雞蛋小百科／雞蛋的世界／雞蛋的故事

雞蛋小百科／雞蛋的世界／雞蛋的故事 (英翻中) Chicken Eggs 雞蛋的世界 Alfred Hitchcock, known for his terrifying movies, had one unusual fear: "I'm frightened of eggs," he once said. "Worse than frightened—they revolt me. That white round thing without any holes—have you ever seen anything more revolting than an egg yolk breaking and spilling its yellow liquid?" 以拍攝驚悚懸疑片著名的導演-亞弗列德?希區考克,居然懼怕雞蛋,他曾說過: 「我不僅害怕雞蛋,更糟的是,它們讓我感到噁心,雞蛋圓圓白白的,蛋殼光滑 且沒有任何的洞,你有看過比蛋黃破掉後流出黃黃的液體更噁心的東西嗎,」 Okay, so maybe they are a little icky. But they're so versatile: They can be scrambled, boiled, fried, or poached. Add a few ingredients, and eggs can be transformed into soufflés, quiches, meringues, or custards. The versatility of eggs is a reflection of their intricate chemical makeup. They contain a laundry list of chemical components, including proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water. 好吧,雞蛋或許有點讓人厭惡,但是雞蛋卻有各式各樣的烹飪法:可以做成炒 蛋、水煮蛋、煎蛋或荷包蛋。若加入其他的食材,雞蛋還可以變成許多美味的食 物,例如,舒芙蕾、法式鹹派、瑪琳或卡士達。雞蛋的多用途性也反映出其複雜 的化學構造。其化學成分包括,蛋白質,脂肪,礦物質和水。 Hitchcock was wrong about one thing: Eggs do have holes. A single eggshell is perforated by 9,000 pores, on average. The shell forms the egg's container, 1 protecting it and acting as a permeable membrane for air and moisture to pass through. 但是,希區考克說錯了一件事,雞蛋是有洞的。平均而言,每一個蛋殼都含有, :::個氣孔。蛋殼是雞蛋的容器,它不僅有保護雞蛋的作用,蛋殼的薄膜能讓 空氣和水通過。 About 95% of the eggshell is calcium carbonate, and the remaining 5% is a mix of other minerals, such as calcium phosphate and magnesium carbonate, as well as soluble and insoluble proteins. These components strongly influence the strength of the shell. A hen on a diet low in calcium or vitamin D, for example, lays eggs having thin, soft shells, or no shells at all, according to the American Egg Board (AEB), a group representing the egg industry. 蛋殼由約百分之九十五的碳酸鈣及百分之五的各種礦物質所組成,如,磷酸 鈣、碳酸鎂、可溶性和非溶性蛋白質,而這些成分能使蛋殼堅硬。根據代雞蛋 產業的美國禽蛋委員會表示,若一隻母雞平時攝取過少的鈣和維他命,,則其產 下的蛋的蛋殼會較薄、過軟或者根本沒有蛋殼。 Commercial eggs in the U.S. are generally white or brown, but chickens lay eggs of other colors, from pink to green to blue. The colors of eggs come from pigments that are secreted by the hen and deposited on the eggshell's outer layers during formation in the chicken's oviduct, the canal that eggs travel through from the ovaries to the outside world. Egg color is a genetic trait, so colors vary from breed to breed. Brown eggshells contain the pigment protoporphyrin, a breakdown product of hemoglobin. Found only on the shell's surface, the brown pigment can be dissolved by vinegar or rubbed off 2 with sandpaper. Blue and green hues are caused by the pigment oocyanin, a by-product of bile formation. White eggshells are devoid of these pigments. 在美國,市面上的雞蛋都是白色或棕色的,但是,母雞也有可能產下其它顏色的蛋,有粉紅色、綠色和藍色等等。色素使雞蛋有不同的顏色,在雞蛋從卵巢通往輸卵管到出產的過程中,母雞會分泌色素,最後沉澱在蛋殼的外層。雞蛋的顏色是一個基因的特徵,不同的雞蛋顏色取決於不同品種的雞。棕色的蛋殼是由血紅素分解而成的原紫質組成,棕色雞蛋的蛋殼色素僅塗佈在蛋殼表面,用醋分解,就可溶解棕殼色素,而砂紙也可磨掉色素。而藍色和綠色蛋殼是由膽汁形成的副產品,膽綠質組成。另外,白蛋殼缺少色素。 3 4