.). In many cases, for invertebrates and birds alike, bans or restrictions have been put in place to protect the next generation of the species—especially for animals that only lay a couple of eggs a year, like gulls.
Then there are the insect eggs. In Thailand and Mexico, people eat ant eggs, which are described as slightly sour and nutty. Snail eggs are food in France, Spain, and Italy, and can cost hundreds of dollars.
And dinosaur eggs—what would they taste like? Maybe if we keep deextincting animals, we’ll someday find out.
