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Ostrich Eggs?!?

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Early today I went to the new Whole Foods in my area (NOVA). I wasn't surprised to see duck, quail and gourmet chicken eggs. But I was surprised to see emu (a pretty dark blue) and ostrich eggs @ $19.95 each from CA. It just seems like whole lot of egg (1 ostrich= to 20-24 chicken).

Has anyone else seen/tasted these, and what are they good for (other than really large omelettes)?


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  1. I can't imagine any use other than presentation value, since you can buy quite a lot of chicken eggs for $20! At first I was thinking you could make a large batch of custard or angel food cake and only have to separate one egg, but then I realized it's a pretty pricey shortcut!

    1. I've heard that it has a distinct taste and texture, so it's not quite like a big chicken egg. Imagine poaching one of these! When you break through the white, a pint of runny yolk comes spilling out onto your plate.

      1. It's a super-yolky egg i.e. relatively speaking, very little eggwhite and quite a strong yolk taste at that.

        I have only cooked an ostrich egg once, in South Africa. It made a frickin' big omlette/frittata/scramble. Took a wine corkscrew and screwdriver and a hammer to crack the egg open, that was the hardest bit.