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Hello food adventurers,
We’re now in April. Which is normally that time of year when Easter reminders are all around us. The chocolate bunnies, hot cross buns, cute baby chicks and best of all, the Easter eggs. But, this time around things shall be a little different.
So, this Easter I thought I’d take a slightly different approach to the season, with 7 culinary uses for eggs. There is one thing that Easter, chocolate Easter eggs and baby chicks have in common and that is eggs.
Let’s talk eggs!
Eggs come in several different colours, varieties and sizes, the most common being chicken and then ranging on to quail, duck, ostrich and so on. They’re not only great on their own but also as the foundation for many other dishes too. This becomes vividly evident when you manage to miscalculate your egg supply, particularly in our current lockdown (time to ration!).
So, to appreciate this ingredient for all that it offers, let’s explore the various culinary uses for eggs…
7 Culinary Uses for Eggs
1. Clarifying
Egg whites are a great way to clarify things such as consommés. Consommés are transparent concentrated liquids that are a step beyond your typical broth, stock and soup. They take the cloudy finishing of stock or broth and turn it into what is essentially translucent liquid gold. In terms of appearance, they are rich, clean and relatively thin in consistency, similar to water. And in terms of taste, they are abundantly flavourful. It’s one of those things you may find in a restaurant, but it can be recreated at home!
The process involves starting with a base stock or broth and then adding in finely diced vegetables, flavourings, herbs and meat (optional) all combined with egg whites. This mixture gets cooked until all of the solids and impurities float to the top, thanks to the egg white which binds these together. This is referred to as a raft of solids at the surface. What is left, lying beneath is a liquid with a ‘potent savoury flavour and crystal-clear finish’, (source) which is your consommé.
Clarifying is made possible with the use of egg whites.
2. Enriching
Eggs are a great way to enrich the flavours of foods, giving them colour along with added nutritional value (source). Specifically within doughs, batters and mixtures. Such examples include cakes, pancakes, waffles, bread, pasta and baked goods. One of my favourites has got to be brioche, with the buttery richness that is achieved with the combination of butter and eggs.
Eggs can also be used to enrich drinks such as eggnog, a seasonal Christmas treat. To make eggnog, you first have to beat egg yolks with sugar. Then an infused milk/ cream (which generally contains spices such as nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and/or vanilla) is added slowly. During this stage, the egg yolk is heated gradually and the mixture becomes a thick creamy consistency. At this point, you can add in whisky or rum (or skip, it for an alcohol-free version). And lastly, stiff peaked egg whites are stirred into the mixture. The result is an enriched, creamy egg-based eggnog that can be served warm or cold.
Through the process of enriching, foods, especially baked ones are given life with the addition of eggs. This also applies to drinks such as eggnog.
3. Emulsifying
Eggs as emulsifiers can bring things together, which normally wouldn’t have been possible. Take, for example, vinegar with oil and fat, or water and oil. Introducing an egg into these ingredients ensures they can mix well and creates that missing link. It’s kind of like that mutual friend between two strangers. The bond can link the two together and create a bridge.
In the technical sense, the oil molecules break up into particles small enough to suspend in water (source). Meaning that there’s no definite separation between the two different ingredients and one is dispersed through another. Due to being held in this suspension, the ingredients can mix.
Therefore, eggs are often used as the basis for many sauces, including dressings, hollandaise, mayonnaise and aioli.
RELATED: A roundup of useful kitchen resources to upgrade your cooking skills
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4. Binding
Eggs also help to bind ingredients together, which is slightly different from emulsifying. Less to do with breaking up the structure of foods and more to do with sticking things together, like super glue. Except in the edible and food-safe kind of way. This is particularly useful for things such as hamburgers, fritters and meatballs. It ensures that the shape is maintained. All thanks to its stickiness and the fact that it can coagulate (turn from a liquid to a solid when cooked). Therefore, helping to prevent everything from falling apart into a crumbled mess in the frypan.
Similarly, eggs can also help when coating foods. In the process of layering, it helps bind all the coating materials together. Making frying and oven baking possible. Take crumbed chicken for example. I like to start with a light layer of seasoned flour before tossing it into a beaten egg or eggs. Depending on the desired outcome, one can do this with a whole egg, just the egg yolk or just the egg white. Then I toss this into panko with assorted dried herbs, onion and garlic powder for the extra flavour and crispy finish. Once cooked the egg coagulates and allows all the layered coating materials to stick, therefore binding it all together!
As binders, eggs are rather difficult to replace, there’s nothing that quite works the same.
5. Glazing
Shiny, golden brown finishes, can be achieved with the help of eggs through glazing. All it takes is beating a whole egg or an egg yolk and lightly brushing an even coating over the top of bread and pastries before they get put into the oven. Some recipes may refer to this as an egg wash and add milk, cream, water or salt to the eggs to make it easier to spread. Glazing with just egg whites results in a shiny finish but less colouring in comparison to whole eggs or egg yolks (source). So unless that was the outcome you were looking for, whole eggs or egg yolks are generally more common for glazings.
The key with glazing is to use a pastry brush so that an even coating can be achieved. You want to be able to strike the balance between enough but not too much, as too much can prevent the overall cooking time and texture (it could be heavy/dense). It may also seal pastry layers together if it happens to spill down the sides, which is the opposite of what you want.
Glazing overall not only makes freshly baked items taste good but also results in an appealingly crispy golden outcome.
6. Thickening
Similarly to what was mentioned in emulsification, eggs also can hold liquids in suspension when they are heated, due to their coagulating properties. So, in other words, eggs can make things thicker in consistency when heated. This can apply to many different things from soups to sauces and custards.
Custards are a great example of eggs and their thickening properties. This process involves a cream/ milk mixture and vanilla bean pod which are heated until warmed and taken off the heat before boiling point. This mixture is then added into egg yolks which have been combined with sugar. Whisking the eggs continuously and adding in the hot liquid in a controlled steady stream, ensures that the eggs don’t scramble or separate – slowly but surely.
A process that sounds very similar to eggnog, but isn’t finished just yet! The custard gets returned to the heat and whisked continuously until it begins to thicken and results in a creamy consistency. This can happen in a matter of minutes. To be technical, the egg yolks allow the milk/cream to thicken as the egg coagulates when heated and holds the liquid in suspension. Leaving you with a perfectly smooth, creamy thickened custard for all your dessert needs.
Using eggs to thicken sauces, soups and custards is a great way to get a creamy texture and coating consistency.
7. Aerating
Eggs also improve the texture of foods by making them ever so light and fluffy. The process of aerating involves incorporating air into foods and is quite possibly my favourite use for eggs! Examples include sponges, mousses and soufflé.
Aeration is commonly associated with egg whites, which can be whipped by themselves to expand and create volume. Whipping ensures that the egg can aerate and trap tiny little air bubbles within itself to form a structure. These bubbles help to lift other ingredients to become fluffy clouds of joy.
Essentially, therefore egg whites need to be folded into other ingredients, to preserve the air bubbles which provide that lightness. Mixtures should be handled delicately and are ready as soon as the ingredients are just combined. This helps to create the desired structure, where the air is added for volume, plus the bonus of a great mouthfeel, without being heavy in the slightest.
Aeration is a process that creates delightfully light and fluffy finishings to foods, with the incorporation of eggs.
Conclusion
That concludes 7 culinary uses for eggs. As you can see, eggs are such versatile ingredients in the kitchen with many different culinary uses. They can be used for clarifying, enriching, emulsifying, binding, glazing, thickening and aerating. Eggs are great staple ingredients and offer us so many options, both on their own and when incorporated into other ingredients.
I hope you were encouraged to appreciate eggs in a new light!
If you haven’t already checked out my other posts in the All Things Culinary Series, start here!
If you’re ready to upgrade your culinary skills, Masterclass memberships are a great way to do so! Read my first impression of them here!
Until next time, stay curious
Laura
