The story goes that the Toque (the Chef's traditional hat) has 100 pleats because an egg has over 100 uses. I'd like to put an article together with 100 uses for an egg. (or more)
I have heard the 100 pleat story built I understood it was 100 ways to cook eggs. If your talking uses for eggs there has to be... well, to many to get a definitive number.
I have never seen a comprehensive list for the 100 ways to cook and egg. Then again, how do you define "cooking and egg"? e.g. You have your fried egg, we call them sunny side up in the states. Does over easy, over medium and over hard count as additional ways? The same goes for boiled eggs, is a 3 minute egg different than a hard boiled egg? Scrambled is one so is the omelet but is the omelet different than the fritata? Do the emulsion sauces count? I would think custard counts but is créme brulee different? On and on it goes.
I have been unable to find any actual reference sources for the original question but it could well be that the original was ways to cook eggs as opposed to uses. I don’t think “for throwing on Halloween” or “using for an egg throwing contest” would count.
I think that over easy would be different from scrambled etc and that an omelet is different from a frittata, one normally folded the other left open. However I think an omelet with ham and cheese would be the same use as one with spinach and feta cheese, just different ingredients, same method, just different additions. I’d also consider warm emulsion sauces to be a use, oops way to cook, rather listing all of the derivate sauces. Mayonnaise would be different but mayo derivatives would not.
With all that said we’re still no where near a hundred different uses, oops sorry, cooking methods for an egg.