Cracking The Big Egg
Since reading this week's New Yorker profile of Momofuku chef David Chang, we've been fascinated with the idea of eating ostrich eggs. Early in the piece, Chang describes trying to cook one, with unappetizing results:
I wanted to pretend I was Fred Flintstone. So I got a big rondeau, put like two inches of oil, and I was gonna deep-fry the motherfucker, but there was so much water content in the white that it just sort of dispersed. It looked like cottage cheese.Gross, right? Chang says in the piece that an ostrich egg yolk is roughly equivalent to 24 chicken egg yolks.
We poked around online to see if there are any success stories of ostrich egg eating. After all, people have been trying to make ostriches a commercially viable livestock product for years, so there must be somebody out there promoting the eggs. We found some basic guidelines from the Indian Point Ostrich Ranch in Tehachapi (Kern County), Calif. Also a Chowhound thread on the topic. But our quick search couldn't turn up any in-depth recipes using the massive protein balls.
Meanwhile, the profile on Chang is great. Aside from the ostrich egg thing, he's inspiring both as a chef and a manager of people. The transcript of his speech to his staff is simultaneously riveting and shaming as you realize you don't even come close to understanding the word "dedication" as he does.
Abstract: Chef on the Edge [New Yorker]
Ostrich Eggs Are Edible [Indian Point Ostrich Ranch]
Ostrich Eggs?!? [Chowhound]
Momofuku Noodle Bar [MenuPages]
Momofuku Noodle Bar [Official Site]
Photo credit: Bartly2005 [Flickr]
