Stick your neck out – buy an ostrich egg

OSTRICH eggs will appear in supermarkets across the UK in time for Easter after sales rose by more than 500 per cent last year.

Waitrose will stock the egg in 31 branches from next week after sales increased by 573 per cent in 2008-2009.

Each egg, costing 18.99, is equivalent to 24 hen eggs and can make an omelette large enough to feed 15 adults. They have a mild flavour but need boiling for 50 to 90 minutes, retaining their heat for up to two hours.

The eggs are laid by South African Black Ostriches on a farm in Lincolnshire.

Demand for pheasant, quail, duck and goose eggs had also risen, with sales of goose eggs up by 101 per cent, Waitrose said.

Waitrose egg buyer Frances Westerman said: "Britons have proved they are game enough to try something other than the humble hen egg. The ostrich egg is a real trump card when it comes to cooking over the long weekend.

"What better way to surprise guests this Easter Sunday than boiling one egg for all your guests' breakfasts?"