Why don't we eat turkey eggs?

By , Elizabeth Armstrong Moore

Published November 27, 2016

A wild tom turkey spreads his tail and puffs out his feathers as he approaches a hen in a field in Zelienople, Pa. on Saturday, May 2, 2015. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

Turkey eggs are big. The average is 50% larger than a chicken egg, with twice as many calories and grams of fat and nearly four times as much cholesterol.

They used to be so popular that turkey egg omelettes were on the menu at the famous Delmonico's restaurant in New York until the late 1800s, and many chefs thought the eggs made better sauces, reports Slate.

So what happened? Why don't we eat them anymore? For starters, they're expensive. Turkeys are bigger than chickens, so they take up more space and require more food.

And they lay only two eggs a week, compared to a chicken's near-daily production, reports Modern Farmer. This adds up, so that in the rare instance a turkey egg is for sale, it's easily $2 to $3 a pop.

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Still, Rodale's OrganicLife reported last year that turkey eggs are among seven eggs you should be eating (in addition to duck, quail, ostrich, goose, emu, and heirloom chicken breeds).

Not only are they supposedly richer and creamier, but their shells are speckled, much like a quail's, making them decorative to boot. (The US had to import eggs from Europe last year.)

This article originally appeared on Newser: We Don't Eat Turkey Eggs. But Why?

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/why-dont-we-eat-turkey-eggs