美国国家公共电台 NPR Cloud Eggs: The Latest Instagram Food Fad Is Actually Centuries Old

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

And now to a delectable¹ Instagram fad² - cloud eggs, beautiful fluffy³ egg white surrounding a sunny yellow yolk⁴. They're pretty easy to make at home. You need eggs, a hand mixer, salt and pepper to taste before tossing them into the oven at 450 degrees. Maria Godoy is a senior editor at NPR's science desk and hostess of The Salt, NPR's food blog. This week, I invited her into my kitchen to see if they taste as good as they look.

MARIA GODOY, BYLINE⁵: OK, so break it. Crack that egg, and then separate the yolk and the whites, and plop your whites into a big bowl because it's going to expand when you whip it up.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Right.

(SOUNDBITE OF HAND MIXER)

GARCIA-NAVARRO: There must be some science to this, right?

GODOY: Yeah. There's actually a little bit of fun science. Egg whites are basically liquid. But they're full of protein? That's why they're good for us. And so when you whip them, you're breaking down those proteins.

And the proteins are usually like little balls that hang out by themselves, but when you whip them, they unfurl, they unfold and they start bonding with each other. And as they bond, they create a structure. And that structure captures air bubbles, and it gives the foam⁶ its shape. And we're going to have a nice fluffy cloud as a result.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: OK.

GODOY: OK, it's getting there. It's close.

(SOUNDBITE OF HAND MIXER)

GODOY: Look - peaks are holding. Peaks are holding. OK. So let's scoop⁷ this out. We're going to make two. OK, what I'm doing here is I'm making a divot because that's where our egg yolk's going to go, but first we want to bake this for three minutes.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: And we're going to put the salt on now?

GODOY: Yeah, we can do it now. Sprinkle it to taste. And you know what? Let's do some cheese too because cheese is good.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: OK. All right.

GODOY: OK.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Put some sharp cheddar.

GODOY: All right. Let's stick it in the oven for three minutes.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: OK, so we're doing this because basically it's all over Instagram. Is this a new thing?

GODOY: So here's the funny thing. It's new on Instagram. It's been showing up for the last few weeks, but there is a version of cloud eggs in a cookbook published in France in 1651. They sprinkled it with sugar but it's exact same preparation.

(SOUNDBITE OF TIMER)

GODOY: Plopping the egg yolk in the middle and then another two minutes. Let's try that.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Another two minutes.

GODOY: Yep.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: We're almost done.

(SOUNDBITE OF TIMER)

GARCIA-NAVARRO: (Speaking Spanish).

GODOY: (Speaking Spanish).

GARCIA-NAVARRO: It's so pretty.

GODOY: This one looks perfect. Look at that.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: All right, but does it taste good?

GODOY: OK. Let's try. Bon appetit.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Bon appetit.

GODOY: Oh, nice. Breaking open that yolk and letting it run, yeah.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Letting it run, oh, yeah.

GODOY: I hope it's not terrible. Let's see.

It turned out pretty good, actually.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: It's actually really nice.

GODOY: It's kind of something you can do at home. It looks like you're a fancy chef. And it makes it look like your life is this glossy⁸ wonderful version instead of the messy kitchen that you really live in. That's what social media's for, right? (Laughter).

GARCIA-NAVARRO: That is what social media's for. And since you can't see my messy kitchen, that's awesome⁹.

GODOY: It's actually perfect.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I cleaned it before you came.

(LAUGHTER)

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Maria Godoy is the host of The Salt blog and also senior editor at NPR.

GODOY: Thanks for having me.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: You can see photos of cloud eggs on Instagram, of course, or at npr.org.

1 delectable   

adj.使人愉快的；美味的

参考例句：

• What delectable food you cook!你做的食品真好吃！
• But today the delectable seafood is no longer available in abundance.但是今天这种可口的海味已不再大量存在。

2 fad   

n.时尚；一时流行的狂热；一时的爱好

参考例句：

• His interest in photography is only a passing fad.他对摄影的兴趣只是一时的爱好罢了。
• A hot business opportunity is based on a long-term trend not a short-lived fad.一个热门的商机指的是长期的趋势而非一时的流行。

3 fluffy   

adj.有绒毛的，空洞的

参考例句：

• Newly hatched chicks are like fluffy balls.刚孵出的小鸡像绒毛球。
• The steamed bread is very fluffy.馒头很暄。

4 yolk   

n.蛋黄，卵黄

参考例句：

• This dish would be more delicious with some yolk powder.加点蛋黄粉，这道菜就会更好吃。
• Egg yolk serves as the emulsifying agent in salad dressing.在色拉调味时，蛋黄能作为乳化剂。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 foam   

v./n.泡沫，起泡沫

参考例句：

• The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
• The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。

7 scoop   

n.铲子，舀取，独家新闻；v.汲取，舀取，抢先登出

参考例句：

• In the morning he must get his boy to scoop it out.早上一定得叫佣人把它剜出来。
• Uh,one scoop of coffee and one scoop of chocolate for me.我要一勺咖啡的和一勺巧克力的。

8 glossy   

adj.平滑的；有光泽的

参考例句：

• I like these glossy spots.我喜欢这些闪闪发光的花点。
• She had glossy black hair.她长着乌黑发亮的头发。

9 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.