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| The ostrich and chicken egg |
What do you do with an egg as big as this one?
Driving through Waitomo Caves Road on our way to the Waitomo Caves to see the glow worms, we chanced upon a place that advertises ostrich eggs. Was it serendipity, I wondered. The previous night, David and I had dinner at the Chateau de Tongariro where David ordered a salad dish with ostrich meat in it for his entree. The meat was sliced paper thin and was served on a nest of greens, and dressed with a dash of vinaigrette. I did not really like the taste, maybe due to its texture which was quite slippery and not meaty at all. David said he could not really tell whether he liked it or not because it only teased his palate due to its thinness. So he decided that next time we find another restaurant that serves ostrich meat, he would try it again.
Anyway, because we were intrigued by the taste and texture of the ostrich meat, we wondered about the eggs! So we stopped by the place which turned out to be a B&B place as well. A bubbly lady by the name Ann Barnes (we presumed she owns the place) answered the door and our inquiry. She asked us whether we wanted the egg empty or whole. "We want to eat it, so we want a whole egg and not an empty shell" David said laughing. She led us inside her house and we were awed to see such huge eggs! Some were sitting on her dining table, and some were on special basket containers on the floor. But some of them were obviously just eggshells because they have a bore at one end of the shell. We later learned that she's also selling empty shells to crafters for 20 dollars each!
A single ostrich egg weighs an average of l.5 kg and is equivalent to 15 regular sized eggs, Ann explained to us. She advised against cooking it by boiling, saying it might not cook inside. "You can use it for omelettes, pies, quiche and any dish that needs eggs," she said, then showed us how to drill a hole into the hard shell to get the egg inside. The egg would keep for a month and could be divided into little containers and frozen for future use. It was such a useful information because it would not be possible for us to consume that big egg all at once.
Armed with that information form a lady who knows a lot about ostrich eggs, we went home with this giant of an egg and did what she told us. After David bore a hole at one end of the shell, I beat it and divided it into five small containers then froze four containers. Tomorow morning, I am planning to make a veggie omelette for breakfast.
