:: Eggs ::

13th October (2006) is World Egg Day which is an excellent opportunity for children to compare dietary habits and food varieties across the world. It is a great time to look into the world of recipes and pick one they would like to make.

Eggs have been a source of food to the human race for thousands of years. Early man collected eggs from the wild and cooked them in open fires or ate them raw.

In the winter, wild birds ceased laying and as eggs were such a precious part of early man's diet; archaeologists think that they may have tried to preserve eggs through the colder months by burying them in the ash of their fires. Keeping hens became popular about 4000 years ago. Once people learned how to keep hens, they could have fresh eggs every day and poultry farming very quickly became widespread. As a result, since the earliest of times, people all over the planet have considered eggs an important part of everyday life - not only as part of a nutritious and balanced diet, but as symbols of rebirth, custom, culture, festivities and celebration.

In the UK alone we each eat about 170 eggs a year. Different cultures all over the world continue to use eggs as a chief component in many dishes as well as an ingredient or supplement to many recipes, very often, not just for flavour, but because of the rich source of protein they bring to our diets. They are a natural food with an abundance of vitamins and minerals; they contain most vitamins. Because they contain so many essential nutrients it means that eggs are a valuable part of the diets of many groups in our population such as children, older people and vegetarians.

The hen is a hardy bird and can lay its eggs in most climates, therefore there are few countries where eggs are not an integral part of the national culinary traditions.

Click on the map to see some mouth-watering recipes to try: