The egg-sact colour

It seems that all eggs in England are brown. Someone once told me that you used to be able to get white ones not so long ago. Back home, you can choose which colour you want to buy - brown or white. But what makes the eggs a particular colour?

All eggs start out white. The final colour of an egg shell is a result of pigments deposited during the formation process. It's down to genetics. Some breed produce white eggs, some produce brown and you get lots of variation in between. Some chickens can even produce bluish or speckled eggs. You can rub off the eggshell colour if you get to the egg as it is laid and while it is still damp.

White eggs do not come from battery hens any more than brown ones come from free-range chickens.

In general, chicken breeds with white ear lobes lay white eggs, whereas chickens with red ear lobes lay brown eggs. Although there is no significant link between shell color and nutritional value, there is often a cultural preference for one color over another. For example, in most regions of the US, chicken eggs are generally white; while in the northeast of that country and in the UK, they are generally light-brown.

The real Chef Boyardee

Chef Boyardee was a real man whose name was Ettore (Hector) Boiardi. He was an immigrant to the US from Italy. He was head chef at the New York Plaza Hotel and catered a presidential wedding reception. His main claim to fame was his pasta sauce which was in such high demand at his restaurant that he set up a factory to make it. He marketed it under the name Chef Boy-Ar-Dee.

He eventually sold out to American Home Foods for tidy sum.

And to think that all this time I thought that Chef Boyardee was as fictitious as Aunt Jemima. I still won't eat that stuff though. I bet he's turn in his grave to see what it's become.

Poppadoms

Poppadoms are made from lentil, chickpea, black gram or rice flour. . .not regular flour. It depends on the region. In the North lentils are more commonly used.

In the Kannada language , common in the Dakshina Kannada district, a pappad is referred to as a "happala," and is often made with jackfruit and sabudana. Papadam is a loan word from the Hindi language. Applam is the pure Tamil equivalent. The word occurs in a well known tongue twister - "Kaacha papad, Paka papad" (raw papad, fried/roasted papad), something similar to "Good blood, Bad blood".

Now since I've given up wheatflour, I'm glad to know I can still have a poppadom!