Читать книгу The First-Time Cook - Sophie Grigson, Sophie Grigson - Страница 66

Crack open a perfectly fresh egg on to a saucer and the yolk stands proud above the white, which clings thickly around it. In an older egg the yolk is flatter and flabbier, while the white is more liquid and spreads in a dilute fashion around the saucer. Luckily you don’t have to crack open each egg to ascertain its age. Look on the box instead, where you will find a ‘best before date’. The eggs were laid 21 days, in other words three weeks, before this date.

For some cooking methods (poaching in particular) ultra-freshness is critical, whilst for others (e.g. boiling) a small scrap of maturity is a positive boon.