Baked eggs in ash recipe. Storage of chicken eggs

In 1889, in the wealthy houses of St. Petersburg, the fashion spread for breakfast with "elephant eggs", which, however, had nothing to do with elephants. In order to diversify the table of aristocrats, their chefs have created many other dishes from chicken eggs. While the common people used for their preparation only two recipes that are almost forgotten today.

Svetlana Kuznetsova

"Soup Accessories"

Traveling in the spring of 1856 to the sources of the Volga, the playwright A. N. Ostrovsky experienced a gastronomic shock. 60 miles from Tver, in Rudnikovo, hungry, he decided to refresh himself with the simplest, as it seemed to him, food:

“I ran around the village for half an hour to get a few eggs, and even then the woman from whom I bought the eggs did not undertake to make scrambled eggs, but sent me to a soldier living at the other end of the village, who, as a woman experienced, in her opinion, should was to know this wisdom."

This adventure could not be explained by anything other than the poverty of the local population, since by the middle of the 19th century in Russia fried eggs were already well known to the peasants and in many areas were prepared for the Trinity or for weddings as an obligatory ritual dish. And in the Arkhangelsk province at the end of the 18th century there was even the village of Yaichnitsa. But the fact remained.

"I did not imagine," wrote Ostrovsky, "that such a wilderness could exist a few versts from the highway, in the middle of Russia, 60 versts from Tver!"

The most common way of preparing eggs in many Russian families was to heat and bake them. Hard-boiled eggs were obtained if they were kept in the oven for a long time in a closed pot without water. And they baked eggs in ashes, having previously pierced the shell with a needle. The eggs acquired a pleasant nutty taste, but most importantly, they did not deteriorate for a long time. They were always taken long way. They certainly were in the pockets of cabbies and coachmen. In any roadside tavern, a hungry traveler could hope for a dinner of baked eggs. They were also sold by pedlars on the streets of cities, so that, together with pies and other pastries, they formed the basis of common fast food.

But they were not disdainful in rich houses and the best restaurants. In 1903, at a gala breakfast in honor of the 200th anniversary of St. Petersburg, where Nicholas II was present, quail eggs baked in ashes and seasoned with champagne sauce were served in the famous Kyuba restaurant - this is how extravagantly the native and foreign, French and Nizhny Novgorod were combined in one dish.

Experts said that all fine dining from eggs came to Russia precisely from France. In the original Russian cuisine, eggs were added to fillings for pancakes and pies, or used as "soup accessories". For example, in 1623, the patriarchal treasurer was served "shti with zabela and with an egg." And from the beginning of the 19th century, the number of egg dishes in the everyday life of wealthy people increased year by year. The aristocratic table needed variety, the invited guests were hungry for gastronomic experiences.

The soup was served not just poached eggs, but eggs in Provence - "released in boiling olive oil", and not just pies, but "tartlets with final eggs." Fried eggs were cooked with various additives - with ham, kidneys, bacon, asparagus. An ordinary omelette turned into an expensive beautiful meal if it was laid out in the form of a ring on a dish, and the center was filled truffles fried in oil and Spanish sauce. A cheaper version of this treat was obtained if the truffles were replaced with white poultry meat, game, common mushrooms or leeks. Boiled chopped eggs were stewed in cream or sour cream with herbs and spices. Boiled eggs were used to make croquettes.

A favorite beautiful appetizer at gala dinners was boiled stuffed eggs laid out on various pastes, minced meats or mashed potatoes and decorated with sauces.

"Hen Filled with Eggs"

"Take two bubbles - one large, the other smaller, one even cow, the other veal. Wash the bubbles in several waters, then dry, wash again and dry again. Repeat this operation several times so that the bubbles do not have an unpleasant odor. Pour into the smaller bubble egg yolks. How many eggs will go for such an egg is difficult to determine in advance, because it depends on the size of the bubbles. When the bubble is filled with yolks, then tie it up and put it in a saucepan, boil it in boiling water. When the yolks are ready, which is not difficult to recognize by their hardness, remove the bubble from them, carefully cutting it, and get the yolk of an elephant egg.Meanwhile, you fill the other - larger - bubble with egg whites, put the boiled yolk in them, tie the bubble with a cord from both ends - from the hole into which the proteins were poured , and from the opposite end. This is in order, in fact, to make it more convenient during cooking to turn the bubble from bottom to top and back, so that the yolk falls in the middle; otherwise it will fall det to the bottom, will fall to one end of the egg, which is not so beautiful, although it happens, it happens, and in natural eggs. This turning over is the main thing, all the wisdom of preparing a monstrous egg; the rest, as you see, is very simple. When the proteins are completely strong, remove the bubble from them too, cut the egg sharp knife lengthwise into two equal halves, put on a dish and remove all around with greens - watercress, head lettuce, chicory and parsley, chopped and sprinkled with egg.

in number unusual dishes included "fried chicken filled with eggs":

"Release the fresh eggs and beat with a whorl. Straighten the chicken as usual, peel the skin from the neck with your finger over the flakes, pour in beaten eggs and tie. Pour inside the same eggs with chopped dill and, sewing up, fry in the oven."

Looked effective at holiday table"hare under egg snow": a stewed hare was covered with whipped whites and put in the oven, "so that it was well brewed."

Sometimes eggs were even used by cooks only as a decorative element. In the middle of the 19th century, a recipe for "fried eggs to decorate dishes" appeared:

"Taking the egg yolks, as much as necessary, beat them as best as possible and pour them into a saucepan lid, smeared in advance with cow's butter, while observing, moreover, that the bottom of the lid is covered in every possible way smoother and more evenly; then you should put the lid on a saucepan filled with boiling water, and cover the top of the lid with a flat iron sheet, and pour hot ash on the sheet and thus let the scrambled eggs ripen.In order for the scrambled eggs, depending on the dish that they want to decorate with it, to be red, add chicken blood or carmine to the above; green scrambled eggs are tinted with juice squeezed from spinach , and white is prepared from egg whites, doing, however, as mentioned above.

"Spread them apart"

Throughout the 19th century, new egg dishes were invented. In its second half, for example, recipes for egg cheese, jelly, milk, and punch became popular in Russia. And this caused an increase in egg consumption.

“According to reliable information,” wrote I. M. Radetsky, the former chief cook of the court of Duke Maximilian of Leuchtenberg, “the inhabitants of St. Petersburg spend up to one hundred and thirty million eggs a year ... a cheap price happens in June and July; up to 30 million eggs are consumed per month, and for light Christ's Resurrection dyed in one egg shops up to 6 million pieces.

In the middle of the 19th century, only very wealthy metropolitan residents could afford fresh eggs from chickens from the few chicken coops in St. Petersburg, since their price was from three to ten rubles per hundred. (A. N. Ostrovsky, for example, who at that time served as a clerk in the Moscow courts, received 15 rubles a month, and novice clerks earned four rubles a month). Eggs brought to St. Petersburg by peasants from the immediate vicinity of the capital were also regarded by the cooks of aristocratic houses as fresh, but were slightly cheaper - from two to four rubles per hundred. Most Petersburgers were content with the so-called floating eggs, sold from boats and barges, or brought overland and sold in egg shops and cellars. They were divided into two varieties: fresher - from 1 ruble to 2 rubles 50 kopecks per hundred, and less - from 80 kopecks to 1 ruble 20 kopecks per hundred.

Eggs bought in bulk had to be skillfully stored even by those who had their own glaciers in their cellars. V. A. Levshin, Tula landowner and secretary of Volny economic society, advised:

“To preserve the eggs, one should choose a place that is colder than warm; lay them out separately and often turn over. finally damage the yolks, the yolk subsequently dries up to the shell, and putrefaction takes its start. When the eggs are often turned, the yolks in them will always remain in the middle, and the shell will be kept moist everywhere from the inside.

For such storage, a closet was required, in which it was necessary to install wooden shelves with holes. Another method was even more reliable: it protected the eggs from frost. They were put in boxes, sprinkled with ashes. The filled box was tightly closed with a lid and turned from side to side from time to time. In cold weather, there was another way to preserve the product.

“Some,” wrote Levshin, “put their eggs in a tub and pour cold water; weekly water is let out and poured fresh. This method is good, but not safe from frost."

The famous culinary specialist of the 19th century G. Cordelli, complaining that eggs "are rare in some months of the year", gave his recommendations for their storage:

"Dissolve living lime in ordinary water; put eggs in pots, if there are few of them, or in a tub, if there are many of them; pour water bleached from lime on them so that it covers them. And for use in dishes, it is enough to wash them. But it is necessary to cover the vessels with eggs as tightly as possible so that the air does not reach them too much.Eggs can also be saved in the following way: putting them, for example, in a trough, one should pour over them with melted mutton fat so that they are completely covered with it. as if with this remedy you can save eggs in two years!

But long-term storage is long-term storage, and therefore I. M. Radetsky warned cooks and housewives:

"Butter and eggs are the main items in provisions ... because a bad egg and not fresh butter cannot be corrected by anything (author's spelling.— "Story") ... Eggs are ordinary, that is, cheap, are not allowed in a good kitchen ... a cheap egg is more expensive than a fresh one, if by negligence it falls into the dish.

"fried oysters with scrambled eggs"

Therefore, many desserts, the preparation of which required the freshest proteins and yolks, were available only to a select few. For the same townspeople, whose wealth did not allow them to buy the most expensive eggs, the dessert was an omelette seasoned with something.

Dishes served "as a snack" old names which now sound exotic, in fact turn out to be something between omelettes and biscuits. For example, in recipes early XIX century there is a recipe for drachona:

"A few eggs, releasing into a bowl, beat hard with a spoon; continuing to beat, add flour to make a thick dough, and knead so that there is not the slightest lump left. Add milk and continue beating: the more it is beaten, the better the drachona will come out. Milk add enough so that a liquid dough comes out. Put it on a frying pan smeared with oil, and bake in a hot oven so that it rises and puffs up. Serve hot, and cow's butter to it." Or mysterious egg sbitni: "Having dissolved a lump of cow's butter in a saucepan, release on it the appropriate amount raw eggs, season and knead incessantly with several willow twigs tied together; then add some sour cream and even lemon zest, if you like."

Based on this recipe, sbitni were prepared with asparagus tips, ham and even with apricot or pear marmalade. The English "egg pudding" also differed little from an omelet:

"Mix the egg yolks with sugar, and the whites with flour and milk; then combine and bake under a preheated baking sheet."

But "puddings" did not take root on the Russian table - they only decorated the pages of cookbooks. And not every newly invented fried egg was to the taste of the Russian. The hero of the now forgotten novel by I. A. Leikin "Where Oranges Ripe" Grablin complained:

"Let's suppose that I, as a polished person, can eat all sorts of filth and even ate fried oysters with scrambled eggs to prove civilization..."

However, while the Russian stove with its heat and ash reigned in the kitchens of Russia, most Russians preferred baked eggs.

Best to eat eggs no later than 5 days after demolition. True, the egg must ripen. A few days after demolition, under the influence of enzymes, the taste of the yolk becomes especially pleasant, and its aroma resembles the smell of a nut.

During egg storage there are profound qualitative changes. To delay the loss of moisture, the development of microorganisms and biochemical processes occurring under the action of enzymes, they should be stored at low temperatures and high humidity.

For long-term storage of eggs kept at a temperature of 8-12 ° C and relative humidity air 75-80%. However, after 30 days, the eggs lose a third nutrients, and stored at a temperature of 15 ° C - after 25 days become unsuitable for food.

A simpler and more reliable way is to store eggs in a clean, odorless container at a temperature of about - 1 ° C, then they remain fresh for 4-6 months. For long-term storage, only fresh, clean eggs should be selected, as they quickly deteriorate with a dirty shell.

When selecting, each egg must be examined so that the shell is intact, without cracks, notches and damage. It is impossible to wash eggs before laying for storage: it is necessary to preserve the bactericidal film covering the shell, which protects the egg from the penetration of bacteria.

Eggs should be cooled as soon as possible after laying. until bacteria start to grow in them. Eggs are conveniently stored in the refrigerator in special plastic sealed packages. At the same time, it is desirable that a stable temperature is maintained.

When the temperature rises the process of egg spoilage is accelerated, since the vital activity of the microflora is stimulated, and if the temperature drops excessively, they freeze, lose taste qualities. The contents of the egg freeze at temperatures below -2°C.

Homestead poultry farmers use a number of methods to store eggs. They are stored in dry oven ash, fine peat, in dry clean oats, clean shells are covered with a thin layer of melted paraffin-rosin mixture, petroleum jelly, lard, vegetable oil. The shell is wiped with a cloth soaked in these substances or immersed for a few seconds in a fat solution. Shelf life in the refrigerator - 7 months.

Back in the old days the peasants placed the eggs in a dry barrel, sprinkling them with oats, barley or millet. The effect of storage in grain was always higher if the eggs were previously rubbed with vegetable oil, lard or other fat.

In other cases eggs were smeared with sunflower oil, wrapped in paper, put in a wooden container and covered with sand. Eggs were stored for a long time in wood ash, bran, a mixture of chalk and charcoal, they were immersed in salt, in oak sawdust.

Eggs laid in October are best stored. Sometimes the eggs were placed in water and changed periodically. Eggs within 5-6 months. can be stored in a lime mortar in a room with a temperature not exceeding 10 ° C in an enameled or earthenware vessel, a tub. Lime is poured into the dishes at the rate of 300-400 g per bucket of water.

When the water settles and becomes clear, bluish-greenish in color, eggs are laid in the solution, it should cover them by 20-25 cm. A film forms on the surface of the solution, if during storage it disappears, the solution should be replaced with fresh one. Cover the bowl with eggs. However, when stored in a lime solution, the eggs acquire a special flavor.

Container with eggs for storage, put in a cool room, best of all in the pantry, on the veranda in the basements, where the air temperature is maintained at 8-10 ° C.

Speaking of egg storage records

Scientists at Cornell University in the US have been able to keep eggs fresh for up to 2 years in a package that has been deflated.

In the UK, about 80 years ago, it was estimated various ways egg conservation.
First place in terms of quality they occupied eggs stored in bran. They were almost fresh, odorless and tasteless.
Second- lubricated with a mixture of beeswax and vegetable oil sprinkled with salt.
Third- greased with mutton fat and laid in dry lime powder. It has been noted that when salicylic acid is added to lard or vaseline, the aging of eggs slows down.

Poultry eggs are a valuable and easily digestible food product. Chemical composition chicken egg (per 100 g of product): proteins - 12.5 g, fats -12.0 g, - 0.5 g. Calorie content - 165 kcal.

Depending on the quality, weight and shelf life, eggs are divided into dietary and table eggs. The shelf life of dietary eggs should not exceed 7 days from the date of laying. Long-term storage of eggs (more than 30 days) is carried out at t° from + 1° to -2° and relative humidity of 85-88%. In addition, eggs can be stored in an ozone atmosphere or, as well as immersed in some environments ( saturated solution, liquid glass). Sometimes used protective coatings- vegetable and mineral oils, rosin-paraffin mass, ethyl cellulose.

In the body of sick birds, eggs can become infected with microbes from the genus Salmonella. Eating such eggs, especially duck and goose, can lead to (see). Eggs waterfowl permitted to be used in enterprises Food Industry only to be added to dough products subjected to heat treatment. In the same way, chicken eggs are sold from a farm where cases of avian tuberculosis have been noted. The sale of these eggs in the trading network, the preparation of creams, ice cream, mayonnaise, etc. from them is prohibited.

Egg processing products - egg powder, frozen egg whites and melange (a frozen mixture of proteins and yolks) - are prepared under strict sanitary control. Particular attention is paid to the preliminary washing and disinfection of the shell, as well as to the purity of the air in the production premises.

Some skin diseases, diathesis in children, as well as in the diet of senile people.

Eggs (birds) - one of the most valuable in terms of nutrition and easy digestibility food products. Highest value for food they have chicken, duck and goose eggs.

In the egg white there are so-called hailstones - dense protein strands that hold the yolk in a fresh egg in a central position; at the blunt end of the egg there is a cavity (puga). Its height in a freshly laid egg does not exceed 2 mm; during storage, due to the drying of the contents of the scarecrow egg, it increases. Eggshells are pierced with pores through which microbes can enter the eggs. The shell consists of carbonic salts of calcium (94%), magnesium (1.3%), phosphates Ca, Mg (1.7%) and organic matter (3%).

The eggs of various birds are similar in composition (the composition of a chicken egg - see the table).

Egg white contains albumins, globulins, lysozyme, avidin and other proteins (albumins predominate). Avidin is a biotin antagonist. Egg whites and yolks contain many amino acids.

Yolk fat contains linolenic and other unsaturated fatty acids, the yolk also contains lecithin (8-10%) and cholesterol (1.7-2%).

The egg ash (without shell) contains (in mg%): Ca - 43, Fe - 2.1, P - 184, Mg - 10, K - 116; the yolk is especially rich in them. Eggs also contain vitamin A - 0.6 mg% (in the yolk - 0.96 mg%), thiamine - 0.14 mg% (in the yolk - 0.32 mg%), riboflavin - 0.69 mg% (in yolk - 0.52 mg%), nicotinic acid - 0.20 mg%; according to some reports, eggs also contain vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin).

The digestibility of eggs is very high. The nutritional substances of the yolk (proteins, fats, etc.) are biologically more valuable than similar substances of the protein.

A fresh egg laid by a healthy bird is usually sterile. When stored under proper conditions, its sterility can be maintained for a long time. The egg can become infected in the genitals of sick birds (see Salmonellosis), as well as bacteria-carrying birds. Storage of such eggs (primarily duck eggs) in an unrefrigerated state leads to a huge accumulation, mainly in the yolk, of microbes from the genus Salmonella. Infection of eggs, especially with contaminated shells, is also possible exogenously. The contamination of eggs with contaminated shells during storage is several times higher than that of clean eggs. Many cases of food poisoning caused by eating infected eggs have been described.

To prevent food poisoning (see), duck and goose eggs, according to the sanitary legislation of the USSR, are allowed to be used in food industry enterprises only for adding to the dough used for the manufacture of crackers, biscuits, muffins and other products that undergo high heat treatment. The sale of these eggs in the distribution network, as well as the use for the preparation of creams, ice cream, mayonnaise, culinary products in enterprises Catering prohibited.

The best way to kill Salmonella is chlorination (1.2-1.5% active Cl in solution) for 3 minutes. at t° 16-20°. Salmonella also die when eggs are boiled for 8 minutes. (from the moment the water boils), when the temperature inside the egg yolk reaches 80 °. Eggs superficially infected with Pasteurella (see Pasteurellosis) are rendered harmless with the same bleach solution for a 10-minute exposure and with a 0.5% solution of freshly slaked lime for a 6-hour exposure.

Quality eggs is determined by external examination and with the help of an ovoscope - a device with a bright light source, adapted for translucent eggs.

Egg processing products - frozen egg melange, frozen egg whites, frozen egg yolks, egg powder. Frozen egg melange is made from fresh or refrigerated chicken eggs. Before breaking, the eggs are washed with a disinfectant solution (chlorine, etc.) and water. The egg mass freed from the shell is filtered, thoroughly mixed and frozen in a special container (tin hermetically sealed cans); it is allowed to add 0.8% table salt or 5% granulated sugar.

Separated from the rest of the mass of eggs, frozen proteins or yolks are processed in the same way as melange.

The color of the melange in the frozen state is dark orange, after thawing it is light yellow or light orange, the taste is specific, characteristic of eggs. Foreign odors are not allowed. The content of lead in frozen products is not allowed. After opening the can, the product is very unstable in storage, since during the manufacturing process it is still subjected to contamination by microorganisms (cocci, molds, partly E. coli, etc.). Frozen products are used only in the public catering system and in food industry enterprises for the manufacture of all products that, according to production conditions, are heated to a temperature that ensures pasteurization (production of a mixture for ice cream, dishes that are fried or boiled, etc.). If the titer of frozen egg products should be at least 0.1 ml; products with a coli titer below 0.1 ml can only be used for dough products subjected to high heat treatment.

Egg powder - light yellow, homogeneous powder with easily crushed lumps that have a taste and smell characteristic of a fresh egg; nutritional concentrate that preserves nutritional value eggs. Its composition (in%): water no more than 9, protein (on dry matter) - at least 45, fat - 35, ash - 4; solubility (in terms of dry matter) - 85%. Acidity is not more than 10 °, if the titer is not lower than 0.1 ml. Vitamins of group B in it are completely preserved, the amount of vitamin A is somewhat reduced. The powder is used as food only in culinary products when heat treatment ensures reliable sterilization of the product. After opening the package, the egg powder, which usually contains a large number of fat, quickly deteriorates due to the oxidation of fat by oxygen in the air.