Eggnog vs Milk
Dhurstell,
This is easily the best question I've gotten on here all month. Thanks for that
I'll admit, I was not up on my eggnog history prior to this question and it's somewhat interesting for culinary buffs and history nerds alike. After some digging, here is what I think about how egg nog should be made and GOMAD vs. GOENAD (not to be confused with GONAD).
The lineage of egg nog is hotly debated on the interwebz, but best I can tell is that most agree it comes from posset as a possible cold/flu adjunct remedy. Posset was a warm drink made from curdled milk + wine or ale + spices popularized in Britain.
The first time the term egg nog was used in print was in 1788:
- SourceA young man with a cormerant appetite, voraciously devoured, last week, at Connecticut farms, thirty raw eggs, a glass of egg nog, and another of brandy sling. (New-Jersey Journal, Mar. 26, 1788, p. 2)
I would also probably now argue (after some research) that while the earliest versions of "egg nog" were probably made with a wine or ale as the alcohol source, Americans probably used rum predominantly. An early recipe from 1799 describes this:
Lending additional support to this is the large rum production in North East America at the time (prior to the sugar tariff). Seems likely they were using rum over brandy or whiskey in my opinion.The American travellers, before they pursued their journey, took a hearty draught each, according to custom, of egg-nog, a mixture composed of new milk, eggs, rum, and sugar, beat up together.
Still, I don't really care for rum in my egg nog and since this is my subforum....it's gonna be a whiskey blend. Now, let's compare nutrition on these bad boys:
1 Gallon of Egg Nog (Evan Williams)
Cal 5488
Fat 304g (Sat 181g)
Carbs 550g (Sugar 342g)
Protein 155g
1 Gallon of Milk (whole)
Cal 2304
Fat 128g (Sat 76g)
Carb 180g (Sugar 204g)
Protein 128g
For some nuance™, in a gallon of Evan Williams Egg Nog there is about 1/2 a gallon of whole milk and 1/4 gallon of heavy cream. The rest is made of whiskey, brandy, and rum, added sugar, and who knows what else (it's not easily available and I'm busy today). Still, the calorie difference between GOMAD and GOENAD is astounding, with Egg Nog having over 100% more fat and calories. What's more, it has over 3x the carbohydrates as GOMAD.
One could argue that all these calories could be of use for someone struggling to gain weight during the holiday season. However, I would argue that these calories are compromised compared to the regular milk. For instance, the essential amino acid content (including leucine) is much higher per unit volume in the whole milk vs the egg nog. Just throwing calories at a person without a good dose of amino acids seems like a bad idea, in general. Furthermore, we know alcohol consumed at sufficient doses is a myotoxin in that in inhibits muscle protein synthesis and increases muscle protein breakdown, thus I would have serious reservations in recommending GOENAD during the holiday season unless it improves your social life significantly, which likely has it's own set of physiological and psychological gainzZz™.
Originally Posted by dhurstell
