chalazae
[kuh-LAY-zee]
You're totally grossed out by these, and the words "umbilical cord," "sperm," or "embryo" may have crossed your mind a few times upon encountering these thick, ropey strands of egg white that are often attached to an egg yolk. Relax. The chalazae's only role is to anchor the egg yolk to the center of the egg. Remember, the eggs we eat are not fertilized, and chickens are not mammals, therefore no umbilical cord, sperm or embryos, my friends.
There's even a useful aspect to the chalazae: the larger it is, the fresher the egg. Once cooked, they disappear and have no effect on recipes, with the exception of custards, which usually call for straining to remove them in order to achieve a perfectly smooth texture.
This is good to know. My husband is totally grossed out by this and thinks it is the umbilical cord. Therefore I'm stuck with the job of removing it. I never removed it until we started dating and always thought it was a bunch of hooey. But never worth arguing over.
Whew. That information TOTALLY makes me feel better. Thanks! =)
I usually remove the chalazae when baking because with some recipes it can show up as small white eggy bit (mixer be damned). Saute tongs work *really* well for this. Pinch the stuff with the tongs right where it meets the yolk, then lift tongs out with chalazae side up. It takes a teeny bit of practice but then it's a cinch. Plus tongs are easier to wash than a strainer.
Thanks Sara Kate-- I never knew how to spell it!
Weird. Back in the day I was a redneck and was in 4-H club in Georgia. Anyway we did livestock judging, and one of the categories was judging eggs (no joke). You would hold them up to the light, and any spots on the yolk or any of those things would be an automatic reason to put them at the bottom of the group. Now I wonder why.
Embryos are not restricted to mammals, considering that when a fetus develops it reflects all teh evolution that our species has gone through (fish, tails, etc).
So then what are the collection of cells inside a fertilized chicken egg called?
raised on a farm, I was told that the yolk of an egg becomes the chick while the white provided the nutrients during incubation. Is this correct and if so, how does the chick receive these nutrients?
Thanks! I am glad to see this good information about C H A L A Z A E I am 50 years old and never pay attention to the inside of the eggs but for the last three weeks I've been buying eggs and returning them back to the stores because of the white thing on the yolk so I got tired of driving back to the stores and waisting more money on gas so i call the department of poultry to find about the eggs,and they tol dme what it was and the correct name for it so that is why I am on your web site Thank you.
i dnt care wether its cords, its still chicken period!!!!!
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sandra, isn't it just the opposite?
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Actually, when I took developmental biology, we learned that the collection of cells inside a fertilized egg is an embryo, and it receives most of its nutrients from the yolk. Also, when chickens mate, the male does release sperm into the female that fertilizes the eggs before the shell is formed. Mammals aren't the only ones with sperm and embryos!
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