The chicken enthusiasts Photo: RNZ/ Amelia Nurse
Each year, Wellington streets are awash with foodies for two weeks during Wellington on a Plate. But it's not all about entrees and burgers, wine and beer.
Amelia Nurse went along to an event at Zibibbo Restaurant with chef Adam Newell that was all about the chicken - and the egg.
Recipe: Chocolate soufflé with chocolate sauce
Egg facts and hints:
- If an egg is raw it will wobble when you spin it. If it’s hard boiled, the egg spins smoothly.
- Many species lay eggs, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. They’ve been eaten by humans for many thousands of years.
- Most eggs are edible at any stage of incubation but it’s inadvisable to eat the eggs of the Hooded Pitohui and the Ifrita kowaldi, both of which live in Papua, New Guinea. They eat Choresine beetles which produce homobatrachotoxin, which is toxic to humans.
- The eggs of the freshwater fish Gar and the salt water fish Cabezon are toxic too. Avoid.
- Quail eggs take 30 seconds to soft boil and about a minute to hard boil.
- Ostrich eggs take 50 minutes to soft boil and up to two hours to hard boil. One ostrich egg is equivalent to 24 hens eggs.
- If you are unsure how old your eggs are, put them in a sink full of water. If they float, they’re old and full of air. Throw them out. If they sink, they’re fresh.
- Older eggs are easier to peel because they have more air in the shell, which is porous.
- If you drop an egg in the kitchen, it’s easier to clean up if you pour salt on it first.
- Howard Helmer hold the record for omelette making. He made 427 omelettes in 30 minutes.
- An average hen will lay up to 270 eggs a year and each egg takes 24 to 26 hours to form.
Chocolate souffle. Photo: donireewalker (CC BY-NC 2.0)
