Now, ostriches lay the biggest eggs on earth. Officially, on average, one ostrich egg is about six inches long and five inches wide, weighing roughly twice the weight of a basketball. Yikes! It makes you wonder, does the ostrich hen ever complain? Just like a chicken egg, an ostrich egg will contain a chick embryo only if the egg was first fertilized by a male ostrich; otherwise, you’ll find only whites and a huge yolk inside. The size of the yolk is equal to around 24 chicken yolks. So, one ostrich egg can easily feed a squad of 10 people.
But ostrich eggs aren’t all that edible. Those who have tried them say they taste a lot like chicken eggs—fatty, buttery, and kind of sweet—but the flavor is more intense. They’re also richer in magnesium and iron than chicken eggs but contain fewer vitamins A and E. One ostrich egg provides about 2,000 calories, while the average chicken egg only provides 75.
Cooking and eating them is a chore, so you’re unlikely to have them for breakfast every day. Their shell is extremely thick—you can step on the eggs with both of your feet and they won’t break. That’s why, if you want to cook an omelette using an ostrich egg, you’re going to need a drill or a hammer, and also a really big skillet to fit an egg that size—no bigger.
Boiling the egg will take almost 90 minutes, but that doesn’t stop some gourmets from buying and cooking this delicacy. Today, commercial ostrich farming is developing all over the world. You can find farms in the United States, New Zealand, South America, and elsewhere. Farmers breed the birds and collect eggs from the female ostriches to sell. In the U.S., the average price for one ostrich egg is around $30.
Although eating ostrich eggs may not be very convenient, archaeologists have found evidence that people figured out many practical and artistic ways to use ostrich eggshells over a hundred thousand years ago. Different ancient cultures used them as pottery combs, arrowheads, and other tools. In Africa, people used shells to store and transport liquids such as water or paint. Today, ostrich eggshells can also be found in art projects and decor. For example, the shell can become a great chandelier if you cut out patterns and paint it. Jewelry designers use ostrich eggshells to create necklaces, pendants, and anklets. So, if you ever get inspired to do an art project, just contact the nearest ostrich farm in your area.
While the ostrich is a bird that lays the world’s biggest eggs, they’re the smallest in proportion to the body—it’s only two percent of a female bird’s overall weight. A famous kiwi bird from New Zealand is the size of a domestic chicken but lays eggs that are six times bigger compared to the normal egg mass for birds of the same size. How does she do it? Another possible rival to ostriches is the elephant bird. It used to live in Madagascar, but unfortunately, these birds went extinct around a thousand to 1200 A.D., probably because of human intervention. Modern archaeologists have found many elephant bird eggs that have turned to stone. These eggs are the size of a large watermelon and even more impressive than ostrich eggs. Based on its size, we can guess that one elephant egg equals around 120 chicken eggs and might have fed around 40 people.
Ostriches have a smaller relative named emu—the second largest living bird by height. Emus live in Australia and lay some of the most beautiful and colorful eggs in the world. They are usually light or dark green with an emerald hue.
Nowadays, more and more local farmers keep these birds, hoping that the demand for these fancy eggs will grow. Apart from well-known chicken eggs, people all over the world eat eggs from various kinds of birds, including duck, goose, and quail. Quails lay small, spotted eggs that can be rather expensive. In many countries, people consider them a delicacy because they are highly nutritious. A quail egg contains five times more phosphorus and potassium than a chicken egg, and the level of iron is four and a half times higher. The amount of copper and cobalt is also significant. Although quail eggs are tiny, the recommended amount varies from six to twelve eggs a day for one adult. In some South American countries, such as Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela, quail eggs are not that rare and exotic; they’re a common topic for street food, such as burgers and hot dogs. Filipinos use quail eggs to prepare popular street food snacks; they soft-boil them and then fry them with orange-colored butter.
Not just birds, but lots of other animals lay eggs. Crocodile eggs are not only edible but reportedly tasty and nutritious food. They don’t contain any yolk but still have many nutrients essential to the human body. Studies have shown that eating crocodile eggs can help clean the blood vessel walls from fat and improve brain functions. The obvious disadvantage of this product is you can’t get it that easily. Crocodiles are one of the most productive mothers in wild nature; therefore, the safest way to buy a crocodile egg is to go to a special farm. And then the fun starts—how to obtain said egg? It’s simple: you just reach in there and get the egg. Oh me, no! I like my arms the way they are. These little white ovals look like rice, but you’re looking at ant eggs, or in other words, ant larvae. This ingredient has been very popular in Mexican cuisine for thousands of years. It’s also known as Mexican caviar or escamoles. Reportedly, this dish has a buttery and nutty flavor and can be rather crunchy when fried. People add escamoles as a topping to tacos or eat them as a separate dish. Weaver ant eggs are rich in protein and very popular all over Southeast Asia. They make a must-have ingredient for salads. In Thailand and Laos, these ant eggs have a sour taste and can successfully replace lemon juice in some recipes.
If eating ant larvae sounds too extreme for you, maybe you’d prefer snail eggs, better known as escargot caviar. It’s a popular delicacy in Italy, France, and other European countries. Snails do everything slowly, slowly, slowly, and egg-laying is not an exception. Producing these eggs takes eight months when manufacturers use accelerated maturing techniques, or from two to three years when it happens naturally. This is why the price for one small jar of escargot caviar can be around a hundred bucks.
People also eat unfertilized shark eggs. These eggs have an unusual spiral shape, which allows the female shark to safely hide them in rock formations and protect her future offspring from predators. Chemical research has proved that shark eggs have high nutritional value. They’re rich in amino acids and contain very high amounts of vitamins E and A. Shark eggs range in size up to the size of chicken eggs. If you’re lucky enough to find them and survive, you can cook shark eggs in the same fashion as chicken eggs.
Now, in some countries, nearly raw turtle eggs are a popular meal. They put soft-shell turtle eggs in boiling water for 30 seconds with onions or garlic. After this simple routine, the eggs look like ping-pong balls and serve as an ingredient for salads. Since many turtle species, especially sea turtles, are endangered, it’s only safe and legal to eat eggs sustainably sourced from registered turtle farms. Turtle eggs are an extremely healthy food to eat. The content of beneficial minerals in the soft-shell turtle egg is twice as high as that in a chicken egg, and it has far fewer calories. On average, one turtle egg adds around 45 calories to your diet, which is less than a chicken egg.
Fish eggs are famous for their exotic flavor and high price. Iranian beluga fish is the champion in this field; it makes the most expensive fish caviar on the planet, called almas. This black gold has hit the Guinness World Records as the world’s most expensive food. Almas is produced from the eggs of a rare albino sturgeon between 60 and 100 years old. This fish swims in the southern part of the Caspian Sea. The price for two pounds of this caviar amounts to $28,000. Wow! What happens if it somehow falls off your cracker? Oops, there goes $500 bucks.